Bell takes another step in his development with 13-catch, 197-yard effort
MORE: The 3-2-1: Purdue's loss at Iowa | Gold & Black Radio Express: Purdue loses at Iowa | Ten things you need to know about Purdue's loss at Iowa | Final thoughts: Purdue's loss to Iowa | Twin City Superstore video: Brohm after Iowa loss | Data Driven | Grading the Boilermakers | Upon further review
Get David Bell the ball ... a lot. That was the message Jeff Brohm was sending to quarterback Jack Plummer. But there was a time in the second half when Plummer wasn't honed in on the freshman sensation from Indianapolis.
"It told to him, you have a certain player who is hot and we need to know where he is at at all times and I don’t think we were doing that for about three series in a row, so that was expressed to him and he came back and did a much better job after that," said Brohm. "We can’t have a lull there, but we did."
Especially when Bell is on a roll. He finished today with 13 catches for 197 yards and a touchdown.
"There is always room for improvement," said Bell. "I think I did pretty good.
Yes, he did. Bell delivered big play after big play, often on third down. He was on a roll. But, it's not his personality to demand the ball.
"I don’t personally say it," said Bell. "Coach Brohm just has fantastic play calls. He knows when one person is hot, keep getting him the ball. It happened to be me today."
Brohm has been pleased. For the year, Bell now has 39 catches for 635 yards (16.2 ypc) with four TDs.
"David reminds me of a young Jerry Rice for the fact everything is smooth," said Brohm. "He doesn't look like he’s gonna make the spectacular play. But he always makes the play. He’s solid and efficient, he runs good routes. Maybe it doesn't look like he’s running a 4.2, but he’s getting open vs. press, vs. off, contested catch. He’s going up and making the play when he has to."
And just imagine how much more difficult it will be for foes to defend Bell when sophomore Rondale Moore returns from his hamstring injury."
"You think about (Moore's return from injury) every day," said Bell. "You wish we could get him back today, but he's rehabbing trying to get himself right so he can come back 100 percent."
Could defense double-team Bell when Moore is back?
"I don't think a defense can put two people on me if you have an All-American on the inside playing slot," Bell said. "It's going to be very hard to try to double both of us."
Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?
Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook
More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2019. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.