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This Saturday’s visit from Vanderbilt is special to Purdue tight end Brycen Hopkins. He’s a Nashville kid who will get to play his hometown school. In fact, at one time, it looked like the fifth-year senior would be a Commodore.

“Pretty much before Purdue, they were my biggest recruiter,” said Hopkins, who prepped at Ensworth High. “I was always taking visits. They were just 10 minutes from my house.”

But then, the Vanderbilt staff got shaken up and, well, the school lost interest in Hopkins.

“They switched up recruiting, I wasn’t recruited anymore and Purdue came in,” said Hopkins, whose father Brad was a star offensive tackle with the Tennessee Titans from 1993-2005. “Thankful for Purdue. I’m glad (Vanderbilt) stopped recruiting me.”

Now, Hopkins ranks as one of the nation’s top tight ends. The 6-5, 245-pound Hopkins is coming off a season in which he caught a career-high 34 passes for 583 yards and two scores. He entered 2019 with 69 career receptions for 1,115 yards (16.2 ypc) with nine touchdowns. With Cole Herdman gone, Hopkins is the clear-cut No. 1 option at tight end.

Hopkins began this year with a bang, grabbing six passes for 84 yards and a TD at Nevada, earning John Mackey Award Tight End of the Week honors. Not bad for a guy who spent much of Friday night throwing up during the game.

“Every time I would come off the field, I would have this overwhelming sickness in my stomach just to get something out so that I felt like I had more endurance and I didn’t feel the need to throw up,” said Hopkins. “So, I just had to throw up and get it out.

“If I went back in, I would be OK for a few minutes … I think altitude had a little to do with it, but other than that, I should have done a better job hydrating. I’m not gonna call it a bug yet, but I was throwing up a lot.”

Is Hopkins good to go this week?

“I am better now,” he said. “I am all good, looking good.”

Good, because he’ll have a lot of interested spectators in the Ross-Ade Stadium stands. It’s the second year in a row Hopkins will play before lots of friends and family, as Purdue closed 2018 in the Nashville-based Music City Bowl. Now, Hopkins gets to play Vandy.

“I have a lot of family that are coming to the game to watch me play,” said Hopkins. “Everyone is expecting a show, so that’s what we are gonna try to give them.”

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Elijah Sindelar knows it. You don’t have to mention the fact that Purdue lost its aggressive edge in last week’s stunning 34-31 loss at Nevada.

“Three, three-and-a-half quarters, it was spot on,” said Sindelar of the offense. “We were just fine. You take that last six minutes of the game, and we didn’t execute and we gave the game away. There are a lot of things to be happy about and proud of in that game."

Purdue finished with 519 total yards, as Sindelar completed 34-of-52 passes for 432 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions. But those gaudy numbers were undone by a lack of aggressiveness by the offense late in the game.

“It’s OK to try to run out the clock if you have a lead," said Sindealr. "But execution needs to stay the same. We may not be going as fast tempo-wise, but executing and getting first downs should not stop regardless of what tempo you are going at.”

Sindelar came out on fire. The senior hit 21-of-28 passes for 268 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions in the first half, when the Boilermakers built a 24-7 lead. But the second half was a different story, as Sindelar connected on just 13-of-24 passes for one touchdowns and two picks. Purdue was out scored 27-7 in the final two quarters and 17-0 in the fourth quarter.

“We knew we had a lead, we knew we were trying to control the ball longer to keep our defense off the field and get them rested and in doing so, we stepped off the gas essentially in execution," said Sindelar. "And we can’t do that."

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SEC, SEC, SEC!

That’s what Purdue co-OC and WR coach JaMarcus Shephard chanted when asked about Vanderbilt visiting West Lafayette on Saturday.

“They are gonna come here with that SEC stuff,” said Shephard. “It’s tough, hard, big, physical … they don't beat themselves, OK? They are gonna try to knock our guy's heads off. I am expressing that to them right now. You better understand they are coming in here and aren't giving you anything, any passes deep. They won't give you anything underneath. When you touch the ball, they will try to knock your head off. And that’s what I expect out of Vanderbilt.”

This will be the second year in a row a SEC foe has visited Ross-Ade. Last season, Missouri came to town and left with a last-second 40-37 triumph. In 2017, the Boilermakers won 35-3 at Missouri. Purdue also played Auburn from the SEC in last year’s Music City Bowl and got trounced, 63-14. If Purdue is gonna knock off a SEC foe again, it’s gonna need a big effort from its offense—and it’s gonna have to finish better than it did last week at Nevada.

“I thought our guys came out pretty hungry early on,” said Shephard. “I have been trying to emphasis the idea of finishing out. That’s the part we have to do a better job of. No one is here to praise us on all the good things we do. We have to finish the ball game better.

"I don’t care if you are eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. You have to finish it. If you are in the weight room, you have to finish it. On this particular route, you have to finish it. On this particular block, you have to finish it. …”

The message: just finish.

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