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Published Sep 2, 2019
Rondale Moore talks punt return gaffe and more
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Tom Dienhart  •  BoilerUpload
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MORE: Jeff Brohm press conference notebook | First look at Vanderbilt

Purdue was fighting to stave off a comeback by Nevada last Friday night. The Boilermakers needed a spark as their lead shrunk. That's when it happened: Rondale Moore tried to pick up a bouncing punt in an effort to make a play. Bad idea. The muffed punt was recovered by the Wolf Pack, who went on to stun Purdue, 34-31.

"Honestly, if you want to be totally honest, if we had a game tomorrow, I’m not sure I wouldn’t try that again," said Moore. "Previously, we had been pinned inside the 5 and I was just trying to make a play.

"There is a one-bounce rule that we have and I just kind of made a mistake, man, to be totally honest with you and I probably shouldn’t have done it. Obviously, I’ve looked at it and learned from it. So, I am gonna grow from here."

Did Moore feel pressure to make something happen for what had become a listless Purdue offense that ended up squandering a 31-14 third-quarter lead?

"Not at all," he said. "I just go out there and just try to execute. ... I’m just going out there and doing my job.

"I took too long to think about it. I should have grabbed it off the first bounce. As it kept rolling I was like, 'Man I don’t want to be pinned inside the 5.' That’s just a mental error by me ... I have to go back and learn from those things."

Does Moore have the green light to run back any punt he wants?

"To an extent," he said. "I think the one that happened in the game I probably should have let go.

"My coaches have a lot of confidence in me, as well as I do myself. I had enough room to grab it. It’s just one of those things where it just slipped. So, it’s one-in-a-million times I don’t grab that ball. I just happened like that. If I would have grabbed it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. It just happened that way."

Moore had a good game overall, catching a team-high 11 passes for 124 yards (11.3 ypc) with a TD. But he had just three catches in the second half. But don't tell him he was ineffective.

"I don’t think that was the case at all," he said. "I was just running the plays that were called. The ball just didn't end up coming my way. I think Elijah (Sindelar) did a good job of reading it out and doing what he had to do and try to execute the plays that were called. Sometimes it’s just how things happen. I do have to do a better job of I guess getting open ..."

Could Moore have been used more as a ball carrier? He ran just two times for three yards.

"I didn’t have any expectations about how I was gonna get the ball. .. as far as what I was gonna do prior to the game, I was just going out there and executing," said Moore.

The sophomore did like how he was moved around in various formations.

"I think getting me the ball behind the line of scrimmage is a great idea any way possible to help this team move me in different spots to get the defense to get their eyes on me and get other guys open," said Moore. "I think (Jeff Brohm) does a great job moving me around to get other guys open."

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