More: Purdue 'trending' in right direction into Big Ten | Backups could be starters again | Emphasis has helped keep penalties low | First Look: Maryland | Hazell press conference video

Purdue’s rush defense was tested last week.

And it passed, holding Nevada to 140 yards fewer than its previous average in Purdue's win. The Boilermakers face a stiff challenge Saturday when they travel to Maryland, with the Terrapins averaging 266.7 yards on the ground, the 11th-best rate in the country.

The Terps (3-0) have done it by committee, with seven players rushing for more than 60 yards but none more than running back Lorenzo Harrison’s 208. QB Perry Hills and Tyrrell Pigrome are in that group as well, combining for 155 as part of Maryland’s read-option offense. The five others are running backs; and a sixth, former starter Wes Brown, who was suspended the Terps’ first three games, gets added to the mix now.

“Our depth at running back has helped us to roll guys in and keep them fresh,” Maryland coach D.J. Durkin said, when asked to described why his team has been so successful, “and then our perimeter guys, our tight ends and receivers, they have done a really good job of blocking downfield. It’s a team stat, a team thing.

“I think Perry has been effective in running the ball as well, with some of the designed quarterback run plays. Obviously, it’s a big part of what we do and we’ve emphasized it. It’s good to see it working. But we’ve got to keep improving and getting better, because there’s plenty of areas we could have done a better job and our guys know that.”

Purdue can feel the same about its rush defense. In the first two games, the Boilermakers gave up a combined 438 to Eastern Kentucky and Cincinnati. But it dropped to only 68 allowed (on 33 carries) to the Wolf Pack, helping Purdue move from 14th (last) Big Ten rush defense to 10th in one week.

Although Purdue made slight scheme adjustments — a safety played closer to the box more frequently in the first half, for instance — it was more the Boilermakers’ play-making that accounted for the change.

Darrell Hazell said Purdue held the edge better, keeping the Wolf Pack from turning the corner. The Boilermakers’ ends were more sound — Evan Panfil had one of his best games, and Austin Larkin’s return from injury helped, as well — and Da’Wan Hunte was solid, as well. The cornerback, who like Larkin had missed the first two games with an ankle injury, was exceptional at keeping plays from getting outside the last defender. He did so twice on Purdue's pivotal defensive stand, hemming in Nevada runners on second and third down before its missed field goal in the fourth quarter.

“They only got outside of us, I think, two times,” Hazell said during his Tuesday teleconference, “but if you can keep the edge, you’ve got a lot of good players inside of you. The help defense is great. If you don’t, all the sudden you’re outside one-on-one with a corner, one-on-one with a safety and it’s not nearly as good.

“If we can continue to keep the edge of the defense, eliminate gaps and penetrate, those three things, we’ll play good defense because we have good players over there.”

But Maryland, with its read-option game, will try to keep the Boilermakers off-balance. Hills is effective, but backup Pigrome is the real threat; he took over after Hills’ shoulder injury in double overtime of Maryland’s win at Central Florida, rushing for a 24-yard touchdown on his first carry to give the Terps the victory.

“It’s option football, so it’s assignment football,” Harell said. “Someone has to take the dive, the zone; someone has to take the quarterback on the pull; and then sometimes they’ll leak someone out into the flat or leak someone around to be able to block the defender. So we have to make sure we’re assignment sound when we get all this read-option.”

Brown, who had been suspended since late last season for a violation of the university’s code of conduct, adds another weapon. The senior has 1,055 career yards, with 11 touchdowns.

“He’ll be in the rotation, he’ll be playing,” Durkin said. “But one of our strengths so far is that we’ve had good rotation, healthy competition at that spot, so he’ll provide a little more depth there. And a lot of those guys are involved in our special teams and will continue to be. That’s a position of strength on our team that just got stronger with Wes coming back.”

Hazell said he expects Martesse Patterson, who is dealing with what’s been described as a “personal” matter and missed Saturday’s game, to be available for Purdue again at some point this season.

“Oh yeah, absolutely, that’s the plan,” Hazell said.

But Hazell said there is not a timeline for return.

“It’s a day-to-day thing that we’re continue to evaluate,” he said.

Jalen Neal, a J.C. transfer, made his first start in place of Patterson at left tackle vs. Nevada on Saturday and is expected to start again at Maryland.

Hills, Maryland’s starting quarterback, was knocked out of the second overtime of the Terrapins’ win at Central Florida on Sept. 17.

But the right-hander’s injured right shoulder is healed enough, Durkin says, for the senior to go on Saturday.

“Perry’s a very tough guy,” he said during Tuesday's Big Ten teleconference. “The bye was timed well for him to get a week to rest and recover, but we’re expecting him to be back and playing and doing well.”

Defensive back Eyvn Cooper is enrolled in classes at Purdue, but he’s not been practicing with the Boilermakers this fall.

The redshirt freshman has been absent since the start of training camp, with Hazell saying then that it was a “team decision.” But in the weeks since, the Georgia native hasn’t yet returned.

“He’s still with the team, just taking care of some academic things for us right now,” Hazell said. “We’ll see how his behavior continues through the rest of the semester but at some point in time he may be back with us, hopefully he works that way to get himself back on the field.

“He’s in school, enrolled, in classes and he seems to be doing the right things in classes right now.”

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