Purdue will have to learn to be without starting running back Zander Horvath for a while.
At his Monday press conference, Boilermaker coach Jeff Brohm said Horvath has a broken fibula suffered in last week's game at UConn. He'll undergo surgery on Tuesday.
"He'll be out four-to-eight weeks," said Brohm.
Purdue (2-0) plays at AP No. 10 Notre Dame (2-0) on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. ET.
Horvath hurt his left leg on Purdue's fourth offensive snap in Purdue's 49-0 win at UConn. He appeared to get bent awkwardly as he was being tackled following a two-yard run.
The 6-3, 230-pound fifth-year senior is a key cog in the Purdue attack as a rushing and receiving threat. His 30 catches in 2020 led all Big Ten backs. And Horvath ranked sixth in the Big Ten in rushing last year (73.7 ypg), running for 442 yards and two TDs.
With Horvath out, Purdue will turn to junior King Doerue and redshirt freshman Dylan Downing, who transferred to West Lafayette from UNLV in the offseason.
"It's next man up for us at the running back position," said Brohm. "King has played a lot of football for us. Been a little injured here and there. But we want him to go out there and play his brand of football.
"Dylan Downing has come in and proven that he'll run the ball hard and he understands what we're doing. He's a tremendous worker, gives us everything he has."
Doerue led the team in rushing as a true freshman in 2019 with 451 yards and five TDs. But a hamstring injury limited his impact last season. The 5-10, 205-pound Doerue paced Purdue with 74 yards rushing at UConn, running 12 times (6.2 ypc) with a one-yard TD plunge. He has 17 carries for 81 yards in 2021 with a TD.
The 6-0, 225-pound Downing made his Boilermaker debut in Week One vs. Oregon State, carrying one time for six yards. Last Saturday, Downing ran a team-high 14 times for 72 yards (5.1 ypc). Downing has rushed 15 times for 78 yards (5.2 ypc) this season.
Purdue also is deploying its receivers as ball carriers as a wrinkle to get more speed and elusiveness in the backfield. Wideouts like Jackson Anthrop, T.J. Sheffield and Marcellus Moore are options. Each had carries on Saturday.
"We're gonna have to have other options at running back," said Brohm. "So , whether it's a couple receivers, another young running back, there needs to be more than two. So, we'll have those options up and ready. But, right now, King and Dylan would be the top two."
True freshman Ja'Quez Cross also is an option.
"We're gonna get him ready," said Brohm of the 5-10, 180-pound native of Fordyce, Ark. "He's had a good camp. Like every freshman ... physically, he's got to continue to get strength and mass over the course of the next couple years. So, he's a little behind there. But, you know what? He's got good quickness and good speed. He's got to get ready to go."
Purdue also continues to push for immediate eligibility for Indiana transfer running back Sampson James.
"We're working on that," said Brohm. "We have not got an answer back yet. So, we're hopeful. A lot of other transfers that have been granted immediate eligibility throughout the course of the last month or so, but you never know what's going to happen. But we're hopeful that maybe that can happen."
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