Advertisement
football Edit

Reckman dealt a one-game suspension

Offensive guard Zach Reckman has been suspended for Saturday night's Notre Dame game, Purdue and the Big Ten announced Wednesday afternoon.
"We appreciate Purdue's and head coach Danny Hope's attention to this issue and feel a one-game suspension is appropriate," Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany said in a released statement. "The behavior of Zach Reckman at the end of the Northern Illinois game is unacceptable and could have triggered a larger incident."
Advertisement
The fifth-year senior left guard also received a public reprimand from the league office after diving on the Northern Illinois player who recovered Purdue's final lateral, throwing a forearm well after the player had slid to the grass to end the game.
In Reckman's absence Saturday night, redshirt freshman Rick Schmeig will presumably start.
Schmeig took first-team snaps during practice on Tuesday, as Coach Danny Hope intended, according to a news release from Purdue, to sit Reckman for the first quarter Saturday if the Big Ten didn't take action.
"We talked with our guys before the game about maintaining their composure, and Zach made a mistake," Hope said in a released statement. "But I know Zach and firmly believe that he would not attempt anything of a malicious nature. (Athletic director Morgan Burke) and I agreed that a one-quarter suspension would be appropriate in this case, and that is what we presented to the Big Ten. They saw it differently, and we have to live with their decision."
Purdue noted in its quarterlong-suspension proposal that Reckman was not called for a flagrant foul, which would have triggered an automatic one-game suspension.
Reckman was flagged for a personal foul and cited for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Advertisement