Story No. 7: Rondale Moore's sensational debut
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Every program needs a cornerstone. And for Purdue, that cornerstone is Rondale Moore.
The hype surrounding Moore was big as the 2018 season dawned. When he committed to Purdue on national TV at the U.S. Army All-American game in San Antonio in January 2018, it was a huge win for Brohm and his burgeoning program. That was just the beginning.
Purdue figured it had something special when Moore committed to Purdue, reversing course from a prior pledge to Texas. But few could have envisioned the swift and sudden impact of the diminutive speedster from Louisville.
In the season-opener vs. Northwestern, Moore grabbed 11 passes for 109 yards. He also carried two times for 79 yards including a nifty 76-yard scoring dash that broke Otis Armstrong's Purdue single-game record for all-purpose yards. Armstrong had 312 yards against Indiana in 1972. Moore had 302 … at halftime. He finished with 313 yards vs. the Wildcats.
“Believe it or not, (what you saw today) is what he showed in practice,” said Jeff Brohm afterward. “He’s made every practice, doesn’t miss a rep, goes hard every time, has no arrogance or cockiness to him, is just a worker, so I’m proud of his performance.”
Brohm wasn’t the only one wowed after Moore’s scintillating debut last August in Ross-Ade Stadium.
“Spectacular,” said quarterback David Blough after the opener. “We’ve known he’s had that in him. We’ve known he has the ability to make big plays, make people miss, ankle-breaking, that’s why we got the ball to him.
“He’s the best playmaker on our offense. We’ve gotta get him the ball, and he delivered tonight.”
The 5-9, 180-pound Moore never slowed down. A frightening combination of speed and explosiveness, Moore went on to set a standard for true freshmen at Purdue regardless of position, making 114 catches for 1,258 yards (11.0 ypc) with 12 TDs. It caused jaws to drop.
He became the first true freshman consensus All-American in Big Ten history--among other awards during a freshman season the likes of which never has been seen before in West Lafayette.
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