WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Football was off and running once again with fall camp in full swing on Tuesday (Aug. 13). With only 18 days until the season opener, the Boilermakers continue to make strides towards being game ready.
The running back room took to the mic today as coach Lamar Conard spoke to the media along with Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III. The rushing attack played a huge role in the Purdue offense last season. The Boilers paced the Big Ten in rushing by averaging 184.6 yards per game in league contests.
Mockobee himself has been the spearhead of the ground game for the Boilermakers each of the last two seasons. One of only four Big Ten running backs to rush for more than 800 yards in each of the past two seasons, the junior landed on the Doak Walker Award Watch List for this upcoming season. During the offseason, the Boonville native has focused on transforming his body to be able to handle an even bigger workload.
"I've always had that kind of mentality to want to run through a guy, but obviously I didn't have the size to do that last year or the year before," Mockobee said. "So, I think it will make a big difference with the weight I have this year to actually be able to run how I'm more comfortable running versus trying to get away from guys."
Conard, along with director of football strength and conditioning Kiero Small, put an emphasis on pushing Mockobee to do everything he could to maximize his potential and help his team.
"He's a stronger runner. He's more explosive in and out of his cuts," Conard said of Mockobee's transformation. "He's always been really quick, but he could get knocked off line a little bit. We call him 'Crazy Legs' for a reason…he just physically looks stronger, and he looks more confident to be quite frank."
Head coach Ryan Walters and his staff knew that they wanted to add a compliment to the veteran Mockobee with Tyrone Tracy Jr. headed off to the NFL. They found the perfect piece in a familiar place, bringing in Love, whom Walters had worked with at Illinois and associate head coach Cory Patterson coached for two years in high school.
"All the things I believe in, all the things Coach Walters believes in, is Reggie Love," Conard said. "He is tough as nails. He is, in my opinion, an every down box running back. He can do the dirty work for you. He's quicker than you realize, got a bit more burst…his football IQ, his leadership. There are so many other aspects that you want out of a 1A, 1B and it just so happens that they compliment each other beautifully."
The senior Love brings plenty of experience himself. He played in 37 games for the Illini, racking up 1,066 yards and six touchdowns. He's ready to do anything necessary to help the Boilers this fall.
"My role is to do whatever the team needs me to do to win games," Love said. "If that's special teams, if that's carrying the ball 40 times, whatever it is, I'm just here to help the team win."
Boilermaker fans should be looking forward to watching both Mockobee and Love running out of the backfield this season. The duo is excited to show how well they compliment each other.
"I call him [Mockobee] 'Crazy Legs'," Love laughed. "The way I compliment Crazy Legs, you know Mock does a lot of stuff and he's real twitchy. I'm a little bigger. Both of us are explosive, run hard. Just having another guy that can go out there and play all three downs is good if you ask me."
Purdue faces Indiana State in just 18 short days. Tickets to see the Boilermakers face the Sycamores are still on sale.
The running back room took to the mic today as coach Lamar Conard spoke to the media along with Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III. The rushing attack played a huge role in the Purdue offense last season. The Boilers paced the Big Ten in rushing by averaging 184.6 yards per game in league contests.
Mockobee himself has been the spearhead of the ground game for the Boilermakers each of the last two seasons. One of only four Big Ten running backs to rush for more than 800 yards in each of the past two seasons, the junior landed on the Doak Walker Award Watch List for this upcoming season. During the offseason, the Boonville native has focused on transforming his body to be able to handle an even bigger workload.
"I've always had that kind of mentality to want to run through a guy, but obviously I didn't have the size to do that last year or the year before," Mockobee said. "So, I think it will make a big difference with the weight I have this year to actually be able to run how I'm more comfortable running versus trying to get away from guys."
Conard, along with director of football strength and conditioning Kiero Small, put an emphasis on pushing Mockobee to do everything he could to maximize his potential and help his team.
"He's a stronger runner. He's more explosive in and out of his cuts," Conard said of Mockobee's transformation. "He's always been really quick, but he could get knocked off line a little bit. We call him 'Crazy Legs' for a reason…he just physically looks stronger, and he looks more confident to be quite frank."
Head coach Ryan Walters and his staff knew that they wanted to add a compliment to the veteran Mockobee with Tyrone Tracy Jr. headed off to the NFL. They found the perfect piece in a familiar place, bringing in Love, whom Walters had worked with at Illinois and associate head coach Cory Patterson coached for two years in high school.
"All the things I believe in, all the things Coach Walters believes in, is Reggie Love," Conard said. "He is tough as nails. He is, in my opinion, an every down box running back. He can do the dirty work for you. He's quicker than you realize, got a bit more burst…his football IQ, his leadership. There are so many other aspects that you want out of a 1A, 1B and it just so happens that they compliment each other beautifully."
The senior Love brings plenty of experience himself. He played in 37 games for the Illini, racking up 1,066 yards and six touchdowns. He's ready to do anything necessary to help the Boilers this fall.
"My role is to do whatever the team needs me to do to win games," Love said. "If that's special teams, if that's carrying the ball 40 times, whatever it is, I'm just here to help the team win."
Boilermaker fans should be looking forward to watching both Mockobee and Love running out of the backfield this season. The duo is excited to show how well they compliment each other.
"I call him [Mockobee] 'Crazy Legs'," Love laughed. "The way I compliment Crazy Legs, you know Mock does a lot of stuff and he's real twitchy. I'm a little bigger. Both of us are explosive, run hard. Just having another guy that can go out there and play all three downs is good if you ask me."
Purdue faces Indiana State in just 18 short days. Tickets to see the Boilermakers face the Sycamores are still on sale.