'More relaxed' RB Devin Mockobee hopes case of fumble-itis is over
It began with a fumble vs. Fresno State in the opener. Three more occurred vs. Syracuse in the third game. That was followed by one each in the next two games. Just like that, Purdue running back Devin Mockobee had six fumbles in the Boilermakers’ first five games.
The good news: Mockobee carried 20 times for 89 yards last Saturday at Iowa and had no ball security issues.
“Yeah, definitely think starting out the season I was definitely in my head a lot,” fessed Mockobee. “Expectations got to me a little bit, but now I’m starting to get more relaxed and just playing my game.”
And when Mockobee is “just playing my game,” he’s pretty good. We saw it last year, when he burst on the scene as a redshirt freshman and ran for 968 yards, the most ever by a freshman in school annals. During his coming out party in 2022, Mockobee fumbled just two times with none in the last nine games. So, his case of fumble-itis in 2023 was vexxing.
“He kind of had some bad luck early putting the ball on the ground,” said offensive coordinator Graham Harrell. “But, other than that, anytime he has the ball, he’s hard to tackle.”
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With No. 1 running back Tyrone Tracy expected to be out with a groin injury, Harrell will need Mockobee to be hitting on all cylinders on Saturday when Ohio State (5-0 overall; 2-0 Big Ten) comes to West Lafayette for a noon ET kickoff vs. Purdue (2-4; 1-2) on Peacock.
Mockobee leads Purdue with 372 yard rushing (4.3 ypc) to go with four rushing TDs. He also has 14 receptions for 94 yards. How did Mockobee put his ball security issues behind him last week?
“Just fall back on the fundamentals and really just play my game instead of trying to do too much,” said Mockobee. “I was trying to do too much. And then, you know, things happen.”
