Old National Presents: The 3-2-1

Three things learned. Two questions. One bold statement. It’s time for the 3-2-1, a look at the latest in Purdue football.

Three things learned

1 – Rolling out red carpet

Purdue welcomed what’s to be its largest collection of official visitors to campus this past weekend: 11. And the raft of recruits had a decidedly defensive flavor with eight of the visitors being on that side of the ball. And of those defensive players, three were d-backs and three were d-linemen.

Defensive backs:  Mason Alexander, Seaonta Stewart, Dawayne Galloway.

Defensive linemen: Drayden Pavey, Jayquan Stubbs, Kyler Garcia.

The group of 11 OVs included two in-state players in Gorin and Alexander, who Purdue seemingly is in good position with. They are teammates at Hamilton Southeastern High in Fishers, Ind. Gorin, of course, is the son of ex-Purdue OT Brandon Gorin.

2 – Prospect Camps finished

Purdue conducted the second of its two Prospect Camps last Wednesday. And if made an offer to 2025 Centerville (Ohio) High offensive lineman Kuol Kuol, whose family is originally from South Sudan.

He’s a lean lineman (6-6, 240) with a 6-10 wingspan who is projected to play tackle. He was offered because of his measurables and athleticism, combined with his game tape. He has some elite traits with length and athleticism. Kuol Kuol’s other top offers are from Boston College and Iowa State. He plans to make a commitment in early August. He will take an OV to West Lafayette this weekend.

“Currently, I’m weighing my options and seeing how the summer goes,” he texted to GoldandBlack.com “But I believe Purdue is an amazing program with an amazing offensive line coach (Marcus Johnson) who can really take me far.”

Purdue will have its final camp tomorrow: A team camp.

-Ben Davis
-McCutcheon
-West Lafayette
-Terre Haute North
-Rushville
-North Vermillion
-Danville
-Eastern Greentown
-Cardinal Ritter (Ind.)
-Kankakee (Ill.)
-Belleville West (Ill.)
-Dyett (Ill.)

3 – Taylor Stubblefield on ballot again

The all-time Purdue great wideout remains hopeful for induction into the College Football Hall of Fame And, he has a resume worthy of it.

He left campus with an NCAA all-time record 325 catches, as he finished his career with 3,433 yards receiving and 19 touchdowns. Stubblefield also led the Big Ten in catches three times.

What would induction mean for Stubblefield, who is wideout coach at Air Force?

“I mean, that’s the pinnacle for a college career!” he told GoldandBlack.com.

The Class of 2025 will be announced in January, with the induction ceremony taking place in December 2025.

Stubblefield was on campus last Sunday to be inducted into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame, along with Lafayette Jeff and Purdue quarterback Doug Downing, Lafayette McCutcheon and Michigan quarterback Clayton Richard and Rensselaer and Indiana State d-end Dan Brandenburg.

Two questions

1 – Ready for corporate logos?

The NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel passed a guideline allowing schools to sell sponsor advertisements on football fields. The new guideline will go into effect in time for the 2024 season. 

Advertisements will be limited to three spots: A single advertisement on the 50-yard line, along with two smaller ads elsewhere. Before, on-field sponsor logos were previously only allowed for postseason and neutral site games.

Purdue’s playing field already is sponsored: Rohrman Field, which began in 2020. The naming recognizes the Bob Rohrman family, which at the time made a $15 million gift to support future improvements to Ross-Ade Stadium.

2 – How many Purdue portal departures landed at Power Four schools?

Purdue saw 27 scholarship players hit the portal in the offseason, and nine went to Power Four schools:

WR Deion Burks, Oklahoma; DL J.P. Deeter, Arizona State; OL Josh Kaltenberger, Maryland; DL Sulaiman Kpaka, Mississippi State; TE Garrett Miller, Texas A&M; CB Jaxon Mull, Wake Forest; LB Roman Pitre, Arizona State; DE Nic Scourton (Texas A&M); DE Khordae Sydnor, Vanderbilt.

The losses of Burks and Scourton hurt the most. And, staffs never like to lose veteran linemen–like Kaltenberger and Kpaka–on either side of the ball.

One bold statement

Purdue will get a commitment from a 2025 recruit who visited last weekend. Expect an announcement today.