Purdue RB Devin Mockobee pursues 1,000 yards rushing, bowl eligibility
Purdue sophomore running back Devin Mockoee came oh-so-close to hitting the 1,000-yard rushing mark last year. Can he reach the one-grand threshold this season?
He has work to do.
Through seven games, Mockobee has a team-high 482 yards on the ground (68.9 ypg), meaning the redshirt sophomore needs 518 in the next five games to become Purdue’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Kory Sheets had 1,131 in 2008.
Add it up: Mockobee will need to average 103.6 yards over the last five games. Of course, if the Boilermakers can reach a bowl, that would lower his needed per-game average to 86.3.
If Mockobee hits 1,000, he would be just the sixth Purdue player to do so, joining Otis Armstrong, Scott Dierking, Mike Alstott, Joey Harris and Sheets. Armstrong and Alstott both turned the trick twice.
Not long ago, thoughts of Mockobee cresting 1,000 yards this year may have seemed like folly as fumbling issues plagued him.
How bad was it? Mockobee fumbled six times in Purdue’s first five games of 2023. That cost him the No. 1 running back job after three weeks, with Tyrone Tracy taking over.
“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.”
Mockobee has been a handful the last two games, at Iowa and vs. Ohio State, as Tracy has dealt with injury. And Mockobee has excelled, running an aggregate 38 times for 199 yards.
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He had 110 yards rushing last week vs. Ohio State (6.1 ypc) to become the first player to hit the century mark vs. the Buckeyes in 2023.
Even better: Mockobee has been fumble-free the last two games.
“Starting the season, I was thinking a lot,” said Mockobee. “And I’ve just started to calm down and play my game.”
He fumbled only two times—none in the last nine games—while rushing for 968 yards last season during his breakout campaign, so the case of fumble-itis this season was an outlier for No. 45.
A bigger goal than rushing for 1,000 yards for Mockobee: Get the Boilermakers to a bowl for a third season in a row. To do that, Purdue (2-5 overall; 1-3 Big Ten) must win four of its last five games beginning with a tilt at Nebraska on Oct. 28. That’s Mockobee’s pursuit, as he may be splitting carries if Tracy is back–as expected.
“There’s no reason to go into the rest of season thinking, ‘Oh, let’s just pick a game here and pick a game there.’ We’re still in it to win (them) all,” said Mockobee. “That’s how I’m gonna play. That’s how I want the rest of us to play, just point, blank, period.”
So close to Purdue’s 1,000-yard club
Purdue has had several players come close to rushing for 1,000 yards the last 40-plus seasons. A look at the Boilermakers’ 900-yard rushers since 1982
| Season | Player | Rushing yards |
| 1982 | Mel Gray | 916 |
| 1997 | Edwin Watson | 927 |
| 2000 | Montrell Lowe | 998 |
| 2003 | Jerod Void | 952 |
| 2009 | Ralph Bolden | 935 |
| 2014 | Akeem Hunt | 949 |
| 2022 | Devin Mockobee | 968 |
