Weeks of work and practice will come to an end Saturday for the Purdue football team with its spring football game.
After not having the event last year due to improvements to Ross-Ade Stadium, the Boilermakers will take part in the event Saturday, and second year head coach Ryan Walters is ready.
The main goal, according to Walters is to “stay healthy.”
“We’ve had good really good work throughout spring ball, guys working the right way. So we want to get them an opportunity to have fun out there, But obviously the goal is to stay healthy,” Walters said.
Game-like atmosphere will be on tap Saturday
Walters said he and his staff want to see how the players handle playing and practicing in front of a crowd.
On Saturday, Walters said the first team offense and second team defense will be on one team with the starting defense and second team offense on the other.
And, he is taking every precaution to come out of the Purdue football spring game healthy.
“If it’s 3rd and 1, it would just have to be an automatic first down, so there’s no hard collisions there. If it’s goal to go from the one, it’ll be an automatic touchdown. If we have to punt, we’ll just take the NCAA average flip the field. Kick off returns and stuff like that, we’ll just start on the 25. We’ll still get some game like flow, but just modified a little bit to take care of each other,” Walters said.
Walters said he does not anticipate holding anyone out of the game, but that some players may be pulled at halftime.
“I have a good feel for who our guys are and who we are going to count on. The utmost importance is staying healthy,” the Purdue football coach said.
Purdue football has seen improvements this spring
Walters has said numerous times there is a night and day difference from this spring compared to last. Last year was his first as a head coach.
With 27 newcomers through the transfer portal and true freshmen combined with last year’s returning players, Purdue football has worked hard to put together the pieces to improve on last year’s four win season. Walters said he has seen some major improvements from the Boilermakers.
“Communication has been awesome. Just the volume and the amount of communication and type of communication. We’ve gained a lot. We’ve created some depth. We are learning how to practice in terms of playing tough and physical and being detailed, but also recognizing we are playing against each other,” Walters said.
In addition, he has said his newcomers have been phenomenal.
“All of them have done what we hoped they would do and more. That tells me that our scouting department does a really good job evaluating. Our coaches did a good job in the recruiting process. No surprises is a good thing. We have 27 newcomers and wanted to see how they would come together. We have a bunch of guys in the locker room who love football and have no egos. There are no egos, there’s no selfish individuals. Everyone understands what we are trying to accomplish. The standard is a lot higher than a year ago,” Walters said.
How will the transfer portal impact Purdue this spring?
Walters knows there could be some changes to Purdue football once spring practice is finished and the spring portal opens April 16.
“Who knows, right? It’s like Wall Street and you have to go with the market. I am sure we will have some guys in the portal we didn’t expect, but I like our locker room right now. I think the locker room likes being here and the way program is structured, but who knows. We will be ready for whatever transpires. We will take advantage of the rules and put together the best roster possible to chase a championship,” Walters said.
Walters said he has been “transparent, open and honest” when meeting with players.
“We will be fine. Purdue will be fine,” Walters said.
The Boilermakers open the season Aug. 31 at home against Indiana State.
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