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5 Purdue players to watch against Iowa football in 2023
Deion Burks is latest playmaking Purdue wide receiver to come to Kinnick
IOWA CITY — Purdue’s last trip to Kinnick Stadium is one many Iowa football fans surely would like to forget.
The unranked Boilermakers stunned then-No. 2 Iowa with a 24-7 upset as wide receiver David Bell torched the Hawkeyes’ revered defense for 240 yards.
Fortunately for Iowa fans, the Purdue team coming to Kinnick on Saturday has a much different look. Jeff Brohm is coaching Louisville now instead of Purdue. Bell and quarterback Aidan O’Connell are in the NFL.
Still, this Purdue team, a 2.5-point underdog, is not one to overlook. Here are five Purdue players to watch, which includes a familiar face for Hawkeye fans:
RB Tyrone Tracy Jr.
Yes, that Tyrone Tracy Jr.
The former Iowa wide receiver is now a productive running back with the Boilermakers.
After making the switch from wide receiver to running back, Tracy leads Purdue with 288 rushing yards through five games.
The Indianapolis native had an especially impressive game against Illinois last weekend, racking up 112 yards while averaging 5.3 yards per attempt. He also had 84 rushing yards on eight carries in Purdue’s 38-17 loss to Wisconsin last month.
QB Hudson Card
Both teams in this matchup sought help at quarterback via the transfer portal in the offseason.
Iowa added Cade McNamara and Deacon Hill. Purdue brought in Hudson Card, who had spent his past three seasons at Texas.
Card’s results at Purdue have been mostly positive. The 6-foot-2 quarterback has completed 63.8 percent of his passes while throwing five touchdowns and three interceptions. He has thrown for at least 200 yards in all five of Purdue’s games so far.
His success in West Lafayette is hardly a surprise considering what he did at Texas (before losing the starting quarterback job to former five-star recruit Quinn Ewers).
Card appeared in 12 games and started three games at quarterback for the Longhorns in 2022. He completed 69.4 percent of his passes and threw six touchdowns versus one interception.
LB Kydran Jenkins
Kydran Jenkins has been one of Purdue’s defensive leaders in 2023.
The 6-1 outside linebacker has a team-high six tackles for loss and four sacks despite missing some of Purdue’s game against Syracuse because of an injury.
He also has a team-high six quarterback hurries.
Jenkins moved from defensive end to outside linebacker after last season. Jenkins, an all-Big Ten honorable mention in 2022, had started in 25 of 27 possible games in 2021 and ’22 on the defensive line.
He had as many sacks in 2021 as George Karlaftis, who now is a starter in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs.
DB Marquis Wilson
Marquis Wilson has not intercepted a pass yet this season, but he has been one of the Boilermakers’ best defensive backs in other ways.
Quarterbacks have completed only 48.5 percent of passes when targeting receivers Wilson is covering.
His six pass breakups are tied with Ohio State’s Denzel Burke for the best in the Big Ten.
Wilson transferred to Purdue after four seasons at Penn State. He played defensive back and wide receiver in 2021, including in the same game against Ball State.
Saturday’s game will be a reunion for Wilson and Iowa wide receiver Nico Ragaini, who were teammates at Avon Old Farms Prep in Connecticut.
WR Deion Burks
Deion Burks is the latest in a long line of Purdue wide receivers with big-play potential.
Burks has a team-high 377 receiving yards while averaging an impressive 18.9 yards per reception. (In comparison, no Iowa wide receiver has that many yards per game, let alone per reception.)
Burks had a David Bell-esque performance in Purdue’s season opener with four receptions for 152 yards against Fresno State. That included an 84-yard touchdown reception and a 44-yard reception that set up a touchdown on the next play.
Burks also had a 44-yard reception last week in Purdue’s 44-19 win over Illinois.
Fellow wide receiver T.J. Sheffield will be another player to watch. Sheffield had eight receptions for 48 yards in the 2021 win over Iowa.
Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com
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