Purdue Senior Running Back King Doerue Ruled Out for Saturday's Game Against Syracuse
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football coach Jeff Brohm announced Thursday that starting running back King Doerue will be unavailable for the team's upcoming road matchup against Syracuse on Saturday.
The senior, who's rushed for 64 yards and a team-high three touchdowns so far this season, is dealing with a calf injury that he suffered during the team's season-opening loss to Penn State.
The Boilermakers will turn to junior running back Dylan Downing as the starter against the Orange. During the team's 56-0 shutout over Indiana State last Saturday, he ran for 55 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
"He's improved a great deal from the last year," Brohm said of Downing on Monday. "We feel like he has a great grasp of our offense, has lost weight, gained speed, he runs hard, he has good hands, and he just kind of understands what we're doing."
Redshirt junior running back Kobe Lewis, a transfer this offseason from Central Michigan, and redshirt freshman Devin Mockobee will be the backups rotation. They will be expected to play a role on offense come Saturday.
Both players saw extended playing time against the Sycamores in Week 2. Mockobee finished as the team's leading rusher, registering 78 yards and a touchdown on 13 rushing attempts.
"We have two young running backs in Kobe Lewis and Devin Mockobee who have some potential and talent," Brohm said. "They just have to pick up on knowing all the intricacies of the offense and the defense we're going against. But we feel confident that they'll go out there and play hard."
Iowa transfer receiver Tyrone Tracy, who's being used in a hybrid role for the Purdue offense, may also find more opportunities at running back as the team tries to overcome the loss of Doerue this week.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.