Purdue Walk-On Devin Mockobee Helps Seal Win Over Minnesota With Late-Game Efforts

Purdue redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown in a 20-10 win over Minnesota. His 68-yard run in the fourth quarter was the longest play for either team.

D.J. Fezler | Oct 2, 2022

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MINNEAPOLIS — Redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee, a walk-on from Boonville, Ind., continues to make the most of his opportunities in the backfield for Purdue football.

After fumbling the ball in the second quarter of Saturday's road matchup against No. 21 Minnesota, he finished the game with 112 yards rushing on 11 carries. He ran for 70 yards on his final two attempts, helping to seal a 20-10 victory by going untouched on a 2-yard touchdown with 3:13 left to play.

"He's a prime example of a young man that's just hungry and is out to prove himself," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "He came here as a walk-on, he's probably 190 pounds dripping wet. ... But you know what, Devin is slippery. He runs hard, he doesn't go down and he really has no fear. Those are qualities that sometimes you can't teach, but he has that."

Mockobee saw the field for the first time in his college career during the second week of the season, rushing for a team-high 78 yards and a score in Purdue's 56-0 blowout over Indiana State.

But after an injury that's now sidelined senior running back King Doerue for the last three weeks, Mockobee has seen an increased workload. Through five games this season, he leads the team with 249 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.

"Super slippery guy, a workhorse, he stays patient and is a guy you can count on every day to come in and work hard," Purdue redshirt senior defensive end Branson Deen said of Mockobee. "He stays quiet, doesn't say much, but he comes in and he's a workhorse. I'm proud to see his production is paying off."

Against the Golden Gophers, the Boilermakers struggled to find consistent offense after a scoring drive on their opening possession. The team turned the ball over three times in the second quarter and accounted for just 37 yards of total offense in the third.

Starting quarterback Aidan O'Connell, who missed last week's game against Florida Atlantic due to injury, was back under center but threw a pair of interceptions. Mockobee also put the ball on the ground while trying to pick up a first down on third-and-2 from the Minnesota 37-yard line.

Luckily for the young back, Purdue was stout on defense, forcing a three and out and getting the ball back to the offense in a hurry. The two offenses trading empty possessions was a constant theme all afternoon, but it gave the Boilermakers a chance to stick with the gameplan and execute in the end.

"Going and fumbling the ball is very inexcusable from me, and that should never happen," Mockobee said. "I just felt like I needed to make it up. The whole time I was sitting there, I was like 'I need to do what I need to do for this team.'"

He did just that.

After receiving a punt from the Golden Gophers in the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers had a 13-10 lead with 3:58 left in the game and started the drive at their own 30-yard line. Brohm was looking to run down the clock, but Mockobee had other ideas.

He took the first handoff of the possession and cut back towards the middle of the field looking for blockers. A jump cut to the right set up the Minnesota defenders and opened up the left side of the field.

Mockobee saw the lane open up, and he snaked his way to the sideline and raced 68 yards before being wrestled down near the goal line. It was the longest play of the game for either team, and he punched the ball in for a touchdown on the next play to give Purdue a 20-10 lead.

.@BoilerFootball fact: @devin_mockobee will not be denied. 🤌

📍 @CountryMark 𝗗𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲 pic.twitter.com/fvOwO73KWX
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) October 1, 2022

"I'm always feeling them around me, but a lot of the time I'm just trying to make cuts to put them out of position so they don't even have the chance to touch me," Mockobee said.

Mockobee is making a name for himself on this Purdue football team each and every week. And for a young walk-on player to bounce back from a costly fumble and make the play of the game speaks volumes about his growth.

For every big play Mockobee makes, he puts himself closer to a scholarship, but he said he won't go out of his way to ask. He will continue to earn his touches by showing what he can do whenever his number is called.

"Those are things he'll learn from," Brohm said. "He really has no fear. He's a great young man, nothing really rattles him. He's kind of got that personality, just fun and enjoyable to be around.

"There's not a mean bone in his body, he just loves to compete, loves football and loves his teammates. And we're happy he's on our team."

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