Tyrone Tracy Continuing to Find Comfortability in Role Within Purdue's Offense
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — After seeing just two touches in the season opener, it was made apparent that Purdue wanted to get Tyrone Tracy the ball early and often against Indiana State.
The versatile pass catcher — who's splitting time at both wide receiver and running back — had four receptions and three rushes in the first half of a 56-0 victory in Week 2, which went for a total of 71 yards.
Tracy may not have kickstarted his season with the Boilermakers in the same way that fellow Iowa transfer Charlie Jones has through two games, but he's looking to earn more and more trust from the team's coaching staff by showing that his repetitions in practice will translate to big plays on Saturdays.
"In the game is a whole different story," Tracy said. "So I think I did that this past weekend, as they've seen me evolve at the running back position and the receiver position."
Against Penn State, Tracy never really had the chance to impact the game and went for just 17 yards on his pair of opportunities. Purdue coach Jeff Brohm knew heading into the second week of the season that had to change.
"I think with Tyrone, the key is getting him so many touches a game," Brohm said. "Whether that's at receiver, at the running back position, I think he's a unique type of player that has talent at both.
"His strength is not necessarily just running vertical routes and getting open, even though he does a very good job at that. His strength is getting the ball in his hands and letting him go make some plays."
As a star running back out of Decatur Central High School in Indianapolis, he earned recognition as Indiana's Gatorade Player of the Year in 2017. But heading into his collegiate career at Iowa, he made the switch to wide receiver.
In four seasons with the Hawkeyes, Tracy caught 66 passes for 871 yards and five touchdowns. He also added 93 yards and a pair of scores on 16 rushing attempts. Purdue is giving him an opportunity to return to his roots in some capacity.
Tracy, who's still finding balance at two positions for the Boilermakers, wouldn't specify whether he prefers to run the ball out of the backfield or line up out wide and haul in passes.
"Any way they can get me the ball," Tracy said. "I mean, whether that's a long pass, short pass, running out the backfield, bubbles. Whatever it may be, I'm going to do it to the best of my ability."
The 6'1", 205-pound redshirt senior flashed his skillset against Indiana State as Brohm called plays designed to get Tracy the ball right from the get-go. He caught a four-yard pass on Purdue's first offensive play from scrimmage.
Two plays later, Tracy hauled in another pass from sixth-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell that went for 19 yards and brought the Boilermakers to the 4-yard line. The catch set up a touchdown run on the very next snap.
During the team's next possession, Tracy broke free for a 17-yard carry down to the 7-yard line, which led to another score.
Tracy registered two straight carries on Purdue's third drive of the game, including another 17-yard scamper. O'Connell then fired a 26-yard pass to redshirt junior Paul Piferi for a touchdown.
The team found itself up 21-0 with 6:44 left to play in the first quarter, and Tracy's play at both receiver and running back was one of the catalysts that fueled the fast start.
"We just want to get him comfortable in that role," Brohm said after the game. "And I thought he got winded early, so that was a little disappointing — we wanted to kind of go to him even more. But, you know what, he practices hard, he goes hard, he's a great teammate, and we want to continue to push the envelope with him."
A new environment — one that's closer to home — and a high-powered offense is just what Tracy was looking for when he decided to transfer from Iowa. When he starts to hit full stride for Purdue, it'll make the offense that much more dangerous moving forward.
"I feel like here, the coaches, they trust me when I have the ball in my hands," Tracy said. "And I think that they are doing a great effort at trying to give me the ball. I see that in games, and I feel like it's going to benefit me and the team at the end of the day."
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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.