Adam Rittenberg, ESPN Senior Writer 10y

Spring game recap: Purdue

No team in the Big Ten wants the 2014 season to arrive faster than Purdue, which wrapped up spring practice Saturday with the Black & Gold spring game at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Gold team scored a late touchdown to record a 12-7 win against the Black squad before an announced crowd of 7,125.

For more coverage, read here and here and here.

Star of the game: Defensive end Ryan Russell. Purdue has waited years for Russell to take the next step, and it could finally happen in his last season. He came on strong late in the spring and recorded a game-high 11 tackles, as well as 3.5 sacks (some against non-live quarterbacks) and a forced fumble. "He's going with such a higher motor than I've ever seen him go with," quarterback Danny Etling said Saturday. "He's tough to go against. I feel sorry for the other quarterbacks who have to go against him."

How it went down: Both defenses controlled play for most of the game, generating two interceptions, two forced fumbles and 10 tackles for loss, seven by the Black squad. Although Purdue's offense looked better at times this spring, there are some unanswered questions entering the summer, namely quarterback.

Etling completed 10 of 17 passes for 96 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions and faced a lot of pressure from Black team defensive linemen. He led the game-winning touchdown drive and appeared to emerge from the spring with a slight edge against Austin Appleby, who struggled, completing seven passes for 21 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns. Stretching the field proved to be very difficult for both Etling and Abbleby, although freshman David Blough made some plays, including a 41-yard scoring pass to Danny Anthrop.

To be fair, neither Etling nor Appleby played with a full complement of receivers or top linemen.

"The package was very limited with what they called," coach Darrell Hazell said. "I'm sure there was more on the call sheet."

Purdue needs improvement from the quarterbacks this summer, but it can feel better about the potential at running back. Raheem Mostert had an excellent spring and finished with a decent day (44 rush yards on 10 carries). Akeem Hunt ended the spring on a good note with 54 rush yards and 73 receiving yards. Mostert and Hunt form a nice 1-2 punch, and both are threats on returns as well.

The Gold team repeatedly forced three-and-outs and received nice lifts from tackle Michael Rouse III (two tackles for loss, forced fumble), end Antoine Miles and cornerback Anthony Brown. Miles and Brown both had interceptions.

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