Even with the awful news yesterday it is still exciting to see single digits. Just because Rob Henry went down doesn't mean my resolve for the season is lessened. I still expect a 3-0 start and wins over Minnesota and Indiana, putting us one win shy of a bowl game. I believe we can find that win, too.
Today's player is, of course, one still recovering from his own ACL tear. Coach Hope went on record yesterday as saying he was concentrating on the Big Ten season right now because swelling in his off knee won't allow him to play much. Who knows. By the time the Big Ten season comes around maybe Caleb TerBush will have cemented his role as starter anyway.
Robert Marve - Sr.
Hometown: Tampa, FL (Plant HS)
Quarterback
6'1", 201 pounds
2011 Projection: Contributor at quarterback
I would be perfectly happy if Marve made it through this season completely healthy and graduated from Purdue with the same academic honors he received last year. Despite his injury he was still an Academic All-Big Ten selection. He seems to have put his troubles at Miami behind him and now he only needs to get healthy.
That said, the continued reports of him missing multiple practices due to swelling are not good. He would certainly be the starter now if completely healthy, but instead it looks like he is fourth at best if Coach Hope is so concerned that he is moving Justin Siller back to quarterback as the #3 guy.
All Marve truly needs right now is healing. The NCAA has cleared him. His main competition to start just went down. He will have a shot at redemption if he can get healthy. Unfortunately, I don't see his knee going from sore and swollen to magically 100% in nine days. By the time he is healthy TerBush could take over as the entrenched starter, but we all know one small misstep can change everything.
With Marve we know what we're getting. He's a good passer that will definitely be more of a drop back passer now. It is safe to say that his mobility will be limited, but TerBush is a drop abck passer too. That means we lose the running element that Henry gave us, but int he end it may actually help the passing game. The running game will be fine with Ralph Bolden and Akeem Shavers, so maybe this is a minor blessing in disguise.
At least that's what I'm telling myself.
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