Purdue loses QB ahead of PSU game
Purdue will be without quarterback Elijah Sindelar and wide receiver Rondale Moore when the Boilermakers play No. 12 Penn State this weekend.
Sindelar, a fifth-year senior, suffered a broken clavicle last Saturday in a 38-31 loss to Minnesota and underwent surgery Monday, according to Purdue coach Jeff Brohm. He might be out for the year.
Twenty yards away on the same play, Moore suffered an injury to his left leg. All Brohm said Monday was that he would not play against the Nittany Lions Saturday at 12 noon at Beaver Stadium.
Moore was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season and a consensus first-team All-American. Brohm said he’s “hopeful it’s not” a season-ending injury for Moore.
Redshirt freshman Jack Plummer will start at quarterback in place of Sindelar.
“He is very intelligent and picks up things quickly,” Brohm said about Plummer. “He just has to work on getting experience, driving the football and throwing it with conviction. We have to get better around him. We have to get better at knocking people back.”
Purdue also will be without backup offensive lineman D.J. Washington, who suffered a broken fibula against Minnesota and will undergo surgery Tuesday.
Defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal, who was slated to return against Penn State, will not play. Neal is recovering from a torn ACL that he suffered last November against Indiana.
Running backs Tario Fuller and Richie Worship and wide receiver Jared Sparks also likely will be out.
Brohm has installed redshirt freshmen Cory Trice and Jordan Rucker as the starting cornerbacks, replacing Kenneth Major and Dedrick Mackey, after Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan completed 21-of-22 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns against Purdue.
*** Penn State sophomore quarterback Sean Clifford shared the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week award with Minnesota sophomore quarterback Tanner Morgan.
Clifford completed 26-of-31 passes for 398 yards and three touchdowns with one interception in the Nittany Lions’ 59-0 victory over Maryland. He also carried seven times for 54 yards and one touchdown.
Clifford’s passing yards are the thirdmost in Penn State history, trailing only Christian Hackenberg’s 454 yards against UCF in 2014 in Ireland and Zack Mills’ 399 yards against Iowa in 2002 at Beaver Stadium.
His 452 total yards are the second-most in school history, trailing only Trace McSorley’s 461 total yards last year against Ohio State.
*** Penn State’s Big Ten game Oct. 12 at Iowa will have a 7:30 p.m. Eastern time kickoff at Kinnick Stadium. The game will be televised by ABC, FS1 or Big Ten Network.