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Penn State coaches badly wanted David Bell to be part of their last recruiting class.
They’ll be reminded of that fact today when they look to contain the impressive true freshman wideout, whose role in Purdue’s offense figures to grow because of an injury to do-it-all star Rondale Moore.
Though it won’t help in today’s game, the Nittany Lions look to have landed a very similar player for their 2020 class.
Virginia’s KeAndre Lambert committed to Penn State at a pep rally for his unbeaten Maury High School squad on Friday, adding an elite receiver to the Lions’ upcoming class.
“I went through a lot as a kid, from having my power turned off to my family and I being homeless,” Lambert said in his commitment video. “Giving up was never an option, because I knew God gave me the chance and talent to change our lives for the better and forever.”
A four-star recruit, Lambert is rated as the No. 1 receiver in Virginia as well as the No. 31 wideout in the nation, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
He tops a group of five receivers committed to the Lions for 2020, joining Massachusetts’ Jaden Dottin, Texas’ Parker Washington, Canada’s Malick Meiga and Lackawanna College sophomore Norval Black.
Bell ranked as the country’s No. 113 overall recruit in last year’s cycle, as the 6-foot-1, 200-pound speedster elected to stay home in Indiana to play for the Boilermakers, who beat out Penn State as his other top choice.
Lambert is listed at 6-foot-1, 176 pounds and is also known for his speed as the No. 182 overall prospect in the nation. He chose Penn State over a few dozen offers and his commitment video had him on the field in gear for Georgia, North Carolina and reigning national champ Clemson before he announced for Penn State.
Florida, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas A&M and USC topped the list of programs that offered a scholarship.
His Maury squad, located in Norfolk, entered Friday’s game 4-0, having outscored opponents 204-26. Lambert has starred as a receiver, an occasional wildcat quarterback and a return man.
He took two punts back for touchdowns in his season-opener. Then in a game between top-ranked teams in the state, Lambert had five catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns while adding a fourth score on the ground in a 49-7 rout.
Lambert is the fifth recruit to pledge to Penn State since the season opened. Another Virginia high school product, defensive back Elijah Gaines, jumped on board last Friday, following Aliquippa LB/DE Zuriah Fisher, New York OL Ibrahim Traore and New Jersey OL Devin Willock.
Penn State is now rounding the bend toward a 30-man class — a response to the increased attrition in the new era of the transfer portal — with Lambert in as No. 27. His addition pushed the Lions up two spots to No. 13 nationally in the Composite team rankings.
THREE AND OUT
The replacements
With Moore and starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar both ruled out for today — both were injured on the same play in the first quarter last week against Minnesota — Purdue turns to redshirt freshman Jack Plummer to lead the offense.
Plummer nearly led a comeback against the Golden Gophers in a 38-31 loss, throwing for 245 yards and two scores with two interceptions.
“He’s very intelligent, and yes, he picks things up very quickly and he has a great grasp of what we are doing,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. “He has very good knowledge. He just has to work on getting some experience out there on the playing field. I think driving the football and throwing it with conviction a little bit more can help him.
“With Jack, and really our quarterback position, we’ve got to get better around him. Fortunately for us he was able to make a few plays with his feet when he needed to and that gave us a spark. He competed and played hard to the end, and that was great to see.”
His favorite target was Bell, who caught eight passes for 114 yards.
“I thought David was outstanding,” Brohm said. “It was great to see him. He played hard. He played tough. He made plays. That’s kind of what we saw early on, and then he was out for camp for a very extended period of time. He’s got some great playmaking skills.
“He will be tested this week against a very good team and there won’t be a whole lot of time to throw the football, so it will challenge us on offense.”
Jackson Anthrop, who has split time between wideout and running back, figures to take Moore’s spot in the slot.
Just as important, though, he is listed as the top man on both kick and punt returns, a role that helped make Moore an All-American a year ago as a true freshman.
“That has a significant impact on what they do on special teams,” Lions coach James Franklin said. “So it will be interesting in how they handle that. Are they still going to be a return team on special teams, or are they going to go after you for blocks? Obviously not having him factors in.”
Passing fancy
While the changes on offense for Purdue have drawn most of the attention this week, the Boilers are also moving things around in their secondary, hoping to fix leaks in a porous pass defense.
A pair of redshirt freshmen in Cory Trice and Jordan Rucker are listed at the top of the latest depth chart at cornerback, though Brohm said playing time there will be fluid.
It has to be. Purdue made Minnesota’s Tanner Morgan look like a Heisman candidate last week, allowing him to complete an eyebrow-raising 21-of-22 passes for 396 yards and four touchdowns.
A day earlier, Penn State’s Sean Clifford threw for 398 and three scores against Maryland on 26-of-31 passing
“We have to get better,” Brohm said. “It’s not all on the corners as far as mistakes. We have to coach better. We have to get our guys in the best position to succeed and win. We have to work extremely hard in practice.
“I want to challenge routes. I mean, way too many open guys down the field. Way too many guys not being disrupted at the line of scrimmage. Way too many huge holes in the secondary.”
Throwback Saturday
For the second time in three years, Penn State will wear the closest thing the program gets to alternate uniforms, donning the “Generations of Greatness” kit last used against Indiana in 2017.
As a whole, it doesn’t look too much different from the Lions’ usual home look, changing just a few details to honor past versions of the program’s iconic look.
Most notably, Penn State will have numbers on the helmets (1959-61 and 1967-74), gray facemasks (1970-72) and a blue stripe on the pants (1952-68).
The favorite change for the players, though, is getting to wear the white cleats that the Lions sported in the 1979 Sugar Bowl against Alabama.
“Love ‘em,” wideout KJ Hamler said. “I wish we wore them everyday.”
“You know how young guys are — the white shoes, they think are the greatest thing ever,” Franklin said. “Remember when you were like 8 years old and your mom would buy you a new pair of shoes, and you thought you were faster in the new shoes, running up and down the aisle? That’s how our guys are.”