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WATCH: RB D.J. Knox hides behind offensive line as Purdue runs fake kneel play to perfection

Dustin Schutte

By Dustin Schutte

Published:

Sometimes, it pays to be small. It certainly worked to the advantage of Purdue running back D.J. Knox in the Foster Farms Bowl.

As the first half was coming to a close, the Boilermakers held a two-touchdown advantage and were in their own territory with less than a minute to play. When they lined up, it appeared that they were content to go into the locker room with a 28-14 lead and would just take a knee to end the half.

But Jeff Brohm is calling the plays. And he’s rarely content.

While in that kneeling formation, Knox — who stands at 5-foot-7 — ducked behind his big offensive linemen, virtually out of sight from the Arizona defense. After a few seconds, quarterback Elijah Sindelar handed the ball off to Knox, who then got to the outside of the defense and sprinted for a 30-yard gain.

The trick play helped Purdue add three points to its lead before half, taking a 31-14 advantage over the Wildcats.

Now that’s some offensive ingenuity.

Brohm has been known to implement plenty of trick plays into his offense, several of which have worked out well for Purdue this season. This one didn’t result in a touchdown, but it was still run to perfection.

Dustin Schutte

Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB