Purdue Boilermakers' cornerback Brandon King got a glimpse of running back Ralph Bolden's speed during practice. As far as I know, I think he was pretty damn impressed.
"He hit a play, he was coming through the A gap," King said, "and man, that was the fastest I've ever seen Ralph run. He's going to be exciting this year. We, on defense, we get to see it all."
Bolden was spectacular at the team's practices, preseason camps, and others. He was amazing at the spring ball as well. But on Saturday, in a game against the Toledo Rockets, the small 5'9" 194-pound Bolden ran for an amazing 234 rushing yards against the team.
The whole world saw what he can do. He also had a dazzling 78-yard scamper on the third play from scrimmage during the game. The sophomore said he just say grass, and ran. Man! And damn!
"I was like, 'Wow. Somebody probably gave me extra yards,'" Bolden told reporters of his reaction to seeing his final rushing total. "I'm speechless."
Of course he is speechless, what do you expect? Bolden entered his freshman year with little-to-none expectations, only running for 28 yards on 16 carries that season, which established him as a true freshman that year. Improving was the key, and after a knee injury that year, improvement had to get involved.
It now has. I am expecting great things coming out of Ralph this year. Watch out for this kid, he could be a star coming into this year. The Big Ten has done it again, and hey, so has the Boilermakers.
Looks like backing up Kory Sheets last year wasn't so bad, wasn't it?
I think not.
