Boilermakers bring road show to DePauw

Wearing the black and old gold familiar to the DePauw faithful, the Purdue football team goes through its afternoon practice Thursday as a smattering of Boilermaker fans dot the stands at Blackstock Stadium. Road trips during camp have become a tradition for the Boilermakers under coach Darrell Hazell, with past visits to Wabash College and St. Joseph's College. A DePauw athletics spokesman said Purdue officials reached out to the local university about utilizing the facilities for the day. (Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

Four tour buses and a U-Haul.

(Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

It's not the punchline to an unspoken joke, but what it apparently takes for a Division I football team to move its practice two counties and nearly 60 miles to the south.

The Purdue University football team spent Thursday in Greencastle utilizing the DePauw University facilities for two-a-day practices.

The road trips have become a tradition during coach Darrell Hazell's four-year tenure with the Boilermakers, taking them to Wabash College and St. Joseph's College in recent years, with another planned trip to Indianapolis Arsenal Technical High School canceled.

The morning session was a bit of a reprieve from the recent heat for the players, as cloudy skies over the DePauw practice field kept temperatures at bay.

(Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

No such luck in the afternoon session at Blackstock Stadium, though. Purdue took to the turf of Nick Mourouzis Field with the sun on full display and the mercury climbing to 90 degrees.

Now in their seventh day of camp, the Boilermakers are gearing up for a Sept. 3 home opener with Eastern Kentucky.

Hazell's squad looks to improve on a 2-10 (1-7 Big Ten) mark in 2015.

As for the DePauw Tiger football team, first-year players report to campus on Sunday, with the first full-team practice set for Tuesday afternoon.

Having improved its record in each of three seasons since coach Bill Lynch returned to the program, DePauw has a tall task ahead of it in matching or topping the 8-2 (7-2 NCAC) record and second-place North Coast Athletic Conference finish of 2015.

In a recent poll of NCAC coaches, the Tigers were picked to finish third behind perennial powers Wabash and Wittenberg. DePauw was the only school besides Wabash to pick up a first-place vote.

Following an Aug. 27 home scrimmage with Franklin College, the Tigers open the regular season hosting Mt. St. Joseph on Sept. 10.

(Banner Graphic/JARED JERNAGAN)

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