When you're the fullback in a notoriously one-back offense, you might get a little lonely, especially if you were a highly touted running back coming out of high school.

Thus was life last season for Anthony Heygood, now a sophomore. Heygood, a former highly regarded recruit, moved to fullback last spring, and served the role - very well, at that - as a redshirt freshman, playing only on a situational basis and carrying the ball just nine times.

Now, though, with Purdue thin at running back, and with redshirt freshman Frank Halliburton emerging at fullback, Heygood appears headed back to a true running back role. Though he still sees snaps in a fullback-type role now and again - like in goal-line action during Wednesday's scrimmage - he's by and large played more as a tailback this spring.

"We're not eliminating him from fullback," Coach Joe Tiller said, "… but we think he's a guy who's both. And he's done a better job running the football this spring, without a doubt."

In fact, since Kory Sheets has been sidelined, Heygood has been putting the "one" in Purdue's one-back offense, with the first-team offense.

"There's a lot less hard hitting," Heygood said Wednesday, of the move back to a more active ball-carrying role. "I just have to get back to the way I was in high school, making moves instead of just running straight into people."

Everyone likes to carry the ball, and Heygood is no different.

"But carrying the ball and blocking," Heygood said, "they're both good as long as it's helping the team.

"If Kory's carrying the ball and I'm blocking and we score a touchdown, it's all the same to me."

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