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Senior center Rick Schmeig is the unit's anchor with 16 starts to his credit. The 6-3, 305-pounder is the guy the Boilermakers can least afford to lose on the front line if they want to make a real push for the Leaders Division title. Senior Antavian Edison, who finished with 584 yards and three touchdowns last year, leads a thin receiving corps. Senior tailback Akeem Shavers will shoul- der most of the load with classmate Ralph Bolden still rehabilitating a third ACL tear, which happened in the final game of the regular season last fall. Shavers (5-11, 203) rushed for 519 yards and six touchdowns on 111 carries in 2011. First-year defensive coordinator Tim Tibesar was brought in to overhaul a group that finished 2011 ranked 73rd nationally in total defense (395.7 yards per game). Tibe- sar came to Purdue via Montreal, where he spent the last three seasons, in the Canadian Football League. He previously worked at Kansas State (defensive coordinator from 2007-08) and helped the Wildcats wrack up 2.5 sacks per game in 2007, which led the Big 12. He'll also be instructing the Boiler- makers linebackers. The defensive line, which switches be- tween three- and four-man looks, features senior tackle Kawann Short (6-3, 315), who's projected as an NFL first-round draft pick in 2012 and was voted a team co-cap- tain by his teammates. Pro scouts were fix- tures at practices during fall camp to watch the young man that will surely set the defen- sive tone for Purdue. Tibesar is still trying to develop depth at linebacker, his area of expertise but a unit that took a massive hit just days before the season opener against Eastern Kentucky with the arrest of senior Dwayne Beckford, who was kicked off the team. The troubled senior was arrested last December on a drunken-driving charge, which was his third run-in with West Lafayette area law enforce- ment. He was arrested a fourth time in late After compiling 54 stops, 17 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks in 2011, senior defensive tackle Kawann Short is on the radar of NFL scouts as a potential first- round draft pick. PHOTO COURTESY PURDUE August for what the university said was a violation of his probation. The defense will get a boost from a vet- eran secondary that should do much better than the 221 passing yards allowed per con- test in 2011. "I think expectations are high," Carmin said. "I think fans want them to match [seven wins] at the minimum and surpass it. Purdue hasn't really shied away from these expecta- tions that have been placed on them and that they have placed on themselves. "They have openly talked about this be- ing the year for the program to take the next step. This is an opportunity for them to move forward. The schedule is favorable from the standpoint that they play five of their first six games at home, and Ohio State and Penn State aren't eligible [for the conference title]. "This is not a perfect Purdue team that will just show up and beat people. They have to be more disciplined from a penalty stand- point and limit their turnovers." ✦ WWW.UND.COM/STORE/HOSPITALITY Questions: hospitality@ndsportsproperties.com CONTACT: HOSPITALITY@NDSPORTSPROPERTIES.COM 574-631-1573 PRIVATE CORPORATE TENT PACKAGES AVAILABLE WITH TICKETS. ✦ PAGE 2 Ultimate THE AT THE OFFICIAL NOTRE DAME HOSPITALITY VILLAGE IRISH TAILGATER Experience the fanfare and tradition of Notre Dame Football with the Ultimate Irish Tailgater at Notre Dame's Official Hospitality Village. Passes are available for each home game of the 2012 football season, and include access to a VIP buffet and open bar, keepsakes, entertainment and more in a 3-hour all-inclusive pre-game event. Packages and passes are available for Notre Dame's neutral site rivalry game against the Miami Hurricanes at Soldier Field in Chicago on 10/6/2012!