WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- A lone, unscathed, white helmet sat under the far end of the Penn State bench, tucked under the long metal seat.

Its owner stood 20 feet away, watching the Nittany Lion offense run out the clock with the rest of his teammates. When the clock ticked down to zero, Jordan Norwood trudged over to the bench, bent down and picked up his helmet.

Norwood was relegated to the sideline with a hamstring injury and did not play against Purdue Saturday, despite his lobbying of the coaches throughout the game. The senior wideout was not made available after the game, but his roommate and close friend Deon Butler spoke for him, saying Norwood has wanted to play since he sustained the injury two weeks ago.

"Oh, gosh, yeah, he's been antsy all at the house," Butler said. "He's been running and warming up and trying to jog it out. That's just the competitor he is."

Norwood was listed as probable earlier this week on Penn State's injury report and looked relatively healthy during pre-game warmups as he ran routes and stretched out. He was downgraded to questionable right before the game.

"I thought he'd be ready this week," Joe Paterno said of Norwood after the game.

When asked if he thought Norwood could have played against Purdue, Paterno said, "No."

Norwood injured his hamstring in practice leading up to the Illinois game, which he dressed for but did not play.

Butler said he didn't know the specifics of how Norwood injured the muscle, but said he's at about "80 percent" recovered. Norwood was limited to light stretching last week in practice.

"Since I live with him, I tell him every day, 'Look, man. Everyone knows how good you are we know what you're capable of,' " Butler said. " 'Don't come back 80 percent and play 80 percent the rest of the season. Wait another week, get it to 100 percent and be ready to roll the rest of the season.' "

Despite not playing in two games, Norwood still leads Penn State with 318 receiving yards and four touchdowns.

Sophomore wideout Graham Zug has seen more time in relief of Norwood and had two catches for 39 yards against the Boilermakers.

"I really think he'll be back next week," Butler said. "I think really, if he wanted to he could've gone this week but in his best interest he wants to be back at 100 percent and I think next week he's definitely going to be ready."