Purdue Football Buried by Iowa in 24-3 Loss
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Before the start of Purdue’s game against Iowa, the Boilermaker Special ran out of steam and had to be pushed off the field prior to kickoff. In many ways, it was a sign of things to come.
This can't be a good omen for Purdue...
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In terms of performance, the Boilermakers had just as much trouble showing up on the field and let the Hawkeyes control the pace of the game all afternoon. It didn’t matter whether the swirling wind was in Purdue’s favor or not, as the team simply couldn’t get out of its own way in a 24-3 beat down at the hands of Iowa on Saturday inside Ross-Ade Stadium.
“Without question, it was a bad day for us, obviously," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said after the game. "That starts with me. I didn't have the team ready to play, guys didn't perform and we got our butts kicked. There's no if ands or buts about it.
"That's a good football team, and we knew that. We knew we were gonna have to make some plays and get some points early to take them out of what they wanted to do. We didn't get that done, we turned it over, we weren't opportunistic in the red zone. Gave up way too many big plays on defense once again. So you combine those, and we were lucky the score was what it was."
The Hawkeyes entered the game averaging 248.6 yards of total offense per game, which ranked last in the Big Ten. They amassed 258 yards in the first half alone, taking advantage of a pair of second-quarter interceptions thrown by sixth-year senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell.
Purdue combated gusts of up to 25 miles per hour for its first three drives of the game. The offense ran 15 plays and amassed 105 yards in the opening period, but was forced into a trio of punts.
Even with the wind at its back, Iowa had two punts of its own in the first quarter. But the Boilermakers dug themselves into a hole before halftime, allowing the Hawkeyes to score 17 points in the second quarter. They opened the scoring with a touchdown pass to tight end Sam LaPorta, who notched three catches for 71 yards in the contest.
His 16-yard score capped off a nine-play, 91-yard drive that served as the precursor to O’Connell’s disastrous turnovers.
"Obviously, not a great day. Not a lot of completions, turnovers and no touchdowns," O'Connell said of his performance. "They don't change things up, they do what they do and they do it well. They did that today, so kudos to them. They did a good job."
Throws intended for wide receiver Tyrone Tracy — a transfer from Iowa this offseason — and running back Dylan Downing went right through their fingertips and into the waiting arms of Hawkeye defenders. O’Connell has thrown two or more interceptions in three games so far this season and one in each of the last six.
Purdue rallied right before halftime, orchestrating an 11-play, 53-yard drive that reached the 2-yard line thanks to the efforts of redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee. But instead of rewarding the walk-on with an opportunity to punch the ball into the end zone, Brohm called three straight passes that resulted in two incompletions and a 15-yard sack.
A 26-yard field goal by fifth-year senior Mitchell Fineran was all the Boilermakers could muster, and they trailed the Hawkeyes 17-3 at halftime. Mockobee had 43 yards on seven carries in the first two quarters, while leading receiver and former Hawkeye Charlie Jones registered six catches for 78 yards.
"That was a bad job by me, without question," Brohm said. "One of them was a run-pass. I thought we were gonna hand it off, but Aidan ended up choosing to throw the fade. I would like for him to hand off, but it was a run-pass so he has the option. That's my fault. We should have ran the ball at that point, and I did not."
Just two plays into the third quarter, Iowa freshman running back Kaleb Johnson buried Purdue with a 75-yard breakaway touchdown run, giving the Hawkeyes a 24-3 lead. He rushed for 200 yards on 22 attempts to go along with the score. It was the second straight game the Boilermakers allowed a 100-yard rusher after not giving up one in the first seven games of the year.
"We just gotta get back to doing what we do as a defense," Purdue redshirt senior defensive lineman Lawrence Johnson said. "The main thing is staying in our gaps, tackling the ball and stopping the run. We gave up 200 yards to one running back, it's not our best performance.
"It's kind of embarrassing. We take pride in stopping the run and we obviously didn't do that tonight. Next week, we play another good running back who's capable of doing the same thing if we don't stop that ball."
Purdue was unable to put any more points on the board as an offense in the second half. The unit made six trips into Iowa territory with just three points to show for it. The team moved the chains on two of its five fourth-down attempts.
O’Connell completed 20 of his 43 passes for 168 yards. Against his former team, Jones led the Boilermakers with 11 catches and 104 yards receiving.
“It wasn't good enough,” Jones said. "I left stuff out there, I had a drop early on in the game. We didn't get the win, and that's all that mattered. Playing against these guys was cool, I have a lot of friends on that team, but most importantly you have to come in and get the win."
Purdue is still searching for bowl eligibility after falling to 5-4 on the season, including 3-3 in Big Ten play, and will be back in action next Saturday on the road against Illinois at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.
"With a lot of season to play for, it's one football game and yes, we got beat very badly," Brohm said. "It'll either bring out the best of us or it'll take things over. But I'm hopeful that our guys understand that we're all going to have to do our part to fight and scrap in order to figure out a way to win the next one."
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.