Purdue Football Closes Nonconference Schedule With a Victory, Defeating Florida Atlantic 28-26
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — With starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell out of the lineup, Austin Burton made the second start of his college career and guided Purdue to a narrow 28-26 win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday night inside Ross-Ade Stadium.
Burton, a sixth-year senior that transferred from UCLA in 2020, completed 21 of his 29 passes for 166 yards, three touchdowns and one interception as the Boilermakers closed their nonconference schedule with a victory.
“You work hard every day, practice every day for one game,” Burton said. “This is the first time I've started since I've been at Purdue, so just trying to make the most of it and maximize the moment.”
Burton went 6 of 6 for 34 yards through the air on the team’s opening possession. He found sixth-year senior wide receiver Charlie Jones for a seven-yard score, marking his first touchdown pass with the Boilermakers to conclude a 77-yard drive.
After taking the early lead, the Purdue offense struggled to find a rhythm. The Boilermakers picked up just 65 yards on its next four possessions, which included a fumble by Jones, a three-and-out, and a turnover on downs.
Florida Atlantic took advantage with three straight scoring drives in the second quarter, taking a 13-7 lead. The Owls’ only trip to the end zone in the half came on a 13-yard pass play from quarterback N’Kosi Perry to wide receiver Lajohntay Wester, which capped off a 14-play, 96-yard drive.
Purdue responded late in the second half as Burton orchestrated the team’s second scoring drive of the game. With 1:17 left on the clock before halftime, it took less than a minute for the Boilermakers to go 75 yards for a touchdown.
Burton found Jones for their second scoring strike of the night, which would give Purdue a 14-13 halftime lead.
“We work on two minutes all the time. That's a big emphasis every week of practice,” Burton said. “Just to go out there and execute one, we definitely needed it that time.”
Junior running back Dylan Downing extended the lead for the Boilermakers with a two-yard touchdown plunge on their first drive of the third quarter. He led the team with 113 yards on 15 carries in the win.
Downing is the first running back for Purdue to rush for over 100 yards since Zander Horvath on Nov. 28, 2020, against Rutgers. He credited the offensive line for his success as the team finished with 188 yards rushing.
“I wasn't getting touched until like four yards down the field,” Downing said. “They were getting off and they were getting a push. It was kind of easy to see a hole because it was really big — because they were doing their work.”
However, Florida Atlantic punched back by reaching the end zone after forcing Burton into his first mistake of the night. An ill-advised throw into double coverage, intended for redshirt junior receiver TJ Sheffield, was picked off by safety Dwight Toombs.
It took the Owls five plays to go 62 yards, ending with another touchdown pass from Perry to Wester, and the Boilermakers saw their lead shrink to just one point.
Florida Atlantic threatened to go ahead early in the fourth quarter following a missed field goal attempt by fifth-year senior kicker Mitchell Fineran. From the 18-yard line of the Boilermakers, Perry threw a pass that was picked off by fifth-year senior safety Chris Jefferson.
He returned the football to the opposing 35-yard line, and the offense capitalized. Burton went on to find Sheffield for a four-yard touchdown, giving the team a 28-20 lead with 8:01 left to play in the game.
But Wester continued to give the Purdue secondary problems in the second half. He caught his third touchdown pass of the game on the following drive. The sophomore pass-catcher finished with nine catches for 90 yards to lead all receivers. The subsequent 2-point conversion attempt to tie the game was no good.
After being forced to punt with just over two minutes left to play, the Boilermaker defense came away with a crucial takeaway to seal the game. Perry attempted a quarterback sneak on fourth down but fumbled the ball fighting for the line to gain, which ended in the hands of junior safety Sanoussi Kane.
After last-minute losses against Penn State and Syracuse this season, the team was able to stave off what could have been another devastating loss in the fourth quarter.
“It's almost like the sense of fresh air now that we've gotten to a two-minute situation where we came out victorious,” Kane said. “That two-minute situation was harder than the previous two that we had because they had to kick a field goal. That felt great for the defense in general, and it's just going to give us more confidence going into Big Ten play.”
Purdue is now 2-2 on the season and returns to Big Ten action next week in a road matchup against Minnesota, which is coming off a dominant 34-7 win over Michigan State. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for noon ET at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
”We're gonna have to study hard and figure out a few adjustments that we may need to make to give ourselves a chance, and it starts next week against probably one of the hottest teams in the Big Ten at their place,” coach Jeff Brohm said. “That is always a hard matchup for us because they play really good defense and they run the ball, so we got a lot of work to do this week.”
Related Stories
- Purdue, Florida Atlantic Live Blog: Purdue football closed its nonconference schedule with a 28-26 victory over Florida Atlantic. Take a look back at all the action from our live blog. CLICK HERE
- Purdue, Florida Atlantic Photo Gallery: Purdue football defeated Florida Atlantic on Saturday night for its Homecoming game inside Ross-Ade Stadium. The team now sits at 2-2 after its final nonconference matchup of the 2022 season. CLICK HERE
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.