Purdue Football Drops 16th Straight Game to Wisconsin, Losing 35-24 on the Road
MADISON, Wis. — Purdue football’s struggles against Wisconsin continued on Saturday as the team dropped its 16th straight game versus the Badgers with a 35-24 loss inside Camp Randall Stadium.
The Boilermakers were gashed in the run game, giving up a combined 185 yards on the ground to running backs Braelon Allen and Isaac Guerendo. It was the first time all season that the unit gave up a 100-yard rusher as Allen went for 113 on 16 carries.
Sixth-year senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell threw for 320 yards passing and one touchdown with three interceptions in a poor offensive showing as Purdue fell to 5-3 and 3-2 in Big Ten play.
“We dug ourselves a hole early and without question couldn't get out of it,” head coach Jeff Brohm said. “Our team doesn't have a whole lot of margin for error. We cannot do that. We did fight to the end, but it was not a good day for our football team.”
After giving up a touchdown during the Badgers’ opening possession with little resistance, O’Connell threw a 31-yard pick-six to dig the Boilermakers into an even deeper hole. They fell behind 14-0 within the first four minutes of play.
The team rubbed salt in its own wounds while looking to cut into an early deficit. After a nine-play, 66-yard drive, fifth-year senior kicker Mitchell Fineran was unable to boot a 26-yard field goal through the uprights. It was his fourth missed kick of the season.
Allen accounted for 77 rushing yards on just 10 carries for Wisconsin in the first two quarters, highlighted by a 41-yard burst that led to a touchdown.
The Purdue defense was able to slow the bleeding by forcing three straight punts, but quarterback Graham Mertz was lethal on play-action passes. He started 8-of-13 through the air for 130 yards and two touchdowns for the Badgers before halftime, including a 3-yard score to junior receiver Chimere Dike to take a 21-0 lead with 2:38 left in the first quarter.
“Obviously before, we were fitting the run right, so we just have to work on fitting the pass right,” Purdue junior safety Sanoussi Kane said. “And that’s just a collective effort of us as defensive backs and coaches, but we’re going to get it right.”
The Boilermakers found their first score of the game when Fineran drilled a 36-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 71-yard drive. They trailed 21-3 at the break.
Despite getting a chance to regroup at halftime, Purdue came out in the third quarter and repeated the same brutal mistake that it made to start the game. Facing third down, O’Connell forced a pass over the middle that was intercepted. Two plays later, Allen pranced into the end zone for a 14-yard score.
“They’re just smart players, very similar coverages to what we saw last year,” O’Connell said. “I just played a bad game, didn’t make the throws I needed to, didn’t make good decisions. Credit to them for playing well.”
The first of three late-game touchdown drives for the Boilermakers came as a result of a muffed punt by the Badgers. O’Connell capitalized with a touchdown pass to redshirt senior tight end Payne Durham from the 8-yard line, making it a 28-10 game with 4:12 left in the third quarter.
However, Wisconsin punched back quickly as Guerendo broke free for a 54-yard touchdown gallop. He registered 72 yards rushing on just seven attempts.
Purdue looked like its usual self on offense on the following drive, getting across the goal line on a 12-play, 81-yard drive that ended in a 1-yard touchdown dive by redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee. He was a bright spot in the offense, rushing for 108 yards on 23 carries to go along with the score.
“We thought we had a decent plan coming in with some balance running the ball,” Brohm said. “Unfortunately, we just turned it over early and then got in a hole, and then a lot of that stuff gets thrown out of whack a little bit. But Devin always runs hard, he's been a guy we can count on.”
A dropped pass intended for redshirt junior tight end Paul Piferi that landed in the hands of the Wisconsin defense was O’Connell’s third interception of the afternoon. But he would close the game with a 1-yard touchdown on a quarterback sneak before the end of the game.
Purdue will have a much-needed bye week before returning to action for a home matchup against Iowa on Nov. 5 inside Ross-Ade Stadium.
“It should burn all of us when we lose and don't play well,” Brohm said. “That's football and that's life. That's why this is such a great sport. You got to be able to take the wins and move forward. You got to be able to take the losses like a man and man up and face it.
“Figure out ways to get better and understand that that's college football. This a great conference, and we got to play better in order to win.”
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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.