Purdue Football Wins First Game of the Season, Cruises Past Indiana State 56-0
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Aidan O’Connell showcased a dynamic connection with Charlie Jones in the Purdue offense for the second straight week, needing just one half to put an emphatic stamp on a 56-0 win against Indiana State on Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium.
O’Connell completed 17 of his 19 passing attempts on the afternoon for the Boilermakers, good for 211 yards and four touchdowns. Jones caught nine passes for 133 yards, eclipsing the century mark for the second game in a row while also reaching the end zone three times.
Purdue (1-1, 0-1 in the Big Ten) found its first victory of the season, scoring touchdowns on seven of its first nine drives. Indiana State could only muster 145 yards of total offense and turned the ball over three times. Four quarterbacks saw playing time on offense for the Boilermakers.
"Obviously a very different opponent we were facing this week, but it's still college football. You have to come out and execute," O'Connell said. "I think offensively we did a good job, we were challenging ourselves this week in practice to try to do what we gotta do to be more dynamic."
The Sycamores coughed up the football on their first play from scrimmage as redshirt freshman running back Tee Hodge had the ball jarred loose by Sanoussi Kane. The fumble was recovered by senior safety Cam Allen.
With a short field, the Boilermakers got into the end zone in a hurry. The offense went 30 yards in just four plays, capped by a four-yard touchdown run by junior running back King Doerue — his third of the season.
The opening score was the first of three straight touchdown drives for Purdue, which jumped to a 21-0 lead before the end of the first quarter. O’Connell completed 11 of his first 12 passes to start the game, which included a pair of touchdown passes.
"I thought he was very efficient, very relaxed in the pocket," Brohm said of the sixth-year quarterback. "He was distributing the ball well, throwing accurate footballs. I didn't see him really rush any balls."
But Indiana State also found success throwing the football in the first half. Redshirt senior wide receiver Dante Hendrix pulled in four passes for 86 yards before halftime. But the Sycamores had back-to-back drives stall in the red zone without any points to show for it.
The Boilermakers made a fourth-down stop on the 2-yard line before redshirt senior cornerback Jamari Brown came away with an interception inside the end zone on the following possession.
Purdue ended the second quarter with touchdown drives on its final two possessions. Both were scoring passes from O’Connell to Jones, giving Purdue a 35-0 halftime lead.
“Well, he's done a great job for us," Brohm said of Jones. "He came here for a reason — to catch footballs and show what he can do. He's obviously a very good returner, but he's just very efficient. He's got natural hands, got great chemistry and connection with Aiden."
Sixth-year quarterback Austin Burton started under center for the Boilermakers in the second half. He led the team on a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to begin the third quarter and extend the lead. Junior running back Dylan Downing capped off the possession with a one-yard plunge.
The Purdue defense would also get in on the scoring as Allen came away with the team’s second interception of the game. He returned the ball 65 yards for a touchdown, making it 49-0 with 6:43 left in the third quarter.
Allen’s touchdown return marked the first time that Purdue recorded a pick-six in back-to-back games since Ricardo Allen scored against Michigan and Michigan State during the 2010 season.
"Shoot, I definitely wanted to get that off my slate — getting into the endzone once," Allen said. "But I mean, all glory to God. He presented the opportunity for me, and I'm just blessed that it came my way."
Redshirt freshman running back Devin Mockobee added another touchdown in the fourth quarter to round out the scoring for the Boilermakers. He led the team in rushing with 78 yards on 13 carries.
Next up for Purdue is its first road challenge of the season. The team will travel to the Carrier Dome for a game against Syracuse, which will mark the second of three consecutive nonconference matchups.
“It was a good win for us. We needed to come out here and take care of business,” Brohm said. “We understood that. It was about improving from our mistakes, correcting those and eliminating the silly things that hurt us in the last game”
Related Stories
- Purdue, Indiana State Live Blog: Purdue football found its first win of the season Saturday against Indiana State inside Ross-Ade Stadium. Recap the action with our live blog from the game. CLICK HERE
- Photo Gallery: Purdue football defeated Indiana State 56-0 on Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium. Sixth-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell had just two incompletions and didn't play in the second half as the Boilermakers built an insurmountable lead. 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.