Homecoming is a time where a lot of people return to their school to see the places they spent the most formative years of their lives. For Purdue fans they converged on Ross-Ade Stadium to watch the Boilermakers take on the Terrapins on a chilly day for football.
Joe Tiller Memorial Player of the Game (JTMPOTG): Who else but Jacobo Echeverria Lozano deserves this one? The freshman kicker kept Purdue in the game and did everything that was asked of him. Kudos to him.
The Purdue offense was thought
to be the strength of this team after the first four or so weeks of the seaon. And yet, over the last two weeks the offense has really struggled to consistently get points on the board. This has been especially true once the team reaches the red zone. In the first half today Purdue wound up with 12 points and you might think, wow I can’t believe Purdue would miss two extra points. However, don’t put that on our boy Jacobo Echeverria Lozano who is perfect on PATs this year. What actually happened was Purdue wound up with 4 FGs. It was a great display from Echeverria Lozano who has now made 20 FGs on the season and has the Purdue freshman record. The season record is 25 so he’s still got a chance for that. The problem with settling for FGs is that they are only worth 3 and TDs plus the PAT is worth 7. I know I’m breaking new ground here but that means you need three FGs to overtake one touchdown and that’s just tough. Maryland was able to score one TD in the first half and suddenly Purdue went into halftime up just 12-7. I was reminded of a great scene from The Simpsons, as I often am.
You don’t win games with field goals, you don’t win games with field goals. And boy did that turn out to be prophetic as Maryland came out in the third quarter and rattled off 3 TDs. They forced Ryan Browne to fumble and recovered it at the two before scoring on a 1 play 75 yard drive on their next possesssion. Purdue did have a nifty reverse for a TD thrown in there, but as we headed into the fourth quarter those early game stall outs in the red zone really were coming back to haunt the Boilermakers. We went into the fourth quarter with a score of 28 to 19. However, Purdue was driving and they would need to score to keep it close since the Purdue defense had failed to show up in the second half. But to remain on theme for the day Purdue stalled out in the red zone and would actually lose three yards on a run to Ijeboi. Out marched the JTMPOTG who hit yet another FG which was his 5th of the day. That took the score to 28-22, just two field goals behind.
However, after putting Maryland into a 2nd and 19 Purdue put on a display of defense that should be studied. For how not to play. Purdue had Chris Durr Jr. wrapped up in the backfield but he escaped, reversed field, and scampered for 87 yards after Purdue missed multiple tackles. It was a TD for Maryland, their 4th TD drive in their last 4 drives, and put them up 34-22. I mean seriously, count the mistakes on this play. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
The game was effectively over even though there were over 9:00 minutes left in the game. The offense blew it in the first half by failing to convert great field positions into touchdowns, instead settling for FGs, while in the second half the defense blew it by allowing TDs on ALL BUT ONE MARYLAND DRIVE.
Somehow after Purdue’s defense got their lone stop of the second half Purdue made their way all the way down to the 11 yard line with just 5 ticks left on the clock. After a 5 yard penalty it pushed Purdue back to the 16. Purdue had one shot to get into the endzone but pressure made it into the backfield and Ryan Browne scrambled. He then took a sack and didn’t even give his WRs a chance to make a play on the ball. It was the 7th sack of the day for Maryland. It was emblamatic of this program that they gave you hope before making the absolute worst play. Just an incredible display. Purdue allows Maryland to get their first conference win of the season, just like last week against Penn State, and Purdue falls to 3-6 (2-4).
