The streak is finally over. After nearly 3 calendar years and 19 straight conference losses, the Purdue Boilermakers have finally won a Big Ten football. This victory over Illinois marks the first conference victory in the Barry Odom era at Purdue, so let’s take a look at how it unfolded.
First Quarter
Coming into this game, it’s safe to say more people than not assumed this to be a high-scoring game. The defenses for both the Boilermakers and the Fighting Illini have struggled mightily this season
and their respective offenses have shown some fire power. Well, to start this game, we saw no fireworks from either team. Purdue took the opening kickoff and followed it up with a 8 minute and 12 second march downfield that culminated in a 30-yard field goal. Although the Boilermakers had a few penalties and were once again stymied in the redzone, they kept their defense off the field for a long while and came away with points on the opening possession.
On the ensuing Illinois drive, the Fighting Illini drove right down the field as well, taking up the remaining 6 minutes and 48 seconds of the first quarter. During the drive, Illinois got all the way down to the Purdue 9-yard line before the Boilermakers held strong and forced a 4th down as the clock hit zero on the first quarter with the Boilermakers up 3-0.
Second Quarter
To start the second quarter, Illinois attempted a 32-yard field goal but missed wide. Taking over on their own 20, Purdue would again move downfield, this time much more quickly as Ryan Browne tossed a 61-yard catch and run to Asaad Waseem down to the Illinois 5. Once again though, Purdue could not get into the endzone when in the redzone as Purdue was forced to settle for a 34-yard field goal make to put the Boilermakers up 6-0.
Now down 6-0 in what perhaps should have been 14-0, Illinois took the ball and fell flat, going 3 and out and punting back to Purdue. Purdue would follow this up with a third straight scoring drive, this time on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Browne to Tra’mar Harris (of course it was 1 yard out of the red zone). The Boilermakers were now up 13-0 but there was plenty of meat left on the bone.
Illinois may have been a bit desperate on offense on the ensuing drive but a Purdue defensive pass interference call on 3rd and 14 extended the Illinois drive. Illinois would capitalize ad drive the length of the field to score Collin Dixon’s 8 receiving touchdown of the season from the 11-yard line with 21 seconds remaining in the half. Purdue would run the ball to run out the clock and took a 13-7 halftime lead.
Third Quarter
Coming out of halftime, Illinois was still moving the ball on offense, though Purdue did aid them by being flagged for a defensive hold on what would have been a sack early in the drive. Illinois made it down to the Purdue side of the field before stalling on offense and punting back to Purdue.
Starting right back up where they left off, Purdue continued to march down the field. Multiple third-down conversions and an Illinois facemask penalty helped buoy the drive that got down to the Illinois 16-yard line. And since Purdue was now in the redzone, like both times before, the Boilermakers could not punch it in for 6 but rather settled for a field goal. It was now 16-7 but very well could have been 28-7.
Perhaps with the momentum of their defense holding Purdue to 3 points again, Illinois continued to push the ball right down the field. This time, Illinois got down to the Purdue 15 but a 2-yard loss by RB Aidan Laughery on 3rd down set up a 4th and 5 at the Purdue 17. Bret Bielema and Illinois decided to go for it on 4th down but a batted pass from QB Katin Houser dropped to the ground and forced a turnover on downs for Illinois. Purdue would run 1 more play in the quarter before taking a 16-7 lead into the final frame.
Fourth Quarter
To start the 4th quarter, Purdue had the momentum and the ball. That did not last very long as the Boilermakers went 3 and out and punted back to Illinois 12 seconds into the 4th.
Illinois would waste no time on offense as a 12-yard pass and another Purdue defensive pass interference penalty had the ball at the Purdue 34. A broken coverage play led to an Illinois touchdown on the next play but a flag on the Illini nullified the TD and brought Illinois back to the Purdue 44-yard line. Houser would throw an incompletion and run for 9 yards to set up 3rd and 11 but Charles Correa and Keyshawn Burgos would combine for the only sack of the game to knock Illinois out of field goal range and force a punt with 12:21 left in regulation.
Now Purdue, up 2 scores and likely wanting to waste clock, picked a horrible time for its second 3 and out of the day, running 3 plays for 6 yards and draining 1:59 off the clock before flipping the field on a punt.
So once again, Illinois had the ball but the clock was becoming a larger looming threat. Illinois would pick up a big gain on 3rd and 9 with a 21-yard catch by Collin Dixon to get into Purdue territory but back-to-back incompletions by Katin Houser on 2nd and 3rd down forced Illinois into a decision: attempt a long field goal from the Purdue 36 or go for it on 4th and 8. Illinois opted to kick the field goal and K Ethan Moczulski nailed the kick to draw Illinois back within 6 with 8:18 to play.
On the ensuing Purdue drive, the Boilermakers appeared to be far less conservative with the offensive play calling. Ryan Browne threw 5 straight passes to begin the drive, completing the first 2 for 17 combined yards and the final 2 for 43 combined yards including the catch of the day by Chauncey Magwood.
Now down at the Illinois 1-yard line, Purdue tried to punch the ball in with RB Antonio Harris. Harris was down just short of the goal line so Purdue was able to drain 38 additional seconds off the clock before another attempt by Harris on a direct snap resulted in a score, Purdue’s first redzone touchdown of the day in 4 tries. Ryan Browne would run the ball up the middle to successfully attempt the 2-point conversion to put Purdue up 24-10 with 4:25 remaining.
Illinois was in desperation mode now being down 14 with less than 5 minutes remaining, so Katin Houser was slinging the ball on every play. 19 and 13-yard completions got Illinois inside Purdue territory but a deep pass across Houser’s body was picked off by a back-pedaling John Slaughter to account for the only turnover of the day and give Purdue the ball with 3:28 on the clock.
For Purdue’s next drive, 3 straight rushes accounted for 4 total yards and 19 seconds off the game clock but it did force Illinois to burn all of their timeouts before a 54-yard punt by Dylan Drennan was downed at the Illinois 34.
With no timeouts and a dwindling clock, Illinois again moved the ball right down the field by gaining 36 yards in 3 plays and overcoming a holding call by completing a 30-yard pass to get down to the Purdue 10-yard line. During this time though, the 2 minute timeout came and went, meaning Illinois would need a touchdown and a successful onside kick to stand a chance with no remaining timeouts. The touchdown would come with 1:29 left on a Houser 2-yard pass to WR Ty Robinson so Illinois pulled back to within 7 and needing a successful onside kick.
With Purdue’s hands team on the field, Illinois kicked to the second line and the lone man out there, WE Bisi Owens, caught the ball and dropped to the ground to secure it. Purdue would kneel 2 times before draining the clock all the way down and securing the victory as well as the Cannon.
Stats
Highlights
Outlook
All I can say is “Finally”. It was not perfect by any measure but Purdue did what it had to to get the victory. This marks the first conference victory for Purdue since 2023 and maybe it gets the proverbial monkey off of their backs. We will discuss this victory at length on the Boiler Alert podcast and preview a potential for Purdue to go on a conference winning streak (!?!) against Minnesota. But for now, enjoy the victory and hope that more are to follow. And as always, Boiler Up!
