GoldandBlack.com Saturday Simulcast: Purdue-Illinois wrap

Join Mike Carmin, Tom Dienhart, and host Brian Neubert for a wrap of Illinois 50-49 overtime win over Purdue in one of the more remarkable Purdue football games in a while.

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More thoughts from Purdue-Illinois

(by Mike Carmin)

Was this performance a sign of things to come or an out-of-body experience that won’t be repeated?

After being thrashed the last four weeks and lacking a competitive spirit, the Boilermakers nearly pulled off a miracle, considering where Ryan Walters’ team was heading into the matchup against Illinois.

Down 27-3 in the third quarter, Purdue scored 40 points during the final 23 minutes of regulation but lost in overtime, 50-49, extending its losing streak to five with No. 3 Oregon visiting Ross-Ade Stadium on Friday.

On with the countdown:

5 PLAYERS OF NOTE

Ryan Browne: The backup quarterback had nine passing yards at halftime, sending the TV research team to dig deep. It’s the lowest passing total by the Boilermakers in the first half of a game since 2000. Who knows how far back it really goes? But Browne used his legs to set up the pass and thrived in the second half, finding Max Klare, Jaron Tibbs, Devin Mockobee, and Jahmal Edrine to stage one of the wildest comebacks in program history. He threw for 288 yards after halftime, connecting with Edrine, Tibbs, and Mockobee for TDs. Browne, making his first career start in place of Hudson Card, who didn’t make the trip due to an injury, rushed for 118 yards and gave the offense the necessary balance to keep Illinois guessing and didn’t give the ball away. However, Browne couldn’t avoid linebacker Dylan Rosiek, who produced the game-winning sack on the final play.

Max Klare: The talented tight end continues to shine in the passing game. His sneaky athletic ability allows Klare to drift behind defenders, find open spaces, and deliver big plays. He caught six passes for 133 yards, including plays of 62 and 40 yards and a 2-point conversion that brought Purdue within six in the fourth quarter.

Luke Altmyer: The Illini quarterback was solid again, throwing for 379 yards and accounting for four touchdowns. Illinois is undefeated when Altmyer doesn’t throw a pick, and he avoided interceptions on Saturday. He nearly committed a turnover at the end of regulation when Kydran Jenkins almost forced a fumble, but Alymyer’s knee was ruled down with 19 seconds on the clock. Two plays later, the Illini kicked the game-tying field goal. He had a pair of touchdown passes in the first half, but his 25-yard strike to Pat Bryant on the first play of overtime is the main highlight. He was sacked five times and wasn’t rattled to keep Illinois from completely falling apart after holding the 24-point lead.

Devin Mockobee: The workhorse gained important yards throughout the second half, churning his legs for first downs and putting the offense in position to score. After Purdue recovered the onside kick, Mockobee rushed for 9 yards and caught a 13-yard TD from Browne on a wheel route to give the Boilermakers a 43-40 lead following the 2-point conversion. Mockobee broke the 100-yard rushing mark, including a 22-yard scamper on Purdue’s first possession of OT. He also caught three passes for 31 yards.

Will Heldt: After a dry spell of zero takeaways, Purdue had a big one Saturday. His 16-yard fumble return for a third-quarter touchdown came after Jahmal Edrine hauled in a 53-yard touchdown, and the Boilermakers had 14 points in eight seconds, cutting into the 24-point deficit. Coming on a blitz, cornerback Nyland Green forced the fumble, and Heldt was in position to scoop and score. Heldt finished with 1.5 sacks.

4 KEY MOMENTS

Edrine’s 53-yard TD pass. First-and-10, Purdue 47-yard line, 7:52 third quarter. Trailing by 24 points and in desperate need of a big play, Browne connects with Edrine to give the offense – and the Boilermakers – a spark. We haven’t seen these types of plays in the last four games, and it was the start of the comeback.

Green’s forced fumble, Heldt’s recovery and touchdown. See above.

Onside kick. Fourth quarter, 1:33 on the lock, Purdue trailed 40-35 after Mockobee’s 2-yard TD run. Although Walters had three timeouts, he called for the onside kick, and Ben Freehill punched the ball into the middle of the Illini’s return unit. The kick was recovered by Leeland Smith. Three plays later, Purdue took its first lead.

Altmyer’s 23-yard pass to Hank Beatty. Fourth quarter, third-and-17 on Purdue’s 48-yard line, 13 seconds on the clock. The Boilermakers had a chance to force the Illini into a longer field goal, but Altmyer found Beatty near the sideline and set up David Olano to kick the game-tying 38-yard field goal as time expired. When facing nine or more yards, Illinois was 3 of 5 on third down.

3 NUMBERS

8: Plays of 20 yards or more for the Boilermakers, who had 12 of those plays in the last four games.

46.8: Average points allowed by Purdue in the last five games.

415: Total yards by Browne in his first career start.

2 QUESTIONS

• If Hudson Card is cleared to play, who is the starting quarterback against Oregon?

• Will Walters continue to call the offensive plays, or was Saturday a one-time situation since he’s familiar with the Illini’s offense?

1 FINAL THOUGHT

Nothing that happened in the last four weeks would lead anyone to believe this was how Saturday’s game would play out. Even when the Boilermakers were down by 24 in the third quarter and showed no signs of life, no one thought we had an overtime thriller on the horizon. Nobody. But the Boilermakers didn’t wave the white flag like in previous games and showed a level of fight and competitiveness that’s been missing the last four games. We’ve seen this team fall behind by double digits, fold up, and play out the string against Notre Dame, Oregon State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin. Saturday was different. They handled the adversity. They didn’t beat themselves with silly penalties, made plays, and took advantage of the Illini’s mistakes. Granted, the defense couldn’t stop anything when it mattered, but the offense took a huge step forward behind Browne. The long-term view of the program and Walters doesn’t change despite the close result. The challenge is building on what happened in the second half and seeing if this team will feature the same characteristics against the rest of the schedule, regardless of the opponent they showed on Saturday. If there’s growth, you’ll see it the rest of the season.