The 3-2-1: Purdue's win at Illinois
PDF: Purdue-Illinois statistics
Purdue kept itself in position to be in position to win the Big Ten West Saturday, winning at No. 21 Illinois 28-24. The Boilermakers snapped a two-game losing streak.
Aidan O’Connell threw for 222 yards and three touchdowns, the last one to Payne Durham early in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead score. Devin Mockobee ran for 106 and a touchdown.
With three-and-a-half minutes to go, Lawrence Johnson deflected a pass that Kieren Douglas intercepted to essentially seal the pivotal win.
O’Connell hit TJ Sheffield on a fourth-and-long with three-and-a-half minutes left in Illinois territory to really seal the win.
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Here are three things from the game …
• Excellent clutch play from a Purdue defense that had been much-maligned of late. They weren’t perfect at Illinois, but did what it needed to do after halftime to seal the biggest win of the season for Purdue. Aidan O’Connell, as well. He’s struggled lately, but came up big when it mattered most. That fourth-down throw at the end was as clutch as clutch gets.
• In these close, Big Ten slugfests, Purdue has paid a heavy price for squandering opportunities. Its first two drives penetrating the Illinois 30, and the Boilermakers have no points to show for it, might be the best example yet.
• Purdue’s problems persist. Aidan O’Connell threw another interception, but also had another dropped and another negated by a close pass interference call. Meanwhile, there were some callbacks to the Boilermakers’ discipline issues to start the season. The good news in a chippy game: Illinois was even more undisciplined, plagued by a litany of penalties themselves.
As it did at Minnesota and Maryland, Purdue won despite some of its own deficiencies.
More to come …
