PDF: Purdue-Eastern Michigan stats
Jeff Brohm was hoping to see significant fundamental improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, and of course, a victory.
He left Ross-Ade Stadium Saturday with neither of those things.
Purdue suffered a stunning upset loss, 20-19 to a two-touchdown underdog on a wet, dismal afternoon as Eastern Michigan's coaches and players rushed the field in celebration after a 24-yard field goal by Chad Ryland went sailing through as time expired.
The loss represents Brohm's first to a non-Power 5 program and the Boilermakers' fifth such loss since 2014.
"Yes, it's an embarrassing loss," Brohm said. "We need to feel that way. It doesn't get any easier. Every game after that is going to be a challenge and after that performance, I'm sure that other teams won't come in here very scared of us."
The second-year Boilermaker coach watched his team lose the turnover battle, commit costly penalties and find little success in the red zone. In what felt like anything other than what Brohm was looking for following a 31-27 loss to Northwestern in the opening week, Purdue (0-2) was unable to turn 341 rushing yards into a points, going 4-of-13 on third down and netting just 12 points from five appearances inside the Eagle 20.
The game ended with some of the same sting as the opener vs. Northwestern, as linebacker Cornel Jones' personal foul following might have been a game-sealing sack gave Eastern Michigan the second chance it did not let slip away.
"There are some players that just don't quite get it," Brohm said. "I'm really disappointed the discipline part has hurt us. That starts on me. I don't know why we would do such stupid things in key moments two weeks in a row on both sides of the ball. That's very embarrassing."
Eastern Michigan (2-0) forced two turnovers and stopped Purdue on fourth-and-short on the Eagles' side of the field to keep its upset hopes alive. A long pass to EMU junior Arthur Jackson in the end zone early in the fourth quarter would've given the Eagles the lead but the football went through the hands of the junior receiver to the relief of the scattered crowd. That relief turned to depression on the very next drive as EMU melted the final four minutes and 51 seconds for the game-winning field goal.
Following a missed 38-yard field goal attempt by Spencer Evans, EMU's final drive was a 15-play march that included a third-down conversion due to Jones' personal foul penalty and a 23-yard pass play on fourth-and-15 to set up the game-winning kick.
"We had the game won there," linebacker Markus Bailey said. "We should be able to get off the field on those third-and-long and fourth-and-long situations and we didn't."
With less than five minutes remaining, Purdue found itself relying on its inexperienced defense to hang on for a victory against a team projected to finish fourth in the Western Division of the Mid-American Conference. In what was perceived to be Purdue's most likely victory of the season was anything but as EMU took an early 7-6 lead and completed a late fourth quarter drive to finish its second straight win against a Big Ten opponent.
The sloppy conditions forced Purdue to turn to the running game and limit Brohm's offensive playbook to a simple old-school philosophy of handing the ball to D.J. Knox and Markell Jones. The Purdue duo finished with 152 and 109 yards, respectively.
Purdue will continue its season-opening homestand with Missouri next weekend. After a loss in in its only game against a non-Power 5 opponent this season, Purdue has a week to get itself regrouped before facing much more difficult parts of its schedule.
"It's going to come down to the only people who believe in us are the people in our locker room," Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar said. "If we start pointing fingers, we'll have a house divided and we could go 0-12. We've got a lot of questions to get answered before the end of this season."
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