This past weekend was one of near misses for Purdue sports. Football almost pulled off a dramatic road win against a ranked opponent. Volleyball almost collected what would have been one of the biggest wins in program history. Soccer even fought hard on Sunday against a top 10 opponent before falling.

Volleyball did respond with a Saturday win over Iowa to salvage something from the weekend, but it was mostly a couple days of moral victories. Let’s begin this week’s Boilermusings with some final thoughts on the loss to Illinois.

A Win Even In A Loss?

Saturday was a very strange game. Yes, Purdue lost and the Cannon is in Champaign for the first time in a long time, but there is at least encouragement in the fact that Ryan Browne had a monster second half and almost pulled Purdue to victory. In fact, one could argue that a poor review on what really looked like a Luke Altmyer fumble in the dying seconds cost Purdue the win in the end. It is a testament to Purdue's tenacity that the game was even that close at that point.

There was still a lot Purdue did wrong. The special teams miscue before the half essentially handed the Illini seven points. Illinois converted a 3rd and 12, a 3rd and 17, and a 3rd and 20, leading directly to 17 points including the tying field goal at the end. The comeback was tremendous and should be lauded, but you don’t need to come back if you don’t fall behind 27-3 in the first place.

It was good to see Purdue fight. The offense finally came alive and overcame a defense that could not get the one key stop it needed to get in the fourth quarter. The Boilermakers got something going with the mobility of Ryan Browne and both Devin Mockobee and Max Klare made some big plays.

Purdue is 1-5 at the halfway point of the season and the back half is even nastier than the first half. Can the Boilermakers show the same fight in the remaining six games and at least be competitive with three top 10 teams still to go?

At halftime Saturday, trailing 24-3 after an egregious special teams miscue and a surrendered 3rd and 20 gave Illinois a free seven points it really looked like the Ryan Walters era was sealed, be it this season or next. The second half showed that Purdue still has a lot to play for. It now has six games left that are an extended audition for 2025, and thanks to the transfer portal things can change in a hurry. As dismal as the first half of the season has been, a win or two down the stretch while looking competitive against some really good teams would at least show some form of improvement going into next year.

Volleyball Gets a Split

Friday night Purdue headed to Nebraska to face one of the best teams in the country in a hostile venue. The Boilermakers very nearly stunned the college volleyball world. The Cornhuskers had won 34 consecutive home matches before Purdue came to town Friday night and they only got their 35th consecutive win after being pushed to the very brink.

This match was about as dead even as you could ask for. The teams split the first two sets by identical 25-22 scores with Nebraska winning the first and Purdue taking the second. Purdue then took set 3 25-23 before the Cornhuskers rebounded to force a fifth set 25-22. Through four sets the teams were separated by a single point, and the deciding set was just as tense. Neither team led by more than two points and Purdue survived a match point with a kill by Chloe Chicoine to make it 14-14. A Nebraska attack error then gave Purdue its own match point at 15-14, but Nebraska reeled off the next three points to survive.

Eva Hudson had a tremendous game for the Boilermakers with 26 kills and 15 digs. Chicoine had 22 kills and 13 digs, plus five assists. Ryan McAleer saw extended time on the court and got 13 digs, while Taylor Anderson had 52 assists.

Purdue had a short turnaround as it headed to Iowa City on Saturday night. Purdue beat the Hawkeyes 3-1 behind another strong 18 kill night from Hudson. Raven Colvin added 12 kills and Ali Hornung had 17 digs. The Boilermakers now sit at 13-4 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten. All four losses have come against teams currently in the top 8 of the rankings. Only one top 10 team remains on the schedule, however, and that is #9 Wisconsin in two weeks in Mackey Arena. Purdue needs some help now after dropping the Nebraska match by the smallest of margins, but it is still in the Big Ten race.

Soccer Falls to #8 Ohio State

The season is winding down with just three matches left for Women’s soccer, but Sunday afternoon Purdue acquitted itself relatively well against one of the best teams in the country. The Boilermakers scored multiple goals in a game for the first time since a 2-0 win at Northwestern on September 12th, but it wasn’t enough as the No. 8 Buckeyes won 4-2 at Folk Field.

Ava Bramblett and Kailyn Dudukovich each scored in the first half hour of the match, but Chiara Singarella got her fifth goal of the season just 20 seconds after Dudukovich’s goal to make it 2-1. Dudukovich added a second goal in the 36th minute, but Abigail Roy scored her fourth goal of the year just before halftime to make it 3-2.

The second half was played at a much slower pace, as Ella Giannola got the final goal in the 53rd minute. After that, neither team was able to generate much.

Purdue is now 6-7-2 on the season and 2-5-1 in Big Ten play, which is still improvement over the last two seasons. The final home match of the year is this Thursday against Rutgers.

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