'It's not over yet;' Purdue keeps bowl hopes alive
More: Tough, poised Sindelar sparks Purdue | Mahoungou comes up big; Miles, too | Video: Player reactions
Analysis ($): Extra points video | Four downs
IOWA CITY, Iowa — About a dozen, maybe a touch more, weren’t going to waste the moment.
With most of Purdue’s players already having raced up the tunnel toward the locker room — surely whooping and smiles plastered on their wind-blown faces along the way — some Boilermakers stayed back.
To savor.
And, of course, to document an improbable 24-15 victory over the Hawkeyes that preserved Purdue’s unlikely three-weeks-ago bowl chances.
They posed, some splayed on the ground, elbows propped just-so, and mugged for a camera.
Antoine Miles was among the group.
He rarely misses photo ops.
Especially ones like this — that signify so much.
With Purdue’s third-quarter offensive surge helping to finally match the defense’s consistent dominance, the Boilermakers not only beat Iowa Saturday in a packed Kinnick Stadium, they set up a premier showdown for the regular-season finale. For the first time in the schools’ history, bowl eligibility will be determined in the Purdue-Indiana game that already has high stakes.
“It’s great for us because this game means something,” Coach Jeff Brohm said of the Bucket game. “Not just, yes, we want to get the Bucket back. But it means something. Our backs are against the wall again and in order to advance, both teams, you have to win. The fact this game means a lot for both teams is going to make it even more fun to play in, more fun to watch and more fun for our fans to be at. These are the type of environments and games you want to try to create so the Purdue faithful enjoy them and our players get a chance to play in these type of atmospheres. Without question, I think it’ll be a lot of fun. It’ll be a very competitive game, and I’m sure it’ll go down to the wire.”
The Boilermakers (5-6) haven’t won the Bucket since 2012.
That, coincidentally, was also the last time Purdue won at Iowa.
Saturday wasn’t quite like that last time to extend its bowl hopes — Paul Griggs’ late field goal warranted a come-down-on-the-field hug from his mom — but it certainly was special.
“That’s what everyone is excited for — being able to have this opportunity. Not many have an opportunity to go into their rival game and be fighting for a bowl,” senior Gelen Robinson said. “It’s an amazing process — although we would’ve wanted to be there a lot sooner — but we wouldn’t want it any other way. We have a big challenge ahead of us. IU is coming into our stadium, and they’re not backing down.”
For Purdue to even make this happen was remarkable.
Considering the status of its starting quarterback heading into the week, if nothing else.
Elijah Sindelar got “nicked up,” per Brohm, against Northwestern and didn’t practice Tuesday. He got treatment all week on an undisclosed injury — but, as perhaps a hint, Sindelar wore a brace on his left knee in the second half against the Wildcats after not wearing it in the first and had it on again Saturday — and Brohm admitted Saturday he was “very concerned” about Sindelar’s status.
All the sophomore did was play all but two snaps. And those weren’t missed because of anything other than Wildcat QB Jared Sparks got them.
And Sindelar delivered in a big way, completing 22 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, including capping Purdue’s first drive of the game with a short TD to back D.J. Knox — it was a lead Purdue desperately needed for its offense’s confidence — and then wowing with a five-consecutive-pass-hookup to senior Anthony Mahoungou in the third quarter.
With Iowa clinging to a 9-7 halftime lead, Purdue came out on the first drive of the second half — with the wind at its backs — and targeted Mahoungou strictly one one-on-one matchups on the left side. Mahoungou got the second-half start because Sparks got hurt in the first half. And he seized the chances.
Sindelar connected with Mahoungou on three consecutive plays, capped by a 42-yard touchdown pass, to give Purdue back the lead.
After the defense forced a three-and-out — the Boilermakers’ unit was dominant, once again — Sindelar went right back to Mahoungou, this time against a second CB. Mahoungou caught a 35-yarder and then a 16-yard touchdown for a 21-9 lead.
“It really wasn’t magical coaching,” said Brohm, who calls the plays. “We had some hard times protecting long enough to execute some normal plays. So with some of these calls, they were simple reads where we knew where we were going to go with the ball. It was either going to be out quick or we were going to throw it over their head. There wasn’t a whole lot of things to read with it. We were going to take that matchup instead of reading more things than that. It was a selection of plays that are simple and if we get one-on-one matchups, we go for it. And we hit them. It was great execution by all, but definitely the throw and catch.”
And Purdue’s defense made sure to slam the door.
The Boilermakers finished the game with six sacks and Navon Mosley had a second-half interception. Iowa had 258 total yards, which included only 82 on the ground, the fourth consecutive game Purdue held an opponent under 100 yards rushing.
“I saw the defense we’ve been seeing all year and that we were capable of being,” Robinson said. “It’s amazing to see that, especially at a time like this when we’re fighting for a bowl and it’s my last couple of games. The younger guys really stepped it up. Especially on the D-line, we did a great job of getting off the ball and getting sacks.
“We’re just grinding. We came in here with the mentality that we just have to play like we know we can and that’s what we did. We came out hard and I think this is the toughest we’ve played collectively and that’s what got us the win — it was sticking together playing tough through the whole game.”
Certainly one could argue Saturday was Purdue’s most complete game of the Big Ten season, in terms of the offense, defense and special teams rising together.
Purdue recovered a fumble off a muffed punt late in the game, leading to a short field goal, and it smothered an onside kick at the end. Punter Joe Schopper was good as can be expected, too, considering the windy conditions.
So, now, with that complete work done, the Boilermakers can finally focus on only one more opportunity.
Brohm has been preaching a “one-game season” mentality all year.
Turns out, the last one will be the most important one.
“We’ve got another game that we’ve got to win in order to get where we’re trying to go,” said Miles, a senior who has two sacks. “We’ve got to go back to work. It’s not over yet.”
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