Just call Aidan O'Connell "Captain Comeback"
From walk-on to BMOC.
That has been the ascent for Aidan O’Connell.
The junior added to his growing reputation as "Mr. Cool" and "Captain Comeback" today be engineering another fourth-quarter comeback win.
"I think Aidan's mental makeup is special,” said quarterbacks coach Brian Brohm, who served as acting head coach and play-caller today with Jeff Brohm out with COVID. “A guy who believes in himself enough to walk onto a place like Purdue when we were signing two quarterbacks in the class that he was in. We had another walk on already committed in the class he was in. He’s just a resilient guy that has a great mindset about him.”
O’Connell first flashed his Captain Clutch persona last year, when he took over for an injured Jack Plummer (ankle injury) in the ninth game of 2019 vs. Nebraska. O’Connell promptly led the Boilermakers to a comeback win.
He did it again at Northwestern later in the 2019 season.
And O’Connell added to his growing resume today, bringing Purdue back from a 20-17 fourth quarter hole to beat Iowa, 24-20. What does O’Connell attribute his knack for the comeback to?
“More than anything, I think it’s having great teammates around me,” said O’Connell. “Football is the ultimate team game. I talk enough about how well the defense played tonight, how well the receivers did, the o-line holding up. Ran the ball really well in the fourth quarter. … “
O’Connell sealed the comeback with an 6-yard strike to David Bell, who had a career-high three touchdown catches today to go along with 13 catches for 121 yards.
“David is special,” said Brohm. “He can do it all. He can play in the slot, he can play outside. He can make contested catches. He's really able to do everything from the receiver position. We're just really lucky to have him. As coaches, we love having, our team loves having him, the quarterbacks love throwing to him. He's a special player.”
O’Connell showed the staff made the right choice in picking him to start over Plummer and Austin Burton, a UCLA grad transfer. O’Connell connected on 31-of-50 passes for 282 yards with three touchdowns and two picks vs. Iowa.
"Nothing really fazes him, nothing bothers him,” said Brohm. “So, he threw a couple picks. He didn't do everything perfect, but when it came crunch time, Adian performed. And I'm really proud of him for being able to do that and I believe that he could get it done and he did.”
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