PDF: Purdue-Nevada box score | Ten things you need to know about Nevada loss
Instant analysis from Purdue's 34-31 season-opening loss at Nevada late Friday night, won by a freshman kicker on a 56-yard buzzer-beating field goal after the Boilermakers blew a 31-17 fourth-quarter lead.
• For 45 minutes this was a rock solid start for Purdue. The final 15 were a disaster, and gets Purdue off to a most auspicious beginning to a season where it was reasonable to expect it to be immune to such outcomes.
Purdue's defense was pretty good until the fourth quarter, when it clearly wore down, then may have gotten a raw deal on what looked like a game-sealing interception by Kenneth Major. But Nevada figured Purdue out, Purdue wore down, thanks to costly special teams turnovers that pinned the defense on the field too long. And the Wolf Pack made plays to win, particularly QB Carson Strong, who was under siege from George Karlaftis, but managed to use Purdue's pressure against it, with some big runs and big throws.
The offense schemed its way to productivity for three quarters, but couldn't finish the game off. The Boilermakers' protection concerns showed up when it mattered and plays that were open in the first half weren't in the fourth.
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Jared Sparks' first-down drop on Purdue's second-to-last series was costly, one of many little things that led to this outcome.
• Whether it's maturity or what, the very situations Purdue failed in last season, it had chances for redemption tonight and, well, things didn't work out.
There were third- and fourth-down snaps for an improved Purdue defense that would have sealed this win, and one iffy call aside, couldn't make that play, that elusive play from last season that may have been the difference between six wins and as many as nine.
Profoundly disappointing, particularly on a night in which that defense did some really positive things for three quarters.
• Rondale Moore is a star and looked the part in the first half, and when he wasn't making plays, the attention he drew made big plays for others, notably Jackson Anthrop on his big play.
Purdue got him — and Brycen Hopkins — the ball seemingly on demand in the first half, but it dried up in the second and Purdue never found answers elsewhere when it needed fourth-quarter scores.
It was also denied opportunities, though, by the special teams turnovers, the black eye for a special teams unit that was also pretty good outside the obvious and pivotal failings.
Elijah Sindelar, like this team as a whole, was very good through three quarters-plus, but the late interception was Purdue's worst fear realized in that situation and the manifestation of its greatest concern at quarterback: Turnovers. Sindelar didn't get a lot of help, though, notably that costly drop, and the very protection concerns that Purdue is going to be building its game plans to cover up.
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