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SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Greg Phillips jumped up and down, in childlike jubilation.
Da’Wan Hunte seemed out of his mind, running as fast as he could toward the band in the corner of Levi’s Stadium’s end zone.
Elijah Sindelar just pointed to the sky, likely praising God and saying a prayer.
Each Purdue player celebrated in a different way after this remarkable season finally was finished — and in the sweetest way, in a victory formation kneel-down.
Not only could the Boilermakers snatch up all the spiffy white hats that declared them Foster Farms Bowl champions after beating Arizona 38-35, but they could rave about how they were able to don the gear: By showcasing the grit and fight and toughness they’d so often shown in Jeff Brohm’s first season as head coach.
After a dynamic first half in which Purdue scored 31 points and held Arizona to only two touchdowns, the Boilermakers sputtered in the second half and lost the lead they’d work so hard to build when the Wildcats scored to take a four-point lead with only 3:21 to play.
But Purdue, and its gritty quarterback who was playing on a torn ACL for the season’s final four games, its resilient senior receivers, its feisty offensive line, its determined running backs, its persistent tight ends, rallied.
And its fierce defensive front seven and opportunistic secondary finished.
And Purdue won.
And finished the season 7-6, its first time above .500 since 2011.
And seemingly each of the six players who came to the postgame press conference afterward hardly could contain themselves, regardless of age, regardless of position. The sophomore QB and linebacker, the junior running back, the senior receivers and linebacker.
Seniors Anthony Mahoungou and Phillips bumped fists while they were sitting at the table taking questions. Junior D.J. Knox was waving to his teammates from a seat, surrounded by reporters. Senior Ja’Whaun Bentley, the game’s defensive MVP, had a wider smile than he’s maybe shown all season. Sophomore Markus Bailey kept shaking his head, almost in disbelief. And sophomore Sindelar, the offensive MVP who revealed to a reporter from CNHI after the game he’d been playing on a significant knee injury and will have surgery on Dec. 29, proudly wore his new hat.
“Just unbelievable,” said Bailey, who had a team-high 11 tackles, including one for loss. “When I saw Anthony (Mahoungou) make that play at the end, I probably jumped up, looked like a little girl, jumping up and down on the sidelines.
“It was just indescribable. Such bliss. Such joy. We worked so hard and turned the program around, ended up having a winning season. These seniors deserve it. I couldn’t be happier for the way the program is on its way to being.”
Knox, who rushed for 101 yards on 11 carries and also had a pivotal catch on third down on the final drive, said he couldn’t describe what he was feeling.
“I just know that when Anthony caught that last touchdown, it almost brought tears to my eyes. We work so hard year in and year out, and we never have anything to show for it,” said Knox, who’d been part of much of Purdue’s run of only nine victories the last four seasons. “The guys, especially the seniors, those are the guys I came in with, and unfortunately I had an injury and I redshirted, but it kind of touched me in a certain place, it kind of hit me in a soft spot because these are the guys I came in with and grew to know and grew to love. They’re my brothers. I did everything I could to help them and they did everything to help me.
“It was gratifying.”
Seemed like everyone pulled a little something extra out on Wednesday to help Purdue finish with a flourish.
Phillips had career highs with 14 catches and 149 yards and two touchdowns. Mahoungou had 118 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner with 1:44 to play — on a messed-up shoulder that was in a sling afterward. Knox busted out, including racing for a 30-yard run on a fake kneel down before the end of the half that ultimately produced a pivotal field goal. Sindelar passed for 396 yards and four touchdowns on 33 completions. Bentley had his first career sack. Bailey flew around all game. Jacob Thieneman intercepted a pass with 1:16 to play to seal the victory.
“I would say this whole season has been one big storybook,” Bentley said. “A lot of ups and downs, a whole lot of plot twists. For us to put our stamp in our book, you can put whoever you want on the credits at the end, we have a whole lot of stories to tell. Going out like this was definitely icing on the cake.”
There certainly were plenty of twists in the finale.
And the final five minutes were as dramatic as any story Bentley could have written.
Arizona, trailing by three, got the ball back with 5:47 to play and methodically moved down the field, picking up eight yards on first down, converting a second-and-two, picking up three on the next first down, converting a second-and-seven, getting a double-digit gain on a screen and moving to Purdue’s 21-yard line with 4:14 left. After being tackled for a loss to bring up a second-and-13, Arizona’s receiver broke free over the middle, an apparent busted coverage — for not the first time Wednesday — for a 24-yard touchdown. The extra point gave Arizona a 35-31 lead.
That put all the pressure on Sindelar and Purdue’s offense, which not only hadn’t scored to that point in the second half but had managed less than 100 yards.
The poised quarterback wasn’t shaken, though.
He connected with Phillips on back-to-back plays for a first down. Then Mahoungou had tight coverage and the pass was knocked away, and Brycen Hopkins couldn’t hang onto a ball in more tight coverage, bringing up a third-and-10 with 2:29 left. Sindelar dished a short pass off to Knox, who stiff-armed a potential tackler near the sideline and chugged for a 21-yard gain to Arizona’s 39.
“Once we got down to the last drive, we knew pretty much we had to get this or go home,” Sindelar said. “It’s kind of funny because the first game of the season, it was a similar situation against Louisville, and we actually came up short, and I just did not want to do that again.
“I remember that feeling, and I was going to try to do everything I could to make sure we didn’t have to experience that again.”
After an incomplete pass — an interception Arizona probably should have made — Sindelar fumbled the snap but collected himself enough to not just fall on the ball but scoop it up and then deliver a pass to Mahoungou. It went for no gain, but it seemed to have consequences, nonetheless: Mahoungou hurt his right shoulder on the play.
But the senior, who was so good for this offense in the final stretch of games, stayed in.
And knew the ball was coming back to him.
It did, on the next snap.
Even with Lorenzo Burns literally clutching Mahoungou, his arm, his body, grabbing anywhere he could to try to prevent a play, Mahoungou somehow still caught the pass and held on, even while he was being tugged, even with one truly working arm. And Mahoungou fell into the end zone, finishing a 38-yard touchdown.
A touchdown that gave Purdue a lead.
“I promised my head coach and Coach Shephard, I was going to make it up somehow, at some point,” said Mahoungou, referencing his drops in the second half. “I’m just glad Elijah kept trusting me.
“Coach Shep says something, a quote since he got here, he said, ‘No one tell me how rough the seas are, just bring me the damn ship.’ I just had to bring the damn ship.”
But, technically, Purdue’s defense still had to finish it.
Arizona had the ball on its 32-yard line with 1:39 remaining. But the Boilermakers flushed Tate out of the pocket on first down, forcing an incomplete pass. On second down, they got into the backfield again, and Antoine Miles chased Tate out of bounds. Then on third down, Tate floated a ball down the right sideline, where Thieneman raced over to easily catch it before stepping out of bounds, and Purdue’s sideline promptly erupted.
The offense was collected enough to trot back onto the field for a final time. A Knox run and then two kneel downs ended it.
“This is an exciting time to be a Boilermaker, a huge victory for our team, couldn't be prouder of them," Brohm said. "Our guys made the game interesting in the end, but we found a way to win and that just shows the fight in our team. The fact that all of our guys hung in there, played with great intensity, they wanted to find a way to finish this season, they did in somewhat dramatic fashion."
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