Purdue WR Mahoungou seizes opportunity; Miles matters; Iowa notebook

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Anthony Mahoungou could have given up.

He’d gotten bypassed, by a converted quarterback, after all.

Jared Sparks had moved into one of Purdue’s starting outside receiver roles weeks ago, and it took a chunk out of Mahoungou’s snaps.

And in his final season.

But Mahoungou did what Mahoungou does: Worked.

He stayed after practice every single day, trying to hone skills that maybe can only be honed a tad more, considering he’s a senior and his playing career is creeping to a close. But there he always is — even as the chill has started to set in, even as players are seeing their breath now at the end of early-evening practices, even as the lights are needing to be burnt on the outdoor practice fields — Mahoungou with maybe just one teammate, maybe even just a walk-on, catching balls, running routes, working on some kind of technique.

He has learned, he said after Purdue’s 24-15 upset victory over Iowa, to put his ego aside since he’s arrived in West Lafayette. Starter or not, it wouldn’t affect his approach, he said.

And it’s that work that helped him deliver when teammates desperately needed it the most Saturday: In a game that could define their season, either solidifying its lost bowl hopes or extending them for one more week.

Mahoungou caught seven passes for a career-high 135 yards and a career-high two touchdowns Saturday — the latter two in a three-catch span in the third quarter that gave Purdue a 21-9 lead.

“Finally,” said a smiling Mahoungou afterward. “The last two games of the season, it’s about time for a senior to do something.

“I’m just happy because all the wideouts, I don’t think we had any drops. I’m just happy because early in the game, we were able to gain confidence through those small passes and just build up on it. Then Elijah (Sindelar) said, ‘It works one time. Let’s do another one.’ It works? Another one again. I’m just happy we were able to get everyone going on offense because the defense, the whole year, they’ve been able to step up and make us stay in the game every time. I was just happy this time the offense early in the game, we were able to have two possessions (to score).”

And maybe Mahoungou only got a chance to be in that game-changing situation because Sparks appeared to injure his right leg in the first half.

Maybe.

And maybe Mahoungou only got the chance to make those plays because Iowa thought so little of him that it sent one sophomore cornerback on him before rolling another sophomore in and, then, a freshman — instead of its top cornerback Josh Jackson, who has seven interceptions this season.

Maybe.

And so, maybe, Mahoungou didn’t get a chance to see if he could have beaten Jackson, too — because the Hawkeyes did switch Jackson over there, finally, after Mahoungou’s two TDs.

“It was funny because the whole week, Coach (JaMarcus) Shephard was preaching about No. 15. Like a lot. Especially on me,” Mahoungou said. “Every day was, ‘We’re going to call him Mr. Jackson. What are you going to do against Mr. Jackson?’

“I’m just a bit salty I didn’t get a chance to catch a pass on him. They tried several corners on me and then decided to put 15 on me. I was happy they made that adjustment. I just wanted to still have the ball.”

Afterward in the locker room, Mahoungou said Sparks had nothing but love for him. Last week at Northwestern, it was Sparks with the breakout game, catching 11 passes for 130 yards.

Mahoungou was happy for Sparks — he said they have a big brother, little brother type relationship — but he also made sure to issue a reminder: Nothing was settled.

“Every game, I go see him and I’m like, ‘Let’s just compete. Let’s see who has the best stats on game day.’ He just pushes me,” Mahoungou said. “He earned the right to be a starter. I was extremely glad when he had a career day last week. We just talked and I said, ‘Hey, don’t get complacent because I’m coming.’ ”

Mahoungou wasn't the only senior to rise to the occasion Saturday.

The list was long on veteran contributions to Purdue's upset.

Linebacker Ja'Whaun Bentley had eight tackles, cornerback Da'Wan Hunte had seven tackles, defensive tackle Gelen Robinson had a sack and linebacker T.J. McCollum had a sack among his 1.5 for loss.

But Antoine Miles, a backup defensive end, really surged. He had two sacks and two more TFLs.

"The seniors, we just told ourselves we want to take control of the group, we want to be the ones who put the team on our backs and we want to be the ones who have to make the plays when we need them," Miles said. "As seniors, that’s what we focused on."

Miles' performance certainly qualified.

As he's done the last couple games, Miles didn't only play end but also bounced inside to tackle at times and, he says, even lined up as a linebacker.

It was off the end where he really made his mark. Both of his sacks came there — as he was, somehow, left unblocked. Miles said he knew both of Iowa's tackles were young — one's a true freshman, the other a redshirt freshman — and he came ready to take advantage.

"Coach gave us a little bit of opportunities to rush the passer, and that’s kind of what I do best. So I just took it upon myself to win my one-on-ones and beat the younger guys," Miles said. "I could tell they were freshmen, so I knew I could beat them on one-on-one pass rushes. That’s what I did.

"I just want to help my team win. Stats are great, and if you would have asked me this a couple years back when I was a sophomore making plays, I would have told you (stats) mean a little bit more. But as long as we win, I don’t really care about the stats. I just want to help us win. I just told myself every play, I’m going to go as hard as I can to try to help us win, to try to make a play, to try to affect the play, to try to help get us off the field on third downs. That’s all I focused on (Saturday), really."

• Running back Richie Worship didn't play and won't in the finale either. Coach Jeff Brohm said Worship suffered a season-ending knee injury in practice during the week. Without Worship, Purdue turned to the combination of D.J. Knox, who started, and Markell Jones. Jones, ultimately, got more carries — and produced. His 32-yard run on third-and-nine in the final minute sealed the victory, and he finished with a season-high 74 yards on 14 carries.

"We’re going to miss (Worship), but those things happen, and we’ll get him back for next year," Brohm said. "I was happy for Markell. He’s worked hard, maybe hasn’t gotten as many carries as he’d like, but we’ve spread the wealth to create balance and make sure guys don’t get worn out at the end of the year. I think they’ve all fed off each other well. They’ve been great teammates. To see him step in and do a good job, that’s what we want."

• Purdue had a season-high 10 tackles for loss, including six sacks. Five players had at least one sack, Miles, McCollum, Robinson, Eddy Wilson and Markus Bailey.

"I thought our defense was outstanding," Brohm said. "We pushed them back. We were physical. We created negative plays. Our guys played 'til the very end."

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