2020 Virtual Purdue Season: Purdue 41, Northwestern 20

The loss to Michigan left a bad taste in my mouth, so I decided to turn around and try and get back in the win column this afternoon. The Boilers were able to come home after a two game road trip and on a sunny fall day in West Lafayette they earned a 41-20 over Northwestern.

We’re all sad that Rondale is out tomorrow vs. Iowa, but in our virtual season he tormented the Wildcats worse than he career debut back in 2018. In this game he didn’t find the end zone, but he set a new school yardage record with 204 yards receiving, 126 more on kick returns, and 31 on punt returns for 361 all-purpose yards. He got the 204 yards on just 9 receptions, too. He is now at 901 yards on 46 receptions with 7 TDs, plus his kickoff return TD against Michigan.

This was a slow start for Purdue, as Peyton Ramsey got loose for a big TD run on Northwestern’s first possession. Jack Plummer was then intercepted as he tried to hit King Doerue on a wheel route, but the Purdue defense got a stop. Given a second chance the Boilers went down the field for a tying score. Moore caught a nice deep pass over the top to get in position for an 18 yard TD by David Bell.

After a J.D. Dellinger field goal on the next Purdue possession the Wildcats retook the lead with a pair of field goals. Another long pass downfield to Moore set up a one yard TD run by Zander Horvath right before the half and Purdue took a 17-13 lead into the break.

The second half was a pretty flawless offensive performance save for a red zone interception by Plummer as he tried to go to Bell for a score. Maliq Carr, seeing his first extensive action of the season, had four catches for 58 yards. two of his catches were nice placation sideline routes where he was all alone.

It was really a series of big plays that set up shorter touchdowns. Kyle Bilodeau caught a 14-yards TD to make it 24-13 early in the half. Isaiah Bowser kept breaking big play after big play, however, and his 43 yard run made it 24-20 going into the fourth. Purdue managed another Dellinger field goal before getting a big stop. A pair of late touchdowns in the final 1:17 were enough to secure the win.

Despite the two interceptions Plummer had a huge game with 467 yards and three touchdowns. Bilodeau caught two of the TD passes, while Payne Durham had six receptions for 73 yards. Durham, Bell, Carr, and Moore all had at least one catch of at least 25 yards. Doerue was solid on the ground against with 95 yards and a score.

This moves Purdue to 7-1 on the regular season and 4-1 in the Big Ten with huge games coming up in the division against Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa. If I win all three of those that means Purdue wins the hypothetical West Division, so it is time to start thing B1G title game. Michigan already has a win over Purdue, so they are theoretically doing well int he West, so who should I play in the title game if I get there?