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In a battle of turnovers, Purdue found a way late in the fourth quarter to win 24 to 20.
The newly founded defense, lead by Bob Diaco, openly tried to strip ball from the Iowa running backs and receivers all game long. In return, Purdue recovered two fumbles, both turned into scores.
The important one though, came late. With a long sustained drive, Iowa up 3, they were running their typical 4 minute offense to score a late touchdown to put the game away, again in typical Iowa fashion.
But, the Boilers knocked the ball out and on the back of Zander Horvath, the Boilermakers punch it in late, throwing a third touchdown to David Bell, to cap off a day of 13 catches for 121 yards and 3 touchdowns.
While Zander Horvath never scored, he did carry the ball 21 times for 129 yards, good for an average of 6.1 yards per carry.
Aidan O’Connell had his flaws, but ended up being 31 of 50 for 282 yards, 3 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.
After a week of Jeff Brohm saying there would be multiple Qbs, Brian Brohm stayed the path and only used AOC all game, making me believe that Brian Borhm prefers AOC over the others.
After a season opening win over Iowa, where AOC controlled the clock and did what was asked, he may have cemented himself as the starting quarterback.
Next week, Purdue will add Rondale Moore to the lineup, which will only help the development of the former walk on, Aidan O’connell.
Defensively, Lorenzo Neal Jr. struggled in his first game back in nearly 2 years. But, All-American George Karlaftis continued to be great.
Junior College transfer DaMarcus Mitchell showed out in his first game for Purdue, making many open field tackles and tackles for the loss.
The secondary showed some flaws, but they did a great job of limiting big plays, making open field tackles and forcing fumbles.
Overall, this is a great season opening win, where the Boilers were considered underdogs. Iowa was a 10 win team last year, so this is a great win to start the season, in a season that will be one for us to remember.
Boiler Up.