Purdue 35 - Fresno State 39: More Bite than Bark

Stats

Hudson Card – 17/30 254 yds 2 td

Deion Burks - 9 tgts 4 rec 152 yds 2 td

Tyrone Tracy Jr – 3 car 3 yds 1 td 3 kr 144 yds 1 td

Devin Mockobee - 16 car 60 yds 1 td

Mikey Keene – 31/44 366 yds 4 td

Erik Brooks - 12 tgts 9 rec 170 yds 2 td

Elijah Gilliam - 20 car 93 yds

First Half

Well the first half was certainly exciting. Fresno State got the opening kickoff and proceeded to go 3 and out on the first drive. After a punt, Purdue took over. On the second play of the drive, Devin Mockobee fumbled the ball on a rush to which Purdue recovered. The next play, Hudson Card fired a pass to Deion Burks. Burks shrugged off 3 defenders, did a spin, and bolted for an 84 –yard touchdown.

Fresno St and Purdue would trade punts and then the Bulldogs would take a 6-play drive ending with a Erik Brooks TD pass from Mikey Keene. This would start a back and forth as Purdue would score just into the second quarter on a Tyrone Tracy 1-yard rush. A quick drive for Fresno State ended with another passing touchdown to pull even at 14. The very next drive Purdue 59 yards in 6 plays to set up a 17-yard touchdown pass to Deion Burks.

Purdue would allow Fresno State to attempt 2 field goals the rest of the way, a 21-yard miss on a bad snap and a 52-yard make as time expired (college kickers). Purdue took a 21-17 lead into halftime.

Second Half

The second half started with a bang as Tyrone Tracy Jr returned the kickoff 98 yards down the sideline to the house. The Purdue defense would force a 3 and out the next drive but missed a 43-yard field goal. Fresno State took advantage of the miss, driving 74 yards in just under 4 minutes for Mikey Keene to throw a 3rd touchdown. Fresno State would go for 2 and convert to pull within 3.

The ensuing Purdue drive would move 21 yards but resulted in a punt. Fresno State then methodically drove the ball 85 yards to score a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Malik Sherrod in the 4th quarter. Purdue would take the following drive down to the 1-yard line. A dropped pass on 3rd down set up an inside run for Devin Mockobee on 4th down at the 1. Mockobee did not get into the end zone.

Fresno State would take over inside the 1 with just over 8 minutes left to play. A 22-yard rush got Fresno State out of the shadow of the endzone but on 3rd and long. Mikey Keene overthrew an out route to be picked off by Dillon Thieneman (initially called out of bounds but overturned after review). The next play, Hudson Card hit Deion Burks for 44 yards over the top. Purdue was down to the 11 and Devin Mockobee took a run into the endzone to bring Purdue up 3 again.

Fresno State would march right down the field to set up a 22-yards touchdown pass with 59 seconds left. With one more shot at retaking the lead, Purdue would face a 4th and 1 at the 45 with 35 seconds left. A tipped Card pass fell to the turf and Fresno State sealed the game.

Up Next

Purdue will look to bounce back next Saturday at Virginia Tech.