Game 1: Purdue falls to Nevada on last-second 56-yard field goal
Purdue took a real kick to the gut in its season opener on Friday night, blowing a big lead and losing to Nevada on a last-second 56-yard field goal.
The winning kick came from a walk-on kicker named Talton, and his big boot sent Purdue home a 34-31 loser despite having a 17-point lead in the second half.
Purdue led 24-7 at halftime and still led 31-17 at the start of the fourth quarter. Nevada had tied the game with 52 seconds left on Carson Strong's 20-yard pass to Elijah Cooks. But with the score tied and only 32 seconds remaining, Purdue quarterback Elijah Sindelar threw an interception to defensive back Daniel Brown.
That gave Nevada the last-second shot at the long field goal, which was good to give them only their second-ever win over a Big Ten school.
Sindelar had a career-high 423 passing yards and four touchdowns, but the Boilermakers lost the turnover battle 5-0, and two of those turnovers were Sindelar interceptions.
"It's more than disappointing," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "I didn't like it. I got to do some things to get everything fixed."
Nevada coach Jay Norvell was the one who got to enjoy the crazy victory.
"It was a pretty amazing game," Nevada coach Norvell said. "One of the best I have ever been a part of. I could not have been prouder of how we fought and held on there until the end of the game."
Purdue wide receiver Rondale Moore had a huge night, with 11 catches for 124 yards and one touchdown.
Turnovers crushed the Boilermakers this time. They got away with it the first time these two teams met in 2016, when Purdue lost the turnover battle 4-0 but won the game 24-14. This time, the mistakes came at critical times — and it cost them.
