Purdue Football Loses to Penn State 35-31 as Offense Falters in the Fourth Quarter
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — In front of a blacked-out home crowd, Purdue football had its season opener against Penn State seemingly in hand, but its greatest strength ended up being a fatal flaw.
Sixth-year quarterback Aidan O'Connell orchestrated an ever-potent passing attack to the tune of 356 yards through the air. Wide receiver Charlie Jones led the team with 12 receptions for 156 yards and a touchdown.
However, without the balance of a strong rushing game, the Boilermakers failed to stave off the Nittany Lions.
Purdue's offense mustered just 65 total yards in the fourth quarter. And without being able to execute a sustainable drive to run out the clock, Penn State scored in the final minute of the game to escape Ross-Ade Stadium with a 35-31 win Thursday night.
"Offensively, we weren't able to close out the game," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "So that's disappointing, I thought we had our chances. They started to load the box and give us tight coverage across the board, and we just needed to make a few more contested plays."
The two teams traded blows in the first half, and the Boilermakers were poised to secure a scoring drive down 14-10 with under two minutes to play before halftime.
But that was when disaster struck Purdue. A fumble by wide receiver TJ Sheffield gave Penn State a chance to push the ball down the field with three available timeouts.
Sean Clifford and the Nittany Lions took deep shots looking to extend their lead. That's when tight end Brenton Strange got behind the Boilermakers' defense and was about to be corralled. Instead, he broke a pair of tackles before following a convoy of white jerseys to the end zone.
Penn State took a 21-10 lead into the locker room, and Purdue was feeling the weight of four penalties for 48 yards in the first half.
"We didn't get three points or a touchdown and then they score, that was no good way down to half," Brohm said. "Now I was proud that we bounced back in the second half."
The Boilermakers answered quickly with a nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to bring the game back within one score at the start of the second half.
Senior running back King Doerue punched in his second scoring plunge of the game before O'Connell threw his lone scoring throw of the night, putting Purdue ahead 24-21 in the third quarter.
More missed tackles from the secondary allowed Penn State to get back into the end zone in the fourth quarter as Clifford found sophomore wide receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a 29-yard touchdown with 10:44 left to play in the game.
The Boilermakers' offense struggled in the fourth quarter, going three and out on back-to-back possessions and handing the ball back to the Nittany Lions.
A brutal mistake from Clifford could have been a decisive blow for Purdue as fifth-year senior defensive back Chris Jefferson intercepted an overthrown pass, found a wave of blockers and rumbled 72-yards down the field for a pick-six.
But with the game on the line, rather than turning toward Doerue to chip away at the Penn State defense and the clock, Brohm put the game in the right hand of his starting signal caller. O'Connell attempted 20 passes in the fourth quarter and only completed seven.
Quick passes in the Purdue offense are often an extension of the run game, yet as O'Connell's passes continued to fall to the turf, Penn State received ample opportunity to put together a scoring drive.
"We relied on his arm a little bit more the second half just to get some mojo going, and it helped to a certain degree," Brohm said. "Probably at the end, it put a little too much pressure on the passing game."
And it was the pressure that broke the Boilermakers as Clifford drove the Nittany Lions 80 yards down the field in the final minutes to punch in the go-ahead touchdown, putting them ahead for good 38-31.
Although Thursday's matchup didn't end with the desired outcome, O'Connell said Purdue still wants to win a Big Ten championship. The team has only just begun its run through the 2022 college football season, and there's plenty left to play for.
"We're going to learn from this game, come in tomorrow, watch it, make the corrections and move on to our next opponent," O'Connell said. "We still have goals that we want to attain, but we're not going to get there if we don't win the next game and the game after that."
Related Stories
- Purdue, Penn State Live Blog: Purdue football began its 2022 campaign on Thursday night against Penn State inside Ross-Ade Stadium. Here's the live blog from the game, recapping the matchup in real time. CLICK HERE
- Aidan O'Connell on Purdue Revival — 'It's Great To Be a Part of This': Aidan O'Connell came to Purdue six years ago without any fanfare, but now he's the established quarterback of a team on the rise that won nine games a year ago. O'Connell was the first guest on the ''Boilers Live!'' podcast at Mad Mushroom Pizza on Monday night. He's the full show, plus the highlights. CLICK HERE
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