Rapid Reaction: Purdue Falls 45-24 to Wisconsin
After a two week break, Purdue returned to action and fell 45-24 to No. 12 Wisconsin. The Boilermakers showed life in the first half and hung around, but as expected, the Badgers were just too much for Purdue.
Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter. On the opening drive of the game, the Badgers took it 75 yards for the score, and then late in the quarter Wisconsin running back Jonathon Taylor broke off a 51-yard touchdown run. Purdue, on the other hand, couldn’t get much going early, scoring on just a J.D Dellinger 28-yard field goal in the opening quarter.
Purdue responded quickly in the second quarter with two touchdowns. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell capped off the first drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brycen Hopkins, and then head coach Jeff Brohm pulled out his bag of tricks for the second score. After a backwards pass to Milton Wright, Wright fired it down field to a wide open Hopkins for a 37-yard score, giving Purdue a 17-14 lead at the time. The lead was short-lived though. The Badgers scored on the next drive and then added a 62-yard field goal as time expired in the half to take a 24-17 lead.
Things began to get out of hand in the third quarter. Wisconsin scored back-to-back touchdowns to increase their lead to 38-17, and seemed to take complete control of the game. O’Connell and the rest of the offense wouldn’t go away easily though, responding with a 5-play, 75-yard scoring drive capped off by a David Bell 3-yard catch.
Purdue had the chance to close the gap even more following a Dedrick Mackey interception - Wisconsin’s fourth turnover of the game - but couldn’t find their way into the end zone. To put the game away, Wisconsin went 75 yards on 10 plays to increase the lead to 45-24 with just 4:40 remaining in the game.
