Turnovers Costly as Purdue Drops Big Ten Opener to USC

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue was on the doorstep. Trailing 30-17 with less than six minutes to play, quarterback Ryan Browne dropped back and fired a pass into the end zone, hoping to find Nitro Tuggle and bring his team within one possession. But it was USC's Bishop Fitzgerald who was on the receiving end of that throw.

Browne's interception sealed Purdue's chances of pulling off an upset of USC, as the Boilermakers dropped a 33-17 decision to the Trojans at Ross-Ade Stadium.

That play was a microcosm of what went wrong for Purdue in the Big Ten opener on Saturday night. Browne threw three interceptions, all coming at critical times. Perhaps the worst of the trio came late in the third quarter, when the Boilermakers were trying to claw back into the game.

With the Trojans leading 23-10 with under three minutes remaining in the third quarter, the Boilermakers marched down to the USC 20-yard line. On 2nd-and-10, Browne attempted to throw out of a sack, but the pass was intercepted by 6-foot-5, 360-pound defensive lineman Jamaal Jarrett, who raced 70 yards the other direction for a touchdown to take a 30-10 advantage.

It was a tough day for Browne, but coach Barry Odom wasn't discouraged by what he saw from his quarterback this weekend.

"The quarterback always gets too much praise and too much criticism," Odom said Saturday night. "Ryan is a tremendous talent. I think he made some big-time throws tonight. I think there will be some where we look at it and we learn from it. He's harder on himself than anybody possibly could be."

Purdue dropped to 2-1 with Saturday's loss, and begins with a 0-1 record in Big Ten play. It was certainly a setback, but the Boilermakers never caved, even when things looked tough.

"I think we did a great job on offense. Coach Henson called a really good game," Browne said. "We felt confident all game that we could move the ball, and we did."

Purdue's red zone troubles started early

USC Trojans defensive tackle Jamaal Jarrett (0) makes an interception | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The issues began early for Purdue on Saturday. USC was able to move the ball down the field on its first possession of the game, but the Boilers held the Trojans to a field goal. On Purdue's ensuing drive, it had an opportunity to take a lead.

Purdue got the ball down to USC's 3-yard line and faced a 3rd-and-goal. That's when Browne tossed his first pick of the game, which was intercepted by Fitzgerald, his first of the game.

USC drove down the field for a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown run from quarterback Jayden Maiava. Instead of Purdue leading 7-3, it trailed 10-0.

"I just forced a throw, made a poor decision," Browne said of that play. "Obviously, you can't turn the ball over in the red zone. It makes it worse. But, it's really encouraging that we moved the ball well, and it shows we're right there, we just have to be a little bit better."

All three of Purdue's interceptions occurred in the red zone. The Boilermakers finished the night converting on just two of five trips, while USC was successful five times on six visits.

"Turnovers, especially when you're down in the red zone, and you come away with zero points instead of either three or seven. We turned it over (three times) down there, so really we left 14 points out there," Odom said. "That's tough."

Boilers never stopped fighting

Purdue Boilermakers wide receiver Nitro Tuggle (0) catches a pass | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

Shortly after halftime, USC kicked a field goal and took a 20-3 advantage in the third quarter. It looked like the Trojans were about to cruise to a victory in their Big Ten opener.

Instead, Purdue responded with an eight-play, 67-yard drive to make the score 20-10.

The Boilers suffered another back-breaking moment when Jarrett had the 70-yard pick-six to give USC a 30-10 lead. Rather than rolling over, Browne led his team to a seven-play, 55-yard drive to make it a two-score game.

No, Purdue was never able to make enough plays, but it never surrendered either. It's quite an improvement from what we saw one year ago from this program.

"I thought our guys hung in there. We'd capture the momentum, and we just couldn't keep it on our side," Odom said. "So, we have to work to find ways to get that done."

Purdue's red zone troubles started early

Boilers never stopped fighting

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