Fame Ijeboi and Ryan Browne Lead Purdue To Dominating 41-13 Victory Over Minnesota

Coming into this game the Purdue fanbase had felt what it was like to earn a victory, in the Big Ten no less, and looked around at the league and said hey maybe we can do this again? With Purdue students on fall break there was a question about how much the home field would matter. And, if you’ll recall the poll we ran on the site this week most Purdue fans were very worried about how the Purdue pass defense would play against Minnesota. Through the first 30 minutes of game the Purdue defense gave up 115 pass yards. More importantly though they gave up just three points. Most Purdue fans were in a bit of a shellshock moment as Purdue headed into the first half tunnel up 20-3.

Joe Tiller Memorial Player of the Game (JTMPOTG):The easy choice can sometimes be the best choice and in this case it has to be Fame Ijeboi. The former Golden Gopher clearly wanted to send a message to his former team (although PJ Fleck was nothing but complimentary when asked about him in the lead up to the game). In the first half alone Ijeboi finished with 131 rushing yards and a grown ass man touchdown when he basically said “Nuh Uh you’re not tackling me!” Minnesota by comparison had just 131 yards of total offense at halftime. Special shoutout to Ryan Browne who made great decision after great decision including on a number of big runs in the first half.

The first 30 minutes of football could hardly have gone better for the Boilermakers. Purdue had 5 drives in the first half and scored on 4 of them with an ill fated 4th down play being the only possession that didn’t end in points. It was a bad play call with Ijeboi on the sideline and running a 4th and 1 out of the shotgun but hey when you make all the right decisions elsewhere you can live with a bad play call here and there. I personally loved the agressiveness to go for it on 4th down but I didn’t love the particular call. The rest of the half though? Beautiful. Ryan Browne went 10-15 for 112 yards, a TD, and maybe more impressively he ran the ball 3 times for 56 yards. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that he’s got wheels. He kept plays alive with his legs, like on his line first half touchdown pass, but also made long plays with those very same legs. Just check out these plays:

Of course it wasn’t all Browne in the first half as the JTMPOTG ran for 131 yards against his former team and made them pay time after time. It was an incredible first half, and maybe the best first half of a Purdue running back in a number of seasons. Much credit has to go to his offensive line who opened holes and held their blocks.

It wasn’t all offense though. The much maligned Purdue defense held Minnesota to just three first half points. The end results of the Minnesota drives were Punt, Punt, FG, Punt, INT. That’s right, Purdue got an interception to end a threat from Minnesota at the end of the half. Jojo Hayden grabbed the interception that stopped all the Minnesota momentum and helped Purdue head into the locker room with that 20-3 lead.

The defense was then on the spot to start the second half. Yes, they played a great first half, but could they keep it up? It turns out that yes, they could. They forced Minnesota into a quick punt on the opening drive. Then, the Purdue offense took the ball and methodically drove the ball down the field in 7 plays for 69 yards and another Ijeboi touchdown. The drive took just over 3:00 and put Purdue up 27-3. But it wouldn’t be all easy sledding in the second half. There was a particular moment in the third quarter that felt like the Purdue of earlier in the season was back. Purdue had the ball and went three and out in a drive that took all of 1:01. When you’re up 27-6 that’s not what you want. What do you want even less? A drive by your opponent that takes just three plays and 22 seconds and ends in a touchdown. Minnesota cut the lead to 27-13 and the Purdue offense needed to answer.

They did. With a drive that was 9 plays and 75 yards for a TD. Purdue was helped by both an offsides and a DPI on the Gophers but you take what your opponent gives you. Then on 2nd and Illinois Ryan Browne decided it was his turn to run in a TD and made what can only be described as a beauty of a run as he made multiple Minnesota defenders look silly. Let’s take a look shall we?

That 2nd and 11 score put Purdue up 34-13 with just over 13 minutes to play. Some quick math tells me that Purdue was up by 21 at that point. Minnesota would need to score three touchdowns in that time just to tie it up. It seemed…unlikely if not just becuase the Purdue defense was playing well, but sheer lack of time. It really would become a moot point (not a moo point meaning the point of a cow) when on their very next drive Minnesota went for it on 4th and 1 and was stuffed by what suddenly has beccame a very stout Purdue defense? Purdue took over on the right side of the 50 with the chance to increase their lead. After a so-so drive Purdue would be forced to punt it away. But, Purdue player was blocked into the punt returner who couldn’t hang onto the ball and suddenly Purdue recovered thball and had it within the 10 yard line. Purdue would run the Famecat (is that the best name for this?) including on 4th and 1 to punch it in and go up 41-13. With just 7:35 left, the game was all but over.

On Purdue’s final possession with just over 4:00 to play in the game Purdue sent Ryan Browne to the bench and brought in Evan Chuba. With the game well in hand, when’s the last time we could say that?, there was no need to keep in the starting QB who obviously means so much to this offense. Ryan Browne finished this game 14-24 for 159 yards, 1 TD, but more importantly he had 81 rushing yards and 1 TD in an absolutely incredible game. If Ijeboi had not absolutely gone off in this one we’d all be talking about Ryan Browne having the game of his life, which he did, but it’s so hard not to talk about Ijeboi absolutely rocking his former team. He finished with 31 rushes for 195 yards (15th in single game Purdue history) and an incredible three touchdowns. Someone write this man a check!

Somehow, this Purdue football team has now won two in a row, sits at 3-3 on the season, with a 2-1 Big Ten record. The Boilermakers have little time to rest as Washington comes to town in just 6 days for a Friday night kickoff in Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue has a legitimate chance to move to 4-3 and 3-1 in the Big Ten. There’s been a lot of consteration on this site and others about the start of this season but Purdue needs our support on Friday and I hope all of you can find a way to make it up. I know it’s Friday night high school football and that makes things harder but this team is working their collective asses off right now and they deserve a rowdy home crowd for the Huskies. Let’s get it done.