Boilers Cap Off Unlikely Season with a 38-35 Victory
THIS was a microcosm of Purdue's 2017 season. THIS was a fitting end to Jeff Brohm's first season at Purdue.
If you were wise enough not to give up on Brohm's Boilers last night, you might be a little tired when daybreak comes later today...because there's no way you were able to go to sleep right after Purdue came from behind, after nearly giving this one away. Much as it felt like Purdue's bowl chances were on life support after the Northwestern loss, when Purdue lost the lead to Arizona in the closing minutes of the 2017 Foster Farms Bowl, the vibe was decidedly was dark.
Purdue's defense was simply brilliant in the first half. If it wasn't for an ill-advised, poorly executed fourth down conversion attempt early in the first half, Purdue might have had a 24 point lead at the half. Instead, Purdue pushed all of the right buttons to end the first half with a field goal...those three points proved to be the margin of victory. But without one of the most brilliant deception plays near the end of the half, Purdue might not have escaped Santa Clara with a victory.
Purdue's leading receiver at the half was Gregory Phillips...who had a career high in yardage and a career high two TDs that helped propel Purdue to 31 points. At the same time, Purdue's defense had stopped 'Zona's potent running attack and kept Tate well under his rushing average for a half as Holt's containment strategy was paying massive dividends.
Unlikely.
A fake kneel in the victory formation by Sindelar, a handoff to one of the shortest players in college football...and subsequent 'student body left' (as my Dad called it), led to a drive cultivating, 30 yard run by Knox. Knox had a great day, by the way; 11 carries, 101 yards and a TD.
A few plays after Pocket Hercules' biggest run of the day, Purdue hit a field goal, and took a 17 point lead and TONS of momentum heading into the half.
Instead of simply running the ball in an effort to drain the clock early in the second half, as we had seen earlier in the season, Purdue ran tons of short out routes. Not only did this not drain much clock, but it didn't move the ball. Anthony Mahoungou, who had a first half TD following a wipe-away stiff arm, reverted to early season mistakes, and couldn't catch anything thrown his way in the third quarter. In fact, one throw that hit him in the hands deflected and was caught by an Arizona DB...another slightly-low pass from Sindelar, would have kept the drive going, instead fell incomplete. He didn't look like the Frenchman who toasted IU and Iowa...he looked like the guy who played v. Rutgers in his jersey.
As Purdue's pass game sputtered, the running game ground to a halt. Arizona's beleaguered defense, one of the worst statistical defenses in the nation, suddenly was controlling the line of scrimmage. They were penetrating Purdue's line, hitting Sindelar with an array of delays and blitzes from unusual spots on the field and slowly, but surely, taking the game over.
Unlikely.
The Purdue lead forced Tate to throw the ball...a lot. Arizona's offense is typically a run-first system that creates passing opportunities by forcing linebackers and DBs closer and closer to the line of scrimmage. Purdue's LBs and ends played a contain defense that made the Wildcats one dimensional...as a passing juggernaut. Holt dared Tate to beat him with his arm...and he answered the call. As Tate sat back with little pass rush, he threw up passes that looked to be guesses, more than precision strikes...but they were effective. 302 yards, 5 passing TDs usually doesn't earn a QB a loss...but it did tonight.
On the other side, Elijah Sindelar matched Drew Brees' Purdue bowl record for 4 passing TDs of his own. He also completed 33/53 passes for 396 yards and just one interception. At times early in the game, it looked like he was having a hard time stepping into to throws...but that sometimes happens to QBs who try to give it a go when they are a bit banged up. As it turns out, Purdue's QB wasn't just a little injured, he had a torn ACL...that he had injured two weeks after David Blough severely injured his ankle. When Jeff Brohm said we didn't know just how tough Sindelar was, I speculated about an ACL on a Handsome Hour. I figured he may have sprained it, or even partially torn it. Nope- he'll have surgery...tomorrow...to repair it.
His game winning strike was thrown to his favorite target- the only French football player in college football. The same guy who couldn't catch a cold for much of the second half, put his Boilermakers up with a nearly-impossible grab, on a well-defended ball thrown his way near the goal line, down the left sideline, with around 1:50 left in the game. He secured the ball with an Arizona DB's arm between his arms. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful, in my incredibly biased opinion...I can't recall a bigger catch in the last 16 years of Purdue football.
Photo Credit: Purdue Sports, Paul Sadler via Twitter
Unlikely.
Purdue's football program needed trickery, inventive play-calling, a major attitude adjustment, a QB with a torn ACL, unexpected performances, a diminutive running back, a wide receiver from France, a renewed fanbase, a handful of transfers, shiny chrome helmets, a badass in granny glasses, a bunch of players who kept coming back from injuries and a ton of learning from old mistakes to make this season such an unlikely success.
Who knows; maybe next year, with another off-season in the weight room, an installation of some new players, another year of maturation of some vets and even a few more wrinkles to this offense, Purdue won't be as surprising of a 7, 8 or 9-win team. That said, it is highly unlikely to think that the autumn of 2018 won't be a fun time to be a Boilermaker.
