David Blough Goes HAM; Purdue Falls to 0-3 Anyway
(Feature Image: Boiled Sports)
David Blough got the start tonight and was given the entire game (likely due to a an injury to Elijah Sindelar but who knows?) and he made the most of it. Blough threw for 572 yards on 39/55 and three TDs (against just one pick, plus he also ran for one more). He appeared to have his fourth TD pass with just three and a half minutes remaining to Jared Sparks but the officials convened after we were done hugging each other to decide that, in fact, Sparks hadn’t held onto the ball sufficiently…or something. Those we connected with who were watching on TV said that was ridiculous and there was no way that it should have been overturned. Hey, if you’re new here, welcome to life as a Purdue fan.
Insanity (Photo credit: J Money, BS)
Purdue clearly decided that they were going to need to hang it all out there and bomb away against Missouri. They had only 42 yards rushing on 16 attempts – something told the coaching staff that slinging it was the way to win here. However, Purdue started slow and in the second quarter found themselves down 27-10. It looked like it was going to be a long night.
However, a couple of strikes brought it to 27-24 at the half and suddenly – with Purdue getting the ball in the second half – it felt like the Boilermakers had life. They did indeed, continuing to chip back every time Mizzou tried to pull away. After Purdue tied it at 27 in the third quarter, the Tigers stretched back out to a ten point lead – but Purdue chiseled away, coming back to that suspect overturn of a Sparks TD that appeared to be about to give Purdue a 41-37 lead. I would have especially like that because it would have at least forced Drew Lock to go the entire length of the field for a TD. Knowing all he had to do was get them into FG range made it feel like a forgone conclusion – neither team could really stop anything tonight.
That lack of defense made for a hell of an exciting game, of course, which is what we thought this could be. Never, though, did we think we were going to see David Blough sneak towards 600 yards passing. Blough’s 572 yards through the air bests Curtis Painter’s 2007 performance against Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl (543). That’s got to feel good for David, although being the captain that he is, I’m sure this loss is infuriating to him.
It was a great environment at Purdue under the lights again but they may wind up relegating to noon starts if this is the kind of season we have ahead.
Worth noting, too, was the weird clock management late in this one. Mizzou got the ball easily into FG range with just under two minutes remaining and Purdue had two timeouts. They then allowed Missouri to milk the clock to just a few seconds remaining while only using one of their timeouts – I guess Brohm was saving one for next weekend?
Purdue now sits at an ugly 0-3. That game showed heart and one thing we know is that Brohm Squads will not quit. If they play that same game against BC, I think they pummel the Golden Eagles. We’ll see if they have it in them to come out with that kind of effort once again.
A bowl this year seems to be completely off the table now and you begin to think about what kinds of things you can do to best prepare your team for 2019. It’s tough to be saying that in mid-September but that’s how things feel at the moment. Lot of football left this season and there will be some good times – I remain confident of that. And tonight was tremendously fun to witness in person with the whole BS crew. However, 0-3 is not where anyone thought these guys would be and now because of that we head into the unknown. Brohm will be tested now and we’ll all be watching.
