Saturday's Big Ten: Purdue tops No. 23 Boston College for first win
West Lafayette, Ind. — Purdue coach Jeff Brohm wants losing to hurt his players so much it makes them angry.
After three straight close losses to start the season, the Boilermakers let off some steam on No. 23 Boston College.
Rondale Moore caught two touchdown passes and Purdue had four interceptions, beating the Eagles, 30-13, on Saturday.
David Blough passed for 296 yards and three touchdowns for the Boilermakers (1-3), who had stumbled at the start of what was expected to be a promising season.
“It’s always tough and no fun when you lose. You want to feel bad,” Brohm said. “You want to be ticked off and angry, and you want (losing) to cause you to say we’re not going to do this anymore. (Today) was just a great overall effort. I’m very proud of our football team.”
The Eagles (3-1) rolled in unbeaten and ranked for the first time in 10 years, but fell flat.
“Purdue played like a team with their back against the wall. They made plays they needed to make,” Boston College coach Steve Adazzio said. “I don’t know what happened. We had the best week of practice we’ve had all season. If we weren’t ready, that’s on me.”
Anthony Brown, coming off a career game with five touchdown passes, threw four interceptions. Star tailback A.J. Dillon was held to 59 yards on 19 carries by Purdue.
“Our defense was lights out. It took away the run, it made them throw more than they wanted to and that’s not their game,” Brohm said. “The turnovers were huge. We did a good job of creating a little more push on the quarterback — all the small things.”
When the Boilermakers weren’t picking off Brown, they were disrupting the pocket. Two of Purdue’s four interceptions came by way of tipped passes at the line. It was the most interceptions in a game by Purdue since 2015. The Boilermakers sacked Brown four times.
Moore, the freshman, finished with eight receptions for 110 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown reception, when he bounced off a tackler after a short pass and raced away from the defense. That put Purdue ahead for good in the second quarter.
More Big Ten
(At) No. 4 Ohio State 49, Tulane 6: Dwayne Haskins Jr. threw for 304 yards and five touchdowns in the first half and No. 4 Ohio State routed Tulane to mark coach Urban Meyer’s return to the sideline following a three-game suspension.
Haskins was nearly flawless, completing his first nine passes on the way to a 21-for-24 effort before giving way to backup Tate Martell in the second half as the No. 4 Buckeyes (4-0, 1-0) backed off the gas and cruised.
Haskins, a third-year sophomore, is among the nation’s leaders in touchdown passes with 16 through the first four games and is on track to eclipse J.T. Barrett’s school record of 35 set last season.
Meyer was back with his team after serving a suspension for his mismanagement of former assistant Zach Smith, who was accused of domestic violence and other questionable behavior while working under Meyer at Florida and Ohio State.
Buffalo 42, (at) Rutgers 13: Tyree Jackson threw for 263 yards and three touchdowns and Buffalo used its big-play offense to remain unbeaten and roll over reeling Rutgers.
The win was the first for the Bulls over a Big Ten Conference opponent and pushed their record to 4-0, their best start since 1981. It also extended their winning streak to seven straight games dating to last season and gave them two road wins over nonconference opponents in a season for the first time since joining the FBS ranks in 1999.
It was the third straight loss for Rutgers (1-3), which has given up 149 points in those games. Justin Davidovicz kicked two first-half field goals and Raheem Blackshear scored on a 14-yard run early in the fourth quarter with backup Gio Rescigno at quarterback.
(At) Maryland 42, Minnesota 13: Freshman Anthony McFarland ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, Tre Watson returned an interception for a score and Maryland breezed past previously undefeated Minnesota.
Ty Johnson had an 81-yard touchdown run for the Terrapins (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten), who looked nothing like the team that lost badly to Temple last week.
And Minnesota (3-1, 0-1), without a doubt, hardly resembled the squad that had bullied three straight nonconference foes at home.
Both teams were mourning fallen teammates. The Gophers wore helmet stickers to honor former offensive lineman Nick Connelly, who died of leukemia on Wednesday, and Maryland players wore helmet stickers to remember Connelly and Terps lineman Jordan McNair, who died of heatstroke in June after collapsing during a conditioning drill.
No. 18 Wisconsin 28, (at) Iowa 17: Alex Hornibrook threw a 17-yard TD pass to A.J. Taylor with 57 seconds left and bounced back from last week’s loss. Jonathan Taylor had 113 yards rushing and Alec Ingold ran for a 33-yard score with 22 seconds left for the Badgers (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten), who also got a major leg up on the Hawkeyes — perhaps their biggest threat in the Big Ten West race — in their league opener.
Wisconsin marched 88 yards in 10 plays on the deciding drive, capped when Hornibrook found an open Taylor for his third touchdown of the game.
Hornibrook finished 17 of 22 passing for 205 yards, and his three TDs were a season high.
The Badgers took advantage of a short field caused by an Iowa fumble to go up 14-10 on Hornibrook’s 12-yard TD pass to Danny Davis. The Hawkeyes responded with Nate Stanley’s second touchdown throw to Noah Fant, from a yard out, to make it 17-14 with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
Iowa seemed to have the Badgers pinned, but Wisconsin overcame one of the nation’s best defenses in a critical early test.
Stanley threw for 222 yards, but he was picked off by T.J. Edwards with 38 seconds left. Ingold then broke free, making the final margin seem a lot bigger.