Boilermakers find perfect blend
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The pressure, Purdue Coach Jeff Brohm said, was all on No. 2 Iowa.
The Hawkeyes started the season with six consecutive wins and the program had ascended to its highest ranking since 1985.
“For us,” Brohm said, “let’s go out there and swing, and keep swinging, and hope for the best.”
The Boilermakers connected, just as they’ve been doing against the Hawkeyes in recent seasons.
Aidan O’Connell threw for 374 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, David Bell had a career-best 240 yards receiving, and Purdue continued its recent mastery over Iowa with a 24-7 upset Saturday.
The Boilermakers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) have won four of their last five games against the Hawkeyes (6-1, 3-1). The loss ended Iowa’s 12-game winning streak, including nine consecutive in Big Ten play.
Purdue beat its highest ranked opponent on the road since a victory at No. 2 Notre Dame in 1974. It was the second time in four seasons Purdue has knocked off a No. 2-ranked team. The Boilermakers won at home against second-ranked Ohio State in 2018.
“Basically they outdid us in every category,” Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz said. “The bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”
The Hawkeyes tried to be positive heading into their bye week. Their Big Ten West Division title hopes are still there, and they could still find themselves in the College Football Playoff picture if they win out.
“Our goals are all in front of us at this point,” quarterback Spencer Petras said. “One thing we can’t do is be undefeated, but everything else is out there for our taking. We’ve done a lot of good the first seven weeks, a lot of bad, most of that today. We have to regroup.”
But, Ferentz said, they had no answer for the Boilermakers, who took control of the game early. They never let Iowa’s offense get into a rhythm, and they kept the ball away from a defense that came in leading the nation in takeaways and turnover margin.
“We knew if we found a way to get a lead it would definitely help us,” Brohm said.
Purdue was 9 of 16 on third down, and two of the Boilermakers’ touchdown drives lasted 10 plays.
“They came out ready to roll,” Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell said.
O’Connell was 30 of 40 passing with 2 touchdowns, and he also ran for a score. He got the most work on a day when Purdue used backup quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Austin Burton in select situations. All three were in on different plays during the Boilermakers’ first-quarter drive that ended with O’Connell’s 6-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.
“It was just so fun,” O’Connell said, comparing the quarterback shuffle to line changes in hockey.
O’Connell threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to TJ Sheffield in the final minute of the first half to give Purdue a 14-7 halftime lead. He threw a 21-yard TD pass to Bell in the fourth quarter.
“Sometimes when you try to use some creativity, it works,” Brohm said of the quarterback changes. “Sometimes it looks (bad). We took some chances with it, and fortunately today it worked.”
Bell had 11 receptions. He has a combined 37 catches for 558 yards and 5 touchdowns against Iowa in three seasons.
“I think the reason he’s been able to exploit them is he’s one of the best receivers in the country,” Brohm said.
O’Connell said the quiet Bell is “so destructive of a player for a defense.”
Bell didn’t know how many yards he had until he heard it from his mother after the game.
“It was definitely nice hearing it from her,” Bell said.
Iowa’s offense was ineffective against Purdue, which came in third in the Big Ten in total defense and scoring defense. The Hawkeyes’ only score was a 3-yard touchdown run by Ivory Kelly-Martin in the second quarter, and Iowa had just 271 yards of offense.
Iowa scored its fewest points at home since a 13-7 loss to Nebraska in 2012. The 17-point margin was Iowa’s largest in a home loss since Wisconsin won 28-9 at Kinnick Stadium in 2013.
Purdue intercepted Petras four times, the most thrown in a game by Iowa in 12 years.
NO. 3 CINCINNATI 56, UCF 21
CINCINNATI — Jerome Ford rushed for a career-high 189 yards and four touchdowns, helping No. 3 Cincinnati roll past UCF.
Desmond Ridder passed for 140 yards and a touchdown as the Bearcats (6-0, 2-0 AAC) extended the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 24 games.
Cincinnati’s special teams made the first big play when Josh Whyle partially blocked a punt to give the Bearcats the ball at the UCF 38. That led to a 1-yard TD run by Ford to put them ahead 7-0.
The all-time series was tied 3-3 coming in, with the Bearcats winning the previous two meetings by a combined six points. Saturday’s game wasn’t that close.
Ridder, who completed just six of his first 12 passes, hooked up with Alec Pierce in the back corner of the end zone for a 19-yard TD that put the Bearcats ahead 21-0 in the second quarter.
Freshman QB Mikey Keene who became UCF’s starter after Hawaii transfer Dillon Gabriel was lost for the season with a broken clavicle, passed for 141 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions for the Knights (3-3, 1-2).
NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 52, TCU 31
NORMAN, Okla. — Caleb Williams had a big starting debut for No. 4 Oklahoma, throwing for 295 yards and four touchdowns and running for another score in the Sooners’ victory over TCU.
The freshman from Washington, D.C., unseated Spencer Rattler as the starter after leading a comeback victory over Texas last week in Dallas. He started fast against TCU with an opening 75-yard touchdown drive that took just under three minutes.
Williams was 18 of 23 and ran for 81 yards on nine carries. He had a 41-yard scoring run, juking a defender at the line of scrimmage and taking off.
Oklahoma (7-0, 4-0 Big 12) had three consecutive touchdown drives to open the third quarter, including two touchdown connections between Williams and receiver Jadon Haselwood.
TCU quarterback Max Duggan had career bests with 336 yards passing and four touchdowns.
The Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2) were without running back Zach Evans, who had a Big 12 second-leading 586 rushing yards and five touchdowns entering the weekend.
NO. 12 OKLAHOMA STATE 32, NO. 25 TEXAS 24
AUSTIN, Texas — Tanner Brown’s fourth field goal gave No. 12 Oklahoma State its first lead and Spencer Sanders’ scrambling 10-yard touchdown run with 2:18 to play capped a victory over Texas to keep the Cowboys undefeated.
Texas built leads of 17-3 and 24-13 behind three touchdowns from Bijan Robinson before Oklahoma State’s defense and punishing run game behind Jaylen Warren took over for the Cowboys (6-0, 3-0 Big 12).
Texas (4-3, 2-2) surrendered a big lead in a tough loss for the second straight week. The Longhorns led Oklahoma 28-7 before losing 55-48 last week.
Brown’s kicking and Jason Taylor II’s 85-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter kept the Cowboys’ in it while Sanders and the offense were struggling early.
The Cowboys allowed Texas just 317 total yards. Warren finished with 193 yards rushing on 33 carries, pounding out 154 yards in the second half rally.
Sanders pulled Oklahoma State to 24-22 with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Brennan Presley. Brown’s 29-yard field goal put the Cowboys ahead.
Texas still had time to possibly retake the lead, but the Cowboys defense stuffed the Longhorns on fourth down at the Texas 42. Sanders scored two plays later and Oklahoma State then sealed the victory with Tanner McAlister’s interception with 1:57 to play.
Robinson led Texas with 135 yards on 21 carries.
NO. 10 MICHIGAN STATE 20, INDIANA 15
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Matt Coghlin’s 51-yard field goal to open the second half gave No. 10 Michigan State the lead and Payton Thorne’s 12-yard touchdown pass provided the margin the Spartans needed to hold on for a victory over Indiana.
The Spartans (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten) will remain atop the conference’s East Division at least two more weeks after reclaiming the Old Brass Spittoon.
And while this one certainly didn’t follow the usual script — Kenneth Walker III, the nation’s top rusher, carried 23 times for 84 yards and Michigan State punted its first six possessions — the Spartans still managed to hand the Hoosiers (2-4, 0-3) their third loss in four games.
Coghlin’s field goal on Michigan State’s first second-half possession made it 10-9 and Thorne’s TD pass to Tyler Hunt with 1:49 left in the third extended the margin to 17-9. Coghlin’s 49-yard field goal with 8:31 remaining sealed it.
BAYLOR 38, NO. 19 BYU 24
WACO, Texas — Abram Smith ran for 188 yards with three touchdowns, Baylor linebacker and part-time fullback Dillon Doyle scored on both of his offensive touches and the Bears beat future Big 12 foe and 19th-ranked BYU.
Baylor (6-1) led by only three points midway through the third quarter before Doyle caught a 2-yard TD pass from Gerry Bohanon (Earle). Smith ran for a 7-yard score about 31/2 minutes later to make it 31-14, after TJ Franklin’s sack that forced a fumble by Cougars quarterback Jaren Hall.
BYU (5-2) last month accepted an invitation to join the Big 12 Conference starting in the 2023 season. The Cougars have lost back-to-back games after a 5-0 start that included three wins over Pac-12 teams and peaking at No. 10 in the AP Top 25.
Former BYU offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes is in his first season in that role at Baylor, which had 534 total yards. Grimes visited and greeted several of his former players during pregame warmups, then his current team went out and had its fourth 500-yard game this season.
Bohanon completed 18 of 28 passes for 231 yards with the TD to Doyle, who also ran 2 yards for a score late in the first half. Bohanon, the fourth-year junior and first-year starter, threw his first interception of the season — on his 153rd attempt, when the Bears went for it on fourth-and-4 from the 6 early when the game was still scoreless.
Hall finished 22-of-31 passing for 342 yards, with four completions of at least 45 yards, and had a nifty 56-yard TD run on a fourth-and-1. Puka Nacua finished with five catches for 168 yards, with three of the long passes before a 16yard TD in the closing minutes.
NO. 22 N.C. STATE 33, BOSTON COLLEGE 7
BOSTON — Devin Leary scrambled free and threw a jump pass to Thayer Thomas, who took it 79 yards for a touchdown to help North Carolina State run away from Boston College.
Leary threw for 251 yards and three touchdowns, also completing a 40-yard scoring pass on the opening drive on a throw that bounced off the back of the defender before Devin Carter gathered it in.
The Wolfpack (5-1, 2-0 ACC) also scored when BC punter Grant Carlson muffed the snap, and Devan Boykin picked up the ball and ran in from 34 yards out.
Thomas caught four passes for 122 yards, and Dylan Parham caught a 4-yard touchdown pass. The Wolfpack tackled BC running back Peter Stehr in the end zone with 3:39 left for a safety, clinching their third consecutive victory.
Dennis Grosel completed 21 of 39 passes for 194 yards for the Eagles (4-2, 0-2).