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Written by Garin Turner
The Purdue Boilermakers (4-6, 2-5 Big Ten-West) need to win their final two games to become bowl eligible for the first time in five years. They'll travel to Iowa City to take on the Iowa Hawkeyes (6-4, 3-4 Big Ten-West) at 2:30 PM CST on the Big Ten Network. This is the last road game of the season for the Boilermakers who are looking for their first win in Iowa City since 2012. This will be the 88th meeting between the two schools with Purdue holding the lead 46-38-3.
The Hawkeyes might have a hard time putting points on the board as Purdue has the 19th ranked scoring defense in the country. The Boilermakers haven't allowed an opponent to score more than two touchdowns in a game since Sept. 23 against the Michigan Wolverines. Purdue's defense has held their last three opponents (then No. 25 Northwestern, Illinois, and Nebraska) to under 100 yards rushing. Both teams are coming off of loses last week. Iowa lost on the road against a Wisconsin team who's looking to make the College Football Playoffs 38-14. Meanwhile, the Boilermakers lost to Northwestern 23-13. Elijah Sindelar willl start again for the second straight week after David Blough was injured in the game against the Illini. Sindelar will face a Hawkeye defense who's not far behind Purdue stats wise. Iowa ranks 24th in scoring defense. Sindelar will have to limit his turnovers in this one. He's thrown six interceptions on the year in which he spent a lot of it splitting reps with Blough. Sindelar is 117-210 for 1,315 yards and nine touchdowns. D.J. Knox has been the primary running back for the Boilermakers after Tario Fuller went down with an injury in week three against the Missouri Tigers. He is the leading rusher with 70 carries for 409 yards and a touchdown. The Boilermakers have made big strides in their rushing attack averaging 147.4 yards per game. That's an improvement of 51.2 yards per game from last year. The Hawkeyes will have their work cut out for them if Purdue manages to get into the red zone. The Boilermakers are 31-35 scoring this season including a 16-16 start before the streak was stopped in the second quarter against Minnesota back in week five. When Purdue does go to the air, they'll have to be on the lookout for Josh Jackson who leads the country with seven interceptions with 163 yards on returns. He also has 23 pass deflections which is also good for first in the country. Just in the last two weeks he has five interceptions. Jackson has earned BIG Defensive Player of the Week honors for the last two weeks. On offense, the play of QB Nate Stanley has opened a lot of eyes. He had a breakout game two weeks ago against Ohio State. He's second in the Big Ten with 22 touchdown passes. That's also tied for 14th in the country. Stanley is the first Iowa QB to throw for 20-plus touchdowns in a season since James Vandenberg did it back in 2011 with 25. Iowa hits the road next week to take on rival Nebraska in the last game of the regular season. Purdue finishes their regular season at home against Indiana.
Written by Garin Turner
The Purdue Boilermakers (4-5, 2-4 BIG 10) snapped a three-game losing streak last week defeating the Fighting Illini 29-10. They'll look to build on that as they travel to Evanston, IL to face the No. 25 Northwestern Wildcats (6-3, 4-2 BIG 10) 6 pm CST on ESPN 2 Saturday.
The win came with some bad news, as quarterback David Blough was lost for the season with a leg injury. Fortunately for the Boilermakers, Elijah Sindelar has plenty of game time experience as the Boilermakers have gone with a two-quarterback system for most of the year. On the year, Sindelar is 80 for 150 for 939 yards with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. Purdue running back D.J. Knox will shoulder most of the load in the running game. Last week against the Illini he carried the ball 14 times for 85 yards and a touchdown. Knox is the leading rusher for the Boilermakers this year with 387 yards on 64 carries and the one touchdown. For the Wildcats, they're riding a four-game winning streak including three straight overtime victories which set a new FBS record. Speaking of firsts, this will be the first night game in Wildcat history in the month of November. Running back Justin Jackson looks to have a big day against the Purdue defense. He has 798 yards on 181 carries with eight touchdowns. Behind him is Jeremy Larkin who has 51 carries for 243 yards with three touchdowns. The Wildcats will need better quarterback play if they want to continue their win streak and move up in the rankings. Clayton Thorson has thrown 11 interceptions on the year. He does have 10 touchdowns and 2,287 yards passing but the mistakes haven't cost them in the past few weeks. Despite their records, the teams seem evenly matched. Northwestern is averaging 407 yards a game while Purdue averages 388.9. On the defensive side of the ball, Northwestern gives up 383 yards a game while Purdue gives up 367.3. This game could very well be another overtime game, the keys are in Sindelar's hand without having to worry about Blough coming in. Purdue also likes to throw in a few trick plays so the Wildcats will have to be on the lookout for that, especially if they do turn the ball over. A win for the Boilermakers would put them just one away from being bowl eligible. A win for the Wildcats keeps them mathematically alive to win the BIG 10 West depending on the result of the No. 8 Wisconsin vs. No. 20 Iowa game.
Written by Garin Turner
After good starts to the season, the Purdue Boilermakers (3-5, 1-4 BIG 10) and The Fighting Illini (2-6, 0-5 BIG 10) look to gain some momentum in Saturday's contest in West Lafayette. The Cannon Trophy will also be on the line 11:00 AM CST on the Big Ten Network.
This game marks the 93rd meeting between the schools. The Fighting Illini hold a small margin 44-42-6. Saturday also will be the 65th battle for the Cannon Trophy that dates back to 1943. Purdue leads the series 34-29-2. For the Illini, they need improved quarterback play. Jeff George Jr. has been inconsistent at best going 79-149 for 1,001 yards with four touchdowns and seven interceptions. The Illini have had three different QBs under center, and none of them have had much success. Chayce Crouch was benched early in the season and hasn't played since then. Freshman QB Cam Thomas has had more success running the ball than passing. Thomas is just 4-15 for 77 yards, no touchdowns in the air and three interceptions. Crouch is 41-77 for 427 yards with a touchdown and four interceptions. Purdue could have some success running the ball in this one as the Illini are ranked 108th in FBS in rushing defense. D.J. Knox has been the starter since Tario Fuller went down with an injury several weeks ago. Knox has 50 carries for 302 yards. The Illini are giving up 205 yards per game on the ground. David Blough played the entire game last week in a heartbreaking one-point loss to Nebraska. He has slightly better numbers than Elijah Sindelar. Blough is 86-133 for 909 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. Meanwhile, Sindelar is 78-148 for 907 yards with six touchdowns and five interceptions. The Fighting Illini will look to create turnovers in the game. They enter the game having forced 13 on the year which leads the nation in forced fumbles per game at 1.83. Defensive backs Stanley Green and Patrick Nelson, as well as defensive linemen James Crawford, all have two forced fumbles for the Illini. Part of the growing pains for the Illini this year is their lack of experience. They have started 15 true freshmen this year, more than any team in the nation. Injuries have not been kind to the Illini especially the running back core. Both teams are trying to stay out of the basement of the BIG 10 West. |
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