It was a tough pill to swallow Thursday night in West Lafayette for the fans of the Gold and Black. A four-point loss to the Nittany Lions, in a game that looked to be in the Boilers’ grasp multiple times, and as head coach Jeff Brohm said post-game, “One more first down, and the game is over.”
It came with just over 2:22 left to play in the game, on a 3rd and six from their own 45-yard line. Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell looked for TJ Sheffield downfield near the Penn State 30-yard line, where Nittany Lions cornerback Daequan Hardy was all over the play.
As the ball fell incomplete, Purdue faced a 4th down, where they would punt, and PSU would be set up 1st and ten at their own 20-yard line. This put the ball in the hands of Sean Clifford, who had been less than impressive to this point. Completing only 14 of 30 passes for 212 yds, 3 touchdowns, and a pick-six interception, which had given Purdue the 31-28 lead they held at this point.
The Comeback
There was 2:22 left on the clock for the Senior QB, with a chance to turn around the less-than-stellar day and be the hero. The Boilermakers only needed to get one stop on downs, with 79-yards to give before the scoreboard flips.
To this point, Purdue had held the Nittany Lions to 4-14 on 3rd downs for the game and only allowed three trips to the red zone in PSU’s 13 drives.
So, without throwing too much opinion in this piece, odds would say that things were in favor of the Boilermakers. Clifford had other plans…
The kid connected with Mitchell Tinsley up the middle for 8-yards. It started a 6-7 passing drive for him as he channeled his inner child’s dreams, leading a comeback drive for the ages. His 72 passing yards on the final drive accounted for 25.6% of his total offensive production for the game. He did that in just 85-seconds and picked up a first on their lone third-down of the drive.
Clifford put PSU in front on a 1st and ten at the Boilers’ 10-yard line, as he connected with Keyvone Lee at the three. Lee then made his way to the endzone for the score, putting PENN State on top 35-31 with just 57 seconds left to play.
O’Connell’s Shot At Redemption
Now, it was O’Connell’s turn to answer his adversary. However, not before a questionable decision not to fair catch the kickoff at the 4-yard line by Charlie Jones, who ran it back to the 19-yard line and ticked off four valuable seconds from the clock.
O’Connell’s efforts didn’t start any better with an incomplete pass to start the drive. This was followed by a 12-yard pass back to Jones to get things going. A sack would set them back 10-yards and force a 2nd and 20, which O’Connell would work them out of.
On 4th and five from their own 36-yard line and only 13 seconds left to play, O’Connell found Dylan Downing to the left side for the first down. However, this left the Boilers to take a timeout with seven seconds left. After coming out of the timeout, O’Connell could not connect on his final two passes, and the record books were set in stone.
O’Connell would finish the night 29 of 58 for 356 yards and just one touchdown pass. The running game was dismal at best, with 23-carries for 70-yards, with only three of those carries coming in the 4th quarter. This stat is there, with the Boilers holding the lead for over 12 minutes in the 4th quarter, electing to pass 24 times.
One could point out that they should have run the ball more. However, as coach Brohm said, “One more first down, and the game is over.”
Suppose Clifford doesn’t come out of his skin and turn into a new quarterback in the final part of the 4th; maybe Purdue holds on. Who knows, and everyone can critique what they want. It was a hard-fought game on both sides, with emotional swings throughout. From my perspective, it was a game that either team could have won, and we will see both of these teams as contenders in the conference late into the season.
Looking Ahead
Purdue will welcome Indiana State into Ross-Ade next Saturday with a noon kick. Following this, they will head on the road for the first time this season for a match-up against Syracuse from the ACC before coming back home to face FAU on the 24th. Following this, they will start the rest of their Big Ten slate of games starting with Minnesota on October 1st.
Written by Adrian Beecher
