WEST LAFAYETTE, IN – Purdue was able to rebound after their tough week one loss with a standout game against Vanderbilt, taking the W in a 42-24 performance at Ross-Ade stadium. Boiler standout wide receiver Rondale Moore had a nation high 220 yards receiving for the day and quarterback Elijah Sindelar passed for 509 yards and accounted for 6 total TD’s on the day.
Here’s how it all went down in Boiler Country!
After both teams started the game with back to back 3 and out’s Vanderbilt got the ball moving on their 3rd drive of the game. Things started with a 1st down conversion on 3rd and 13 from their own 29-yard line. Three plays later Ke’Shawn Vaughn capped off the drive with a 1-yard rushing TD.
Purdue would answer back though, as Elijah Sindelar led a 7 play 71-yard drive that saw him go 5 of 7 for 71 yards including a 12 yard TD connection with Brycen Hopkins. This tied things up at 7 with 3:57 left in the 1st quarter.
The Boiler’s next possession looked promising as well, after starting at their own 2-yard line and driving down to the Vandy 23 yard line. However, a 42-yard field goal attempt from J.D. Dellinger sailed wide right as things stayed knotted up at 7 early in the 2nd quarter.
A quick 3 and out forced by the Boiler defense was welcomed with a mere 29-yard punt out of bounds by Vany. This set up Purdue 1st and 10 at midfield and they wasted no time getting to work. Sindelar connected with David Bell first for 25 yards and then with Rondale Moore for 22 more. This made it 1st and goal at the two-yard line, where Sindelar finished the drive with a TD connection with Payne Durham, making it 14-7 with 4:56 left in the half.
Vanderbilt would follow suit with a scoring drive of their own, however, theirs stalled out at the Boiler 25-yard line. This is where Ryley Guay put through a 48-yard field goal to make it 14-10 with the Boilers on top.
At the half, Purdue had the lead but only mustered up 7 total rushing yards. The air attack led by Sindelar was the ace in the hole for the Boilers with 177 yards on 17 of 26 passing from the QB. Vanderbilt was having their struggles as well running the ball, however, they had 50 yards on the ground and 196 through the air with Riley Neal completing 12 of 17 passes.
In the 2nd half, Purdue struck right out of the gate as Sindelar connected with Jared Sparks for a 50 yard TD strike on the opening drive. Then on Vandy’s opening possession, Dedrick Mackey snagged the first pick of the season for the Boilers. This set them up at the Vandy 46 yard line.
As Purdue drove inside the red zone, Sindelar found himself in trouble and threw his first pick of the game, turning the ball over at the Vandy 19 yard line. He would make up for it though on the Boilers’ next possession. After throwing a 30-yard strike to freshman David Bel to get the drive going, Sindelar found Brycen Hopkins in the end zone for a 20 yard TD connection, capping off a 6 play 85-yard drive that pushed the Boilers up 28-10 with 5:06 left in the 3rd.
On Vandy’s first drive of the 4th quarter, they were able to find their way back into the endzone as Riley Neal found Cam Johnson for a 10 yard TD score, capping a 5 play 44-yard drive. They failed to convert the 2-pt play, leaving Purdue on top 28-16.
The Boilers wasted no time adding back to their lead on the ensuing possession as Rondale Moore hauled in three passes for a total of 75 yards, including a 34 yard TD, that saw him slice and dice the defensive secondary on his way to pay dirt. With 9:27 left in the game and Purdue up 35-16, things looked singed sealed and delivered for the Boiler faithful.
The problem, however, was that the Vanderbilt wasn’t ready to call it quits yet. On the Commodores’ first play of their driver, Riley found Chris Pierce on the left sideline, where he broke a couple of tackles and enjoyed about a 50-yard dash to the endzone on a 75 yard TD connection. This time Vandy was able to convert the 2-pt conversion, cutting the Boiler lead to 11 with 9:16 still to play.
Luckily for Purdue, Moore was done just yet, as he hauled in a pass from Sindelar and made a few men miss and wasn’t tackled until he reached the 4-yard line after a 70-yard connection. This put Moore at 220 yards receiving for the day, the third-most in a game in Boilermaker history. Sindelar would finish off the drive with a 1 yard TD rush to make it 42-24 with 6:05 left to play.
Vanderbilt was out of tricks at this point and wasn’t able to cut back into the lead as the Boilers closed out the game for their first win of 2019. Sindelar finished 34 for 52, passing for 509 yards, the most in the nation for week 2 of the college football season. In addition to Moore’s record performance, freshman David Bell had a stellar performance with four catches for 82 yards.
Purdue now has a week to prepare for TCU who will come into Ross-Ade on September 14th for a 7:30 pm showdown on Big Ten Network.
Written by Adrian Beecher
