Purdue Pulls Away from Indiana State 44-19 in Opener
It was 44-6 before Indiana State found the end zone. That is the honest shape of this one: Purdue (1-0) built a wall of points, and the Sycamores (0-1) scored all 19 of theirs from a pair of field goals and a fourth-quarter rally that arrived long after the outcome was settled. The final was 44-19.
The early going was closer than the result suggests. Purdue kicked a 39-yard field goal, Indiana State's Sebastian Lopez answered from 28 yards to tie it at 3-3, and that was the last time the visitors were even level. Ryan Browne found Chauncey Magwood from six yards out with four seconds left in the first quarter, and it was 10-3. Two more Jacobo Echeverria Lozano field goals (25 and 23 yards, the second as the half expired) sent Purdue into the break up 16-6.
The third quarter is where it broke open. Fame Ijeboi scored from a yard out, Browne hit Tra'Mar Harris from seven, and then Asaad Waseem from 18 with 21 seconds left, which turned a 16-6 game into 37-6 in under eleven minutes. Don Saunders added a 35-yard interception return to start the fourth for 44-6. Take away the pick-six and it is still 37-6, so do not go looking for drama.
Purdue finished with 523 yards, 346 of them through the air and 177 on the ground, with no turnovers on offense, and sacked Indiana State's quarterbacks three times. Indiana State got a 45-yard touchdown from Brady Allen to Jayden Reed (the extra point failed) and a one-yard run from Max McCool with 4:05 left, which made the score look a little kinder than the game was.
For fantasy, Browne was the headline at 31.1 Promethium points, and Waseem went over 100 yards on top of a touchdown. Not a bad way to start a season.