Huskies Hurdle Too High for Boilers

Huskies Hurdle Too High for Boilers

written by : P E Gable, Excel H Sports

photos by: Greg Flint, Excel H Sports/Flint Photography

After opening the month of October with dominant wins over both Illinois and Minnesota, some of Purdue’s bad habits reared their ugly head Friday, as the Boilermakers fell to Washington, 38-26, at Ross-Ade Stadium.
The loss drops Purdue to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in the Big Ten and means the Boilers now have to win three of their last five games to become bowl eligible for the first time under head coach Barry Odom and first time since 2022.

A week after watching the run game go wild against Minnesota, Purdue was held to 98 yards rushing against the Husky defense, which is led by former Purdue head coach and Washington defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. Of the 98 yards rushing, 59 of them came on one run by Antonio Harris.

In addition, the Huskies did a good job of bottling up Fame Ijeboi. After running for 195 yards last week against the Golden Gophers, Ijeboi was held to 19 yards on 13 carries against the Huskies

Despite being outgained 488 to 371, Purdue had chances against Washington, forcing five turnovers against the Huskies (4-3, 1-3). The five takeaways were the most Purdue had secured in a game in 11 seasons.

The visiting Huskies struck first, as quarterback Elijah Brown hit Decker DeGraaf for a 2-yard touchdown to give Washington a 7-0 midway through the first quarter. In his first start, Brown was 21-of-27 for 302 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions through the air.
Purdue would trim the deficit to 7-3 moments later, as freshman kicker Jacobo Echeverria Lozano booted a 24-yard field goal.

The two teams would trade scores in the second quarter before the Huskies took a 24-17 lead into the locker rooms.

Washington stretched its lead to 10-3 following a 25-yard field goal from Tyler Robles, only to see Purdue answer right back as the Boilers got a touchdown run from Antonio Harris and a successful point-after-attempt from Echeverria Lozano left the teams knotted at 10-10.
Brown would put Washington back out in front, connecting with Brian Bonner for a touchdown pass. However, the lead was short lived as Ijeboi caught his first touchdown pass at Purdue moments later, again tying the game at 17-17.

The Huskies would wrap up the first half scoring with under a minute to play in the half, as a crucial roughing the passer penalty on an incomplete pass on third down gave Washington new life inside the Purdue 10-yard line. Brian Bonner Jr. would make the Boilermakers pay two plays later, finding the end zone from a yard out and giving the visitors a lead they would never relinquish.

The Boilermakers would trim the lead to 24-20 in the third quarter following a 48-yard field goal from Echeverria Lozano, who improved to 15-of-16 on field goals. However, that was as close as Purdue would get in the second half, as Washington answered right back to open the fourth quarter. The lead would swell to double digits following a touchdown pass from Brown to Dezmen Roebuck.

Despite the deficit, Purdue refused to go away quietly, as quarterback Ryan Browne found a seam and went in from eight yards out, trimming the deficit to 31-26 with 11:25 left in the game. Purdue’s ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed, and less than a minute later, a 53-yard touchdown run from Washington’s Trey Cooley would be the final score of the night. Cooley finished with 113 yards for the Huskies, who came into the contest ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing and finished with 188 rushing yards against Purdue.

In the loss, Brown finished 21-of-41 for 273 yards and a touchdown through the air, and he added 15 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Receiver Asaad Waseem finished with nine catches for 116 yards. The nine receptions were a season high, and he went over the century mark for the third time this season.

Defensively, Jojo Hayden led the Boilermakers with nine tackles, a tackle for a loss and an interception.

Purdue will look to regroup during the bye week before heading to Penn State for a Halloween contest. A kickoff time has not been determined for that game.