Boilermakers upset Virginia Tech in Blacksburg; Eye home date with Syracuse in primetime

Exiting its season-opening loss to Fresno State, Purdue had as many question marks as any team in the county.

Well, what a difference a week makes.

Purdue head coach Ryan Walters hoped his team would show significant improvement from Week 1 to Week 2.

It did.

The Boilermakers followed up their loss with an impressive  24-17 win at Lane Stadium, known as one of the most hostile environments for visiting teams.

Purdue raced out to a 17-0 second-quarter lead only to see it evaporate by halftime.

Who knew that in the second half the Boilermaker D would pitch a shut out en route to posting the first victory of Walters’ young coaching career.

Purdue quarterback Hudson Card threw for 248 yards and a score, but it was his 1-yard run with eight minutes remaining that proved to be the game winner.

The game endured a lengthy weather delay of five-and-a-half hours after a thunderstorm forced the stadium to be cleared with five minutes to go in the first quarter.

For quite a long time there was uncertainty as whether the game would be played, but neither team wanted to cancel it, let alone resume it on their bye week.

“We did not want to do that,” Walters said. “You only get 12 guaranteed opportunities, so I didn’t want to waste this one.”

Purdue was told by the flight crew that brought it to Blacksburg that as long as the game could be played by 4 a.m. they were fine with any delay.

So after more than four inches of rain, the game continued with a fraction of the crowd remaining in the stands.

Without question, the victory helped ease the pain caused by the 39-35 loss to Fresno State a week earlier.

Having to stomach that home loss was tough for Walters so you knew as some of his players gave him a Gatorade shower as the final seconds were ticking off in Blacksburg it felt extra special.

“It makes you want more,” the 37-year old said. “This was a unique game in and of itself with the delay, but to get that first one on the road against a quality opponent, I thought the guys showed a lot of resiliency and just how they’d respond to adversity.”

It’s hard to put into words just how impressive the Purdue defense was in this one.

It held Virginia Tech to a mere 11 rushing yards, the fewest EVER allowed by a Boilermaker defense in a road game.

The game wasn’t the prettiest for Purdue, but it found a way to win.

The Boilermakers scored on three of their first four possessions to race out to a three-score lead, but watched that lead evaporate in just 5:44.

The Hokies scored their first touchdown on fourth-and-four from the Purdue 30 when quarterback Grant Wells dumped the ball off to Bhayshul Tuten coming out of the backfield and raced in for the score. Tuten easily beat Boilermaker linebacker OC Brothers, who was overmatched in the foot speed department trying to defend Tuten.

The hosts tied the game driving 70 yards in a mere 1:09.

When Wells hit Jaylin Lane from two yards out and the PAT was good, the teams headed to the locker room in a 17-17 tie.

Offense was a struggle to say the least in the second half for Purdue. Its first two possessions resulted in a total of eight plays from scrimmage and the third quarter remained scoreless when kicker Ben Freehill missed a 50-yard field goal in the last minute of the frame.

Credit Purdue’s defense though for stepping up again.

Virginia Tech ran five plays on its ensuing possession for minus-four yards.

The next time the Boilermaker offense stepped on the field it marched 74 yards in 13 plays to take the lead for good with 8:00 to play.

It was Purdue’s running game that led it to the game-winning score.

The Boilermakers ran it down the Hokies’ throat, gaining 54 of those 74 yards via the ground on that critical fourth-quarter drive. Card ran for 14 yards and running backs Devin Mockobee 10 and Tyrone Tracy Jr. 30.

The biggest play of the scoring drive came when Card hit Mockobee out of the backfield on third-and-11 from the Tech 14. The play gained 12 yards and gave the visitors a first-and-goal from the 2.

Card ran it in on the next play.

Mockobee got the scoring started on a 15-yard run in the opening quarter.

Freehill’s 43-yard field goal made it 10-0.

Following a Virginia Tech interception, Tracy gave the Boilermakers a 17-0 lead when he scored from 21 yards out.

Purdue amassed 427 yards compared to Virginia Tech’s 286.

Card connected on 23-of-34 passes and for the second week in a row didn’t throw an interception.

In fact, the Old Gold and Black’s cause was helped greatly by the fact that it didn’t turn the ball over.

Mockobee finished with 95 yards rushing on 21 carries.

Tight end Max Klare was Card’s No. 1 target with eight catches for 64 yards.

Purdue’s offense did get a boost by the return of tight end Garrett Miller, who missed all of last season after suffering a knee injury in training camp.

The offense might get even more good news as starting center Gus Hartwig may return this Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, Purdue returns home to face 2-0 Syracuse in front of what will be a raucous sellout Ross-Ade Stadium crowd, especially since the game will be under the lights. Start time is set for 7:30 p.m. ET as NBC will broadcast.

The Orange have yet to be tested as they’ve scored 113 points in home games against Colgate and Western Michigan.

Remember Purdue and Syracuse played a thriller last September in Upstate New York, a game that saw four lead changes and 42 points in the fourth quarter of a three-point Orange win.

Syracuse will certainly test Purdue’s defense and the Boilermaker offense will have to continue to make strides and figure out how to score consistently against a defense that has allowed just seven points to date.

A Purdue win Saturday night would mean it would be 2-1 heading into a huge unique Friday night showdown with Wisconsin Sept. 22 to open Big Ten play. That will be another primetime game, which will be on FS1.

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