Saturday began with literal dark clouds hanging over Ross-Ade Stadium. By the time night fell, the Purdue Boilermakers football season was under a dark cloud of its own after a loss to Minnesota.
Injuries to two offensive starters, the resulting exploitation of a lack of depth and experience and a comeback that came up short all factored into a 38-31 defeat.
While quarterback Elijah Sindelar did start after missing last game with a concussion, a first half sack on which he was driven to the ground led to him being carried off the field. On the same play, several yards up the field, star wideout Rondale Moore planted to make a cut and injured his knee.
Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan capitalizes, having had a career day as he carved up the Purdue secondary. He would finish with 396 yards passing, and four touchdowns — all with only one incomplete pass. Wide reciever Rashod Bateman caught two of those touchdown passes and totaled 177 recieving yards on the day.
The one bright spot for Purdue was the improvement in the ground attack. Running back King Doerue rushed for 93 yards and two touchdowns. Backup quarterback Jack Plummer stepped in and threw for 245 yards and two touchdowns, but also tossed two interceptions.
Purdue falls to 0-1 in Big Ten play and 1-3 overall. Purdue will play next weekend against the 12th-ranked Penn State Nittney Lions in Pennsylvania.
