Hoosiers Fall Short at Purdue, 31-24

Saturday, November 25

West Lafayette, Ind.

Noon

Indiana University

5-7 , 2-7

Purdue

6-6 , 4-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Indiana

Purdue

11/25/2017 5:46:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Postgame Notes WATCH | Tom Allen WATCH | DB Chase Dutra WATCH | QB Richard Lagow WATCH | LB Tegray Scales

By Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Richard Lagow's first pass ended up heading in the wrong direction.

Then the game followed.

Purdue gained control of the Old Oaken Bucket for the first time in five years, 31-24, by controlling the Hoosiers almost all the way Saturday.

The Hoosiers struggled but didn't surrender, scoring a pair of TDs within the last 5:50, recovering an onside kick in the process – but not a second onside kick they really needed to get with 1:00 to play.

Purdue's Danny Ezechukwu pounced on the ball at midfield and the Hoosiers, out of timeouts, were beaten and bereft of Bucket.

That was a new feeling for the Hoosiers. Nobody on the roster had lost to Purdue till Saturday.

"It just hurts, going out like this," said fifth-year senior safety Chase Dutra, the Hoosiers' leading tackler Saturday and for the season. "Obviously, I want to go to a bowl game. I want to win the Bucket. You always want to go out on the highest note possible.

"To lose to them is just one of the lowest feelings. It hurts."

Dutra was part of a proud IU defense that had aspirations of posting a Top 25 ranking nationally this season and entered play Saturday at No. 22. But IU ended up shredded, primarily by a Purdue ground game that produced 272 yards on 43 carries (for a robust 6.3 average yards per carry).

PU junior Markell Jones ran 31 times for 217 yards and helped the Boilermakers eat up valuable minutes after halftime.

Indiana actually ended up with more total yards, 497-453, and Lagow had 373 yards passing and three TDs to go against that one interception – but much of the Hoosier production came late, after Purdue forged a 31-10 bulge with 12:32 to play.

IU had too little, overall, and too late.

"I was really disappointed in our performance today," Allen, whose debut season stands at 5-7, said. "The kids worked hard to prepare, overcome so much this season and stayed together throughout it all. (But we) dug a hole for ourselves at the beginning (today) and weren't able to come out of it.

"That's on me. It's my responsibility to get them ready and make sure we respond the right way."

The basic tone was set on IU's initial snap from scrimmage.

Lagow tried to hit Luke Timian on a crossing pattern – which Purdue doubtlessly noted was an Indiana staple in the previous week's 41-0 romp over Rutgers – and middle linebacker Garrett Hudson was all over the route.

Hudson, playing for injured starter Ja'Whaun Bentley, carried his interception back to the IU 5. Jackson Anthorp took it in from there on the next snap on a jet sweep.

"I thought I could fit it in to Luke Timian," Lagow recalled. "I didn't on that play, but I still think I can make that throw. Obviously, I didn't want that to happen, but I'm not going to apologize for it."

Lagow's day eventually got a bit better. But he had to throw the ball 60 times, with the Hoosiers trailing and unable to muster a consistent ground game, and completed just 32.

"Not fun, obviously," he said. "I really wanted another month with the guys on this team. That's the biggest disappointment, the most disappointing part about it."

The only IU touchdown of the first half, a 1-yarder from Lagow to Simmie Cobbs Jr. that knotted the score at 7-7 with 4:14 left in the first quarter, was set up by defense.

Gavin Everett forced a fumble that Tegray Scales fell upon at the Purdue 41. It was the Hoosiers' lone takeaway of the day.

"We needed another takeaway," Allen said. "We get the one takeaway, we got down and scored. Takeaways are huge. It's been an issue all year not getting enough of them and not setting up our offense.

"And the wind was a big issue. Whichever team had the wind could kind of pin the other team down. So it's just a one-score game, but you felt all along you weren't able to stay on the field offensively."

But Purdue stayed on the field, to help get a lead it would keep, by pulling off a fake punt.

The Boilermakers faced a 4^th-and-3 at the IU 43. The Hoosier defense deployed in a safe set that should have handled the fake, but Purdue punter Joe Schopper made it work, anyhow, double-pumping to make it look like he would run the ball before passing for the first down.

That set up Anthrop's second jet-sweep score at 4:49 of the second quarter.

"To me the costly one was they converted the fake punt," Allen said. "We were in 'punt safe' mode, kept our (regular) defense on the field and that should never happen. That's on us, that's on me, that's on coaching. Really, really disappointed in that for sure."

Dutra credited Schopper. "That hurt, obviously," he said. "We drew it up all week. We knew that it was coming. He just did a good job of running it and doing the right thing on that play."

Purdue (6-6) made it a two-score lead just with just 53 seconds left in the half as wideout Anthony Mahoungou went up high over good coverage by Rashard Fant and kept his feet to post a 49-yard TD reception.

IU suddenly got a 64-yard gallop by Ricky Brookins to the Purdue 11 at the 0:32 mark but couldn't fully capitalize, settling for a 22-yard Griffin Oakes field goal to enter intermission with a 21-10 deficit.

J.D. Dellinger's 26-yard field goal made it 24-10 at 1:11 of the third, and Purdue was driving for the TD that made it 31-10 by the quarter break.

The Boilermaker band was playing "Shout" from "Animal House" during the break and Allen was on the field shouting at his defense. To no avail. Purdue got the score, a first career TD for Isaac Zico, on a 4-yard pass from Elijah Sindelar.

IU still had a chance to get back in it, however, and nearly did.

After two really good catches by Taysir Mack got a drive going, Lagow threw perhaps his best ball of the day, an absolutely perfect strike to Cobbs for an apparent TD only to see it negated by a chop-block call with 12:55 to play.

Cobbs later had another potential TD erased by a video review as IU failed to score at the 11:50 mark.

"Those are game-changing plays that gives a team energy and (potentially) puts numbers on the board," said Cobbs, who finished 105 receiving yards on seven catches. "It could have been a different outcome."

Mack caught a 4-yard TD pass with 5:50 left, but the Hoosiers were unable to capitalize after Dutra recovered the ensuing onside kick. Whop Philyor added a 9-yard TD catch at the 1:01 mark to create the final margin.

"We figured it would go down to the wire," Cobbs said. "Purdue, great team, and they made a few more plays than we did and they got the victory. All (credit) goes to them.

"Walking off the field, I gave everybody their props, even Purdue fans. It's something they worked hard for. And we came up short."

That last sentence seemed to sum up IU's season.

"Well, disappointed," Allen said when asked about the season as a whole. "I expected us to be going to a bowl game this year. Coming up one game short isn't what I wanted. No question nobody played more top-ranked teams than we did, that's a fact, but it's part of it. You have to be able to find a way to win enough games to extend your season and we came up one short.

"That part really, really hurts, because I felt like this team deserved to be in that situation, and we didn't play well enough at this point, in this game, to earn the right to get an extra game. I'm not satisfied and very disappointed.

"Just really want to say I have so much love and respect for our seniors and how much they've given to our program. Don't want this to diminish what they accomplished on the field and as men. Lot of special men in that locker room that are hurting right now and I'm hurting with them."

Lagow said Allen is the coach the Hoosiers want with them, now and beyond.

"He's the guy for the job," Lagow said. "No doubt about it. Obviously, this season didn't turn out the way we wanted it to. But you look back at the games we lost and it's close. You can see how close it is."