Purdue nearly pulls upset over No. 2 Michigan State

By Mathew Muncy | Oct 4, 2015

The Boilermakers nearly got their miracle, Purdue’s late rally fell just short of upsetting Sparty.

The Purdue Boilermakers got a moral victory out of their 24-21 loss to the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans. Usually, I’m not a fan of the phrase “Moral Victory”, but that’s exactly what it was.

Nobody really expected Purdue to hang with the Spartans and at halftime everyone was right. Down 21-0 at the half, the Boilermakers appeared to be heading for a massive loss until freshman running back Markell Jones took over.

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David Blough hit Gregory Phillips for a two-yard touchdown a little over halfway through the third quarter to finally get the Boilermakers on the scoreboard. After a missed field goal by the Spartans, the Boilermakers took over on their own 20-yard line and four plays later Jones took the handoff 68 yards for a touchdown.

Down only seven, you could tell the momentum had swung in favor of the Boilermakers after the Jones touchdown. Once again the defense stepped up, holding the Spartans to a field goal and keeping the Boilermakers in the game.

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With 9:54 left and down 10, it still didn’t feel real that Purdue could actually pull off the upset. Blough seemed to channel his inner Drew Brees, leading the Boilermakers down the field in three minutes. He was able to find Danny Anthrop for 20 yards, then DeAngelo Yancey for 35 yards and Anthrop again for 14 yards to put Purdue on the Spartans 3-yard line. From there Jones ran it in for his second touchdown of the game.

Six plays later the Spartans punted, giving Purdue fans everywhere the biggest anxiety attack of the season.

80 yards, that’s all the Boilermakers needed to take the lead against the No. 2 team in the nation. And after the way their offense had played in the second half, there was no reason to think they wouldn’t do it.

But the football gods had other plans.

Oct 3, 2015; East Lansing, MI, USA; Purdue Boilermakers running back Markell Jones (8) runs the ball against the Michigan State Spartans during the 2nd half of a game at Spartan Stadium. MSU won 24-21. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

In the biggest drive of Blough’s short collegiate career, he wasn’t able to find his wide receivers like he had done the previous drive. A defensive holding call on fourth down gave the Boilermakers renewed hope, but after hitting Anthony Mahoungou for a 6-yard pass Blough threw three straight incomplete passes, giving the ball back to the Spartans on downs.

During the final drive, Jones only received one rushing attempt, which seemed odd based on how successful he had been against the Spartans defense.

A 1-4 record is not what fans expect out the Boilermakers this year, especially after the strides they had made last season. The change at quarterback seems to have made a huge difference offensively for Purdue and it might be beneficial to make Jones the go-to back from here on out instead of having him evenly split carries with D.J. Knox.

Against the No. 2 team, a moral victory is sufficient, but the Boilermakers need to build on the success they had against the Spartans and turn this team back into a winner.

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