Purdue TE Brycen Hopkins against Boston College DB Lukas Denis. Sep 22, 2018; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Purdue Boilermakers tight end Brycen Hopkins (89) is tackled by Boston College Eagles defensive back Lukas Denis (21) during the first quarter at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports

The Purdue Boilermakers showed some significant improvement under new head coach Jeff Brohm last year, going 7-6 (a big step up from the previous four seasons under Darrell Hazell, where they went 3-9, 2-10, 3-9 and 1-11) with their first bowl appearance since 2012 and their first bowl victory since 2011. This season started on a rougher note for them, though, as despite having four straight home games to open the year, they went 0-3 in the first three with a 31-27 loss to Northwestern, a 20-19 loss to Eastern Michigan, and a 40-37 loss to Missouri. However, the fourth one proved the charm, as they thumped No. 23 Boston College 30-13.

The Boilermakers’ offense has generally looked pretty good under Brohm, and Saturday was no exception. Quarterback David Blough had a remarkable day, completing 21 of 28 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns. The run game wasn’t as stellar, with D.J. Knox needing 20 carries to get 51 yards (and a touchdown), but Markell Jones provided a nice change of pace, picking up 40 yards on eight carries.

What really shone for Purdue this time around was the defense, though. They picked off Boston College quarterback Anthony Brown four times and held him to 13 completions on 27 attempts for 96 yards. Here’s one of those picks, which came off a deflected pass at the line (two of the four interceptions came this way):

And here’s another one in the end zone:

That’s some impressive defensive effort, and it went a long way towards giving the Boilermakers their first win of the year. We’ll see if they can build on this next week against Nebraska.

 

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.