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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Gus Edwards scored on a 74-yard run on Rutgers' second offensive play and Gio Rescigno threw a 35-yard touchdown pass in the second half as Rutgers beat Purdue 14-12 Saturday, posting consecutive Big Ten Conference wins for the first time since joining the league in 2014.
Rutgers (3-4, 2-2) forced two turnovers and limited Purdue (3-4, 1-3) to 4 of 19 on third- and fourth-down conversion attempts. The defense also came up with a defensive stop on the 2-point conversion after Anthony Mahoungou made a one-handed catch of a 10-yard touchdown pass by David Blough with 25 seconds to play to cut the lead to two points.
Blough rolled to his right on the game-tying attempt but the Scarlet Knights gave him no place to run and his pass sailed over the heads of his receivers.
The Scarlet Knights, who were 5-23 in conference play after a win over Illinois last week, never trailed. Edwards broke an ankle tackle near the left side of the line of scrimmage and went almost untouched the rest of the way for the Scarlet Knights' longest run from scrimmage in a Big Ten game.
Purdue, which had a chance against now-No. 5 Wisconsin in the fourth quarter last week, got a 26-yard field goal from Spencer Evans early in the second quarter after a 10-play drive bogged down at the 4-yard line.
Rescigno stretched the lead to 14-3 early in the third quarter when the Boilermakers blew a coverage on a third-and-19 play from the Purdue 35. Halfback Raheem Blackshear circled out of the backfield and linebacker Danny Ezechukwu went for a play-action fake. Rescigno lofted the ball to a wide-open Blackshear and he scored after eluding a tackle attempt at the 5-yard run.
J.D. Dellinger hit a 24-yard field goal when the Boilermakers' next series was stopped at the Scarlet Knights 7.
Blough ran for 21 yards after escaping a sack attempt and hit Terry Wright for 16 yards on the nine-play, 70-yard drive that almost allowed Purdue to tie the game.
The Boilermakers outgained the Scarlet Knights 474 to 217 yards and had 25 first downs, compared with eight for the winners.
UP NEXT
Purdue: Plays host to Nebraska on Saturday night.
Rutgers: At No. 19 Michigan on Saturday.