WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Behind a balanced offensive attack, the Purdue football team capped the 100th Homecoming celebration with a 28-26 win over FAU on Saturday night at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Boilermakers used a trio of defensive stops in the fourth quarter along with a four-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Austin Burton to TJ Sheffield to hold on for the two-point win.
Twice in the fourth quarter, Purdue's defense stepped in front of passes from FAU (2-3) quarterback Nkosi Perry to keep the Boilermakers (2-2) in the lead. Midway through the period, Chris Jefferson intercepted a pass at the Purdue 10-yard line and returned to the FAU 35-yard line. Jefferson's second pick of the season led to a four-yard touchdown catch by TJ Sheffield to extend the lead to 28-20.
Following FAU's touchdown with 5:21 to play that cut the Boilermaker lead to two, Cam Allen dove in front of a double-pass on the Owl's ensuing two-point conversion in the endzone to keep Purdue ahead.
The defense stopped FAU's final drive cold on fourth down with 46 seconds remaining. As Perry reached over a pile on fourth-and-one, linebacker Jacob Wahlberg punched the ball free, and Sanoussi Kane pounced on the loose ball to seal the win.
Purdue quarterback Austin Burton, starting in place of the injured Aidan O'Connell, threw for a career-high three touchdowns on 21-for-29 passing and 166 yards. The sixth-year passer worked around an interception in the third quarter to lead Purdue to a scoring drive in each quarter.
The Boilermakers finished with more rushing yards than passing for the first time since 2018 against Eastern Michigan, ending with 188 yards on the ground and 166 through the air. Running back Dylan Downing crossed the century mark for the first time in his career to end the night with 133 yards on 15 carries and a touchdown.
Downing was the first Boilermaker to rush for over 100 yards since Zander Horvath ran for 101 yards against Rutgers in 2020.
OFFENSIVE STRIKES
Making his first start for Purdue, Burton marched the Boilermakers down the field on the opening drive, connecting on his first six pass attempts including a seven-yard strike to Charlie Jones for the first score of the game. The sixth-year thrower hit five different receivers on the night.
Burton hit Jones again on a 12-yard toss after orchestrating a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in 59 seconds, Purdue's fastest of the year, to give the Boilermakers a 14-13 lead at the break. The Boilermakers then scored on their first drive out of half time to open a 21-13 gap, capped by Downing's two-yard touchdown scamper.
The decisive score came after Jefferson's interception in the fourth quarter. Purdue took seven plays to cover 35 yards and open an eight-point lead with 8:01 to play.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONES
Wide receiver Charlie Jones put on another show, hauling in nine passes for 59 yards and two scores. Jones now has seven touchdown receptions on the year, more than six scores he had in his first five years of college football at Buffalo and Iowa. Jones is the second Big Ten receiver since 2000 to have seven touchdown receptions in the first four games of the season, joining Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield in 2004.
NOTES
• Purdue is now 53-43-4 in Homecoming games.
• Downing is the first Boilermaker since DJ Knox in 2018 to average 7.5 yards per carry on 15 or more attempts.
• Purdue now has three one-possession finishes this season.
• Head coach Jeff Brohm tallied his 30th win at Purdue.
• Sheffield's scoring grab was his first of the season.
• Purdue went 4-for-4 in the redzone, all for touchdowns. Purdue is 16-of-17 on redzone opportunities this year with 15 touchdowns and one field goal.
• Wahlberg finished with a career-high eight tackles to lead the team on the night.
• With 41 receptions, Jones has the most catches by a Big Ten receiver through four games since 2000.
• Jones is just the second Big Ten Conference receiver to have 7 TD grabs in the first four games of a season in the last 22 years.
UP NEXT
Purdue ventures back out on the road next week for a noon kick at Minnesota. The game will be televised on ESPN2.