CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After one of the most spirited comeback efforts in program history, the Purdue football team fell in a heartbreaking 50-49 overtime defeat at No. 23 Illinois on Saturday afternoon.
The Boilermakers trailed 27-3 early in the second half and 40-28 with five minutes to go before redshirt freshman Ryan Browne led the team on a pair of touchdown drives, giving Purdue the lead, 43-40, with 46 seconds to go. Illinois converted a 38-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.
After the Illini found the end zone to start overtime, the Boilermakers answered with a touchdown of their own as Arhmad Branch used his speed to beat the defenders to the pylon. With the ball in its hands, Purdue elected to go for two to win the game.
On the game's final play, Illinois brought the pressure and stopped the Boilermakers to prevent the biggest comeback in Purdue history.
On a day without starting quarterback Hudson Card, Browne stepped into the signal caller role and lit up the box score, finishing 18-of-26 passing for 297 yards and three touchdowns, also garnering 118 rushing yards on 17 carries for a 6.9 average in his first career start.
Browne became the third Purdue quarterback to pass for more than 200 yards and run for over 100 yards in since Mike Phipps vs. TCU in 1969 and Brandon Kirsch against Michigan State in 2002.
The Clarkston, Michigan, native also became just the sixth Boilermaker quarterback to eclipse 100 yards rushing in a game, joining Phipps, Bob Bobrowski, Gary Danielson, Rob Henry and Brandon Kirsch. His 118 rushing yards were the most by a Purdue quarterback since Henry at 132 at Northwestern on Oct. 9, 2010.
Max Klare led Purdue with a career-high 133 yards on six catches. Devin Mockobee notched 102 yards on 11 carries, marking his eighth career 100-yard game.
Kydran Jenkins paced the defense with 10 tackles, six solos, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Will Heldt also had a career-best 1.5 sacks and 1.5 TFLs.
Spencer Porath finished two-for-two on field goals and converted all five PAT attempts. Keelan Crimmins only had to punt twice for 97 yards with a long of 58 yards, his second-longest boot of the season.
Purdue fell behind 10-0 before Browne and company got rolling for a nine-play, 74-yard drive that went all the way down to the Illini four-yard line. However, the Boilers were held to a Spencer Porath field goal, cutting the deficit to 10-3 with just under six minutes to play in the second quarter.
A tumultuous end of the first half spelled trouble for Purdue, as Illinois (5-1, 2-1 B1G) took the ball back and went nine plays to the end zone.
Down 17-3 with under two minutes until the break, the Boilers' return team misread a kick that took an abnormal bounce back upfield, and Illinois pounced on it first. Starting from the Purdue 25-yard line, the Illini took advantage to put Purdue in a 24-3 hole at halftime.
After an early third-quarter field goal extended Illinois' lead to 27-3, the Boilermakers needed a spark. They proceeded to storm all the way back and nearly pulled off a historic upset.
Browne found junior Jahmal Edrine for a 53-yard score, good for Purdue's longest touchdown pass since its opening drive from the 2023 opener against Fresno State.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Nyland Green forced a strip-sack on Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer. Heldt recovered the fumble and took it to the house, Purdue's first scoop-and-score since Oct. 28, 2023, at Nebraska. It was Green's first career sack and forced fumble, as well as Heldt's first touchdown.
The Boilermakers turned Illinois over on downs on the following possession and marched down the field for a 24-yard Porath field goal, suddenly flipping the script to make it a 27-20 game.
The Illini answered with a touchdown of their own, but Purdue wasn't done fighting. On six plays, Browne surgically led the offense down the field and finished with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Tibbs.
Klare caught a pass for a successful two-point attempt, making the score 34-28, Illinois, but the Illini answered again to go up by 12 late in the game.
The Boilermaker offense refused to be denied; Mockobee capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with under four minutes to go.
Down by five, the Boilermakers successfully recovered an onside kick from Ben Freehill, the first time they had done so since Sept. 28, 2019, against Minnesota.
Starting at the Illinois 43-yard line, the Boilermakers needed only three plays to take the lead with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mockobee. Another successful two-point try to Edrine gave Purdue a 43-40 lead.
Illinois took the ball back with 42 seconds in regulation and got into field goal range, extending the game to overtime. Illinois scored on its first play to go up 50-43.
Mockobee took to the edge and dashed 22 yards to the Illinois 3, and Branch capitalized with a vaulting three-yard rushing score on the next play.
Down 50-49, with the automatic two-point try ahead in double overtime, head coach Ryan Walters chose to go for the win in the hostile environment. With the game on the line, the try was unsuccessful and Illinois escaped with a victory on its home turf.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers return home on a short week to host No. 3 Oregon Friday night. Kickoff from Ross-Ade Stadium is set for 8 p.m. on Fox.
NOTES
• Purdue totaled 536 yards of total offense, 239 - rushing and 251 - passing, for its second highest mark under head coach Ryan Walters.
• In his first collegiate start, Ryan Browne rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries with a long of 20 yards, while going 18-of-26 through the air for 297 and three touchdowns.
• Browne is the sixth quarterback in Purdue history to rush for over 100 yards.
• Browne is also the first Purdue quarterback since Mike Phipps in 1969 to throw for 200 yards and rush for over 100, besting Phipps' marks of 286 yards passing and 104 rushing yards.
• Max Klare had a career day with six receptions for 133 yards. He caught a career-long 62-yard pass from Browne in the third quarter.
• Klare had the most receiving yards by a Purdue tight end since Payne Durham's 150-yard night against Oregon State in 2021. It was the sixth-most by a Purdue tight end since 1996.
• Devin Mockobee carried the ball 11 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. He moved up the 100-yard game chart to sixth with Montrell Lowe (1999-02) with eight. He also moved up the career touchdown list to 11th with Otis Armstrong (1970-72) with his 17th score on the ground.
• Purdue was a perfect 6-of-6 in the red zone.
• Kydran Jenkins led the team on the defensive end with 10 tackles, six solos, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.
• Jenkins moved up to 12th in program history in tackles-for-loss with 39.5, passing Tom Kingsbury (1977-80).
• The Boilermakers finished with eight tackles for loss, the most against a Big Ten opponent since having nine at Nebraska last year.
• Will Heldt scored his first career touchdown on a 16-yard fumble recovery. It was Purdue's first defensive score since Kydran Jenkins scored a 55-yard fumble recovery against Nebraska.
• Spencer Porath connected on kicks of 22 and 24 yards. They were his fourth and fifth makes on the year, all consecutive, to move into fifth on the freshman season chart past Scott Sovereen (1975).
• Keelan Crimmins launched his sixth punt of 50 yards or more with a 58-yard boot, his second-longest punt of the season.
The Boilermakers trailed 27-3 early in the second half and 40-28 with five minutes to go before redshirt freshman Ryan Browne led the team on a pair of touchdown drives, giving Purdue the lead, 43-40, with 46 seconds to go. Illinois converted a 38-yard field goal as time expired to send the game into overtime.
After the Illini found the end zone to start overtime, the Boilermakers answered with a touchdown of their own as Arhmad Branch used his speed to beat the defenders to the pylon. With the ball in its hands, Purdue elected to go for two to win the game.
On the game's final play, Illinois brought the pressure and stopped the Boilermakers to prevent the biggest comeback in Purdue history.
On a day without starting quarterback Hudson Card, Browne stepped into the signal caller role and lit up the box score, finishing 18-of-26 passing for 297 yards and three touchdowns, also garnering 118 rushing yards on 17 carries for a 6.9 average in his first career start.
Browne became the third Purdue quarterback to pass for more than 200 yards and run for over 100 yards in since Mike Phipps vs. TCU in 1969 and Brandon Kirsch against Michigan State in 2002.
The Clarkston, Michigan, native also became just the sixth Boilermaker quarterback to eclipse 100 yards rushing in a game, joining Phipps, Bob Bobrowski, Gary Danielson, Rob Henry and Brandon Kirsch. His 118 rushing yards were the most by a Purdue quarterback since Henry at 132 at Northwestern on Oct. 9, 2010.
Max Klare led Purdue with a career-high 133 yards on six catches. Devin Mockobee notched 102 yards on 11 carries, marking his eighth career 100-yard game.
Kydran Jenkins paced the defense with 10 tackles, six solos, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Will Heldt also had a career-best 1.5 sacks and 1.5 TFLs.
Spencer Porath finished two-for-two on field goals and converted all five PAT attempts. Keelan Crimmins only had to punt twice for 97 yards with a long of 58 yards, his second-longest boot of the season.
Purdue fell behind 10-0 before Browne and company got rolling for a nine-play, 74-yard drive that went all the way down to the Illini four-yard line. However, the Boilers were held to a Spencer Porath field goal, cutting the deficit to 10-3 with just under six minutes to play in the second quarter.
A tumultuous end of the first half spelled trouble for Purdue, as Illinois (5-1, 2-1 B1G) took the ball back and went nine plays to the end zone.
Down 17-3 with under two minutes until the break, the Boilers' return team misread a kick that took an abnormal bounce back upfield, and Illinois pounced on it first. Starting from the Purdue 25-yard line, the Illini took advantage to put Purdue in a 24-3 hole at halftime.
After an early third-quarter field goal extended Illinois' lead to 27-3, the Boilermakers needed a spark. They proceeded to storm all the way back and nearly pulled off a historic upset.
Browne found junior Jahmal Edrine for a 53-yard score, good for Purdue's longest touchdown pass since its opening drive from the 2023 opener against Fresno State.
On the first play of the ensuing drive, Nyland Green forced a strip-sack on Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer. Heldt recovered the fumble and took it to the house, Purdue's first scoop-and-score since Oct. 28, 2023, at Nebraska. It was Green's first career sack and forced fumble, as well as Heldt's first touchdown.
The Boilermakers turned Illinois over on downs on the following possession and marched down the field for a 24-yard Porath field goal, suddenly flipping the script to make it a 27-20 game.
The Illini answered with a touchdown of their own, but Purdue wasn't done fighting. On six plays, Browne surgically led the offense down the field and finished with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Tibbs.
Klare caught a pass for a successful two-point attempt, making the score 34-28, Illinois, but the Illini answered again to go up by 12 late in the game.
The Boilermaker offense refused to be denied; Mockobee capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with under four minutes to go.
Down by five, the Boilermakers successfully recovered an onside kick from Ben Freehill, the first time they had done so since Sept. 28, 2019, against Minnesota.
Starting at the Illinois 43-yard line, the Boilermakers needed only three plays to take the lead with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mockobee. Another successful two-point try to Edrine gave Purdue a 43-40 lead.
Illinois took the ball back with 42 seconds in regulation and got into field goal range, extending the game to overtime. Illinois scored on its first play to go up 50-43.
Mockobee took to the edge and dashed 22 yards to the Illinois 3, and Branch capitalized with a vaulting three-yard rushing score on the next play.
Down 50-49, with the automatic two-point try ahead in double overtime, head coach Ryan Walters chose to go for the win in the hostile environment. With the game on the line, the try was unsuccessful and Illinois escaped with a victory on its home turf.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers return home on a short week to host No. 3 Oregon Friday night. Kickoff from Ross-Ade Stadium is set for 8 p.m. on Fox.
NOTES
• Purdue totaled 536 yards of total offense, 239 - rushing and 251 - passing, for its second highest mark under head coach Ryan Walters.
• In his first collegiate start, Ryan Browne rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries with a long of 20 yards, while going 18-of-26 through the air for 297 and three touchdowns.
• Browne is the sixth quarterback in Purdue history to rush for over 100 yards.
• Browne is also the first Purdue quarterback since Mike Phipps in 1969 to throw for 200 yards and rush for over 100, besting Phipps' marks of 286 yards passing and 104 rushing yards.
• Max Klare had a career day with six receptions for 133 yards. He caught a career-long 62-yard pass from Browne in the third quarter.
• Klare had the most receiving yards by a Purdue tight end since Payne Durham's 150-yard night against Oregon State in 2021. It was the sixth-most by a Purdue tight end since 1996.
• Devin Mockobee carried the ball 11 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. He moved up the 100-yard game chart to sixth with Montrell Lowe (1999-02) with eight. He also moved up the career touchdown list to 11th with Otis Armstrong (1970-72) with his 17th score on the ground.
• Purdue was a perfect 6-of-6 in the red zone.
• Kydran Jenkins led the team on the defensive end with 10 tackles, six solos, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.
• Jenkins moved up to 12th in program history in tackles-for-loss with 39.5, passing Tom Kingsbury (1977-80).
• The Boilermakers finished with eight tackles for loss, the most against a Big Ten opponent since having nine at Nebraska last year.
• Will Heldt scored his first career touchdown on a 16-yard fumble recovery. It was Purdue's first defensive score since Kydran Jenkins scored a 55-yard fumble recovery against Nebraska.
• Spencer Porath connected on kicks of 22 and 24 yards. They were his fourth and fifth makes on the year, all consecutive, to move into fifth on the freshman season chart past Scott Sovereen (1975).
• Keelan Crimmins launched his sixth punt of 50 yards or more with a 58-yard boot, his second-longest punt of the season.