The season has reached the halfway mark, offering a good time to reflect on what we have witnessed through the first six games of the season for Purdue (3-3 overall/2-1 Big Ten). Here are my top eight moments of the first half of the 2018 season.
1. Did You See That?Early in the second quarter of a 7-7 game vs. Boston College, is when it happened. Purdue WR Rondale Moore caught a 5-yard pass and was hit almost immediately by a defender. Some how, Moore kept a knee from touching the ground—by millimeters—and raced 70 yards for a touchdown. That play, more than any other so far in his career, showed the speed, power, balance and big-play ability of the freshman. Best of all: Moore helped Purdue win its first game of the year after an 0-3 start, taking a 30-13 decision for a Boiler team smarting from losing its two previous games on walk-off field goals.
2. Mr. Big Play.Show it to us again.
— Purdue Football (@BoilerFootball) September 22, 2018
Rondale Moore to the house. #BoilerUp pic.twitter.com/uUZQ8Saog6
In the season opener vs. Northwestern, Rondale Moore introduced himself to fans by notching a school single-game record 313 total yards (he had 302 at halftime). The most memorable play from this scintillating debut occurred in the second quarter when Moore ran left on a jet sweep, deked two Wildcats and left everyone choking on his dust as he raced 76 yards for a TD. Moore also had 11 catches for 109 yards for the game. Purdue lost to NU, 31-27, but Moore offered a preview of things to come and showed the hype surrounding him was real.
3. Let's Get Tricky.Jeff Brohm has a self-professed love for trick plays. And he pulled off a dozy vs. Illinois. Facing second-and-goal, David Blough flipped the ball to a reversing Terry Wright; then, Wright flipped to a reversing Jared Sparks. Double reverse! All the while, Blough slipped out of the backfield and into the right corner of the end zone. Sparks spotted a wide-open Blough for a 7-yard TD pass to give Purdue a 14-7 lead in the first quarter of a 46-7 rout. The win allowed the Boilermakers to level their record at 3-3.
4. Bomb's Away."We got the look we wanted and it worked the way it's supposed to work."
— Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) October 16, 2018
We can think of A LOT of other ways to describe it, but, yeah...#BoilerUp #OnlyTheStrong pic.twitter.com/NOjDez8ceX
Purdue makes no bones about its desire to throw the ball downfield. And that was never more evident that at the end of the first half at Illinois. The Boilermakers got the ball at their own 25-yard line with just 38 second left in the half with a 23-7 lead. But Jeff Brohm wanted more. Two D.J. Knox runs got the ball to the Illinois 42 with nine seconds hanging on the clock. That's when David Blough let fly a bomb to the end zone. Purdue wideout Isaac Zico leaped and grabbed the ball in tandem with an Illini defensive back. It was ruled a TD, giving the Boilers a 29-7 halftime edge.
5. Blough Is The Man.Yes, Purdue lost 40-37 to Missouri in the third game of the season, but the program showed its new-found commitment to being aggressive on offense could pay off by notching 614 yards. This also was a seminal game for fifth-year senior David Blough, who got the start due to an injury to Elijah Sindelar and hit 39-of-55 passes for 572 yards with three touchdowns and a pick. Blough hasn't looked back, solidifying his status as Purdue's No. 1 signal-caller even though Sindelar is now healthy. The Boilermakers had the Tigers sweating, rallying from a 27-10 second-quarter hole to a 37-34 deficit with just over 12 minutes left in the game. It looked like Purdue had taken the lead after Jared Sparks caught a TD pass on third-and-goal from the 9-yard line. But it was overturned by replay officials, so the Boilers settled for a game-tying 26-yard Spencer Evans field goal with 3:28 left in the game. Alas, Missouri proceeded to drive down the field and hit a game-winning 25-yard field goal as time expired. Still, this game did wonders for Blough and a new aggressive offense.
6. Getting Defensive.Historic. Staggering. Unbelievable.
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) September 16, 2018
Pick the adjective, @david_blough10's numbers were it in @BoilerFootball's Week 3 loss. pic.twitter.com/dhRlvLDoPe
Purdue had built a 20-7 halftime lead at Nebraska in the fifth game of the season, but the Cornhuskers were roaring back with touchdowns on three consecutive drives to cut the Boilermakers' lead to 42-28. The Huskers had the ball again deep in the second half, threatening to tally another TD to make it a one-possession game. With the ball at the Nebraska 47, Purdue's defense finally made a play as Simeon Smiley picked off a pass with just under 11 minutes to play. The Boilermaker defense made stops on the Cornhuskers' final three drives to ice a 42-28 victory.
7. Stuffing Dillon.Boston College sophomore RB A.J. Dillon arrived in West Lafayette hyped as a Heisman contender with 432 yards rushing on 59 carries in the first three games of the season (7.3 ypc) coming off a 1,589-yard rushing effort as a freshman in 2017. But the Boilermaker defense stuffed Dillon, who ran 19 times for 59 yards. His long run? Eleven yards. BC had 85 yards rushing on 34 carries, as the Boilers won 30-13 vs. the No. 23 Eagles. Credit Purdue junior linebacker Markus Bailey, who played a great game in notching a team-high 10 tackles with a sack and two TFLs in helping Purdue tally its first victory of the season.
8. Taking A Punch ... And Answering.Going on the road and facing a desperate Nebraska team that was 0-3, Purdue needed to be resilient. And, the Boilers showed early on they had the stuff. The Cornhuskers marched 75 yards in 10 plays on the opening possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead. NU made it look easy, and the packed house was rocking. But the Boilermakers responded with a six-play, 71-yard TD drive capped by a 42-yard TD run by D.J. Knox. Purdue followed with two field goals and a touchdown to take a 20-7 halftime lead and never looked back in notching its second win in a row. Knox finished with 87 yards rushing on 15 carries with two scores. The senior has been a steady force all season, running for over 100 yards two times and pacing the squad with 540 yards rushing on 87 totes with five TDs, averaging 6.2 yards per carry.
Understatement:, @blockknox1's @BoilerFootball highlight video has added some footage today. pic.twitter.com/WPjuzhRh6d
— Purdue On BTN (@PurdueOnBTN) September 29, 2018