UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Purdue football team fell 31-17 at Penn State on Saturday night.
Quarterback Ryan Browne passed for 142 yards and a touchdown, and Asaad Waseem led the team with 64 receiving yards on three catches. Xavier Townsend notched a team-high four receptions for 46 yards and a touchdown.
Trailing 7-0 and facing a 3rd-and-6, Browne retreated from pressure and heaved an off-balanced deep pass to Townsend, connecting with the receiver for a 33-yard touchdown to tie the game. It was Purdue’s second-longest touchdown pass of the season.
After a defensive stop in the second quarter with Purdue down 14-7, Bisi Owens brought pressure up the middle and blocked a punt, which was scooped up by Jalil Hall and returned 31 yards for a touchdown. It marked Purdue’s first blocked punt returned for a touchdown since Mike Conway returned one blocked by Frank Halliburton against Northern Colorado on Sept. 6, 2008.
Owens tied the program record with two blocked punts in a season after also blocking one in the season opener against Indiana State.
Kicking in his home state, Pittsburgh native Jacobo Echeverria Lozano continued his hot streak and converted a career-long 49-yard attempt in the fourth quarter. The freshman is now 16-for-17 on field goal attempts this season, tying the program freshman record for made field goals in a season.
Curt Neal had a career day in the Nittany Lions’ backfield, recording his first two career unassisted sacks. Both came on third-down plays in the third quarter, and the first occurred on the edge of field goal range, leading to a missed 55-yard field goal attempt. Neal’s two sacks are the most by a Boilermaker in a single game so far this season.
Justin Denson Jr. led the defense with a career-high 15 tackles, another best by a Boilermaker in a game this season. Jojo Hayden finished second on the team with 10 tackles, his second time recording double-digit stops this year.
Penn State (4-4, 1-4 B1G) held a large edge in time of possession, 43:27 to 16:33, and rushed for 269 yards to secure its first Big Ten Conference win of the season.
UP NEXT
The Boilermakers (3-5, 2-3 B1G) return to West Lafayette next Saturday for the annual homecoming game, welcoming Maryland to Ross-Ade Stadium. Kickoff is set for 12:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
Tickets are available here.