Purdue rolls past Minnesota to end losing skid
Hudson Card passed for three touchdowns, rushed for one and Purdue pulled away for a 49-30 win over visiting Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference matchup Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Ind.
Card completed 17 of 25 passes for 251 yards and three scores for Purdue (3-7, 2-5), which snapped a four-game losing streak and won for the first time since Sept. 30 against Illinois.
The Boilermakers’ Devin Mockobee finished with a game-high 153 rushing yards and a touchdown, and Tyrone Tracy Jr. finished with 122 rushing yards and two touchdowns. Purdue gained 353 yards on the ground.
Athan Kaliakmanis completed 18 of 42 passes for 292 yards and three touchdowns for Minnesota (5-5, 3-4), which missed a chance to secure bowl eligibility for the second week in a row. Chris Autman-Bell, Brevyn Spann-Ford and Elijah Spencer had one touchdown catch apiece for the Golden Gophers.
Six players found the end zone for Purdue. Tracy, Card and Mockobee combined for four touchdowns on the ground. Deion Burks, Garrett Miller and T.J. Sheffield caught one touchdown pass apiece.
Purdue outgained Minnesota 604-407 in total yards.
The Boilermakers led 28-20 at halftime and outscored Minnesota 21-10 in the second half.
Minnesota opened the scoring on its first possession. Spann-Ford caught a 20-yard touchdown pass.
On the next drive, Card hit Miller for a 20-yard touchdown to even the score.
After Minnesota made a field goal, Purdue grabbed a 14-10 lead with 1:05 remaining in the first quarter. Card found Sheffield for a 24-yard touchdown.
Another Golden Gophers field goal cut the deficit to one point.
Purdue surged with back-to-back touchdowns to grab a 28-13 lead late in the first half. Tracy scored on an 8-yard run and Card scored on a 1-yard run.
Minnesota pulled within 28-20 with 16 seconds to go before halftime. Autman-Bell caught a 27-yard pass for his first touchdown of the season.
Burks caught a 42-yard touchdown pass for the only score of the third quarter. That increased Purdue’s lead to 35-20.
Mockobee made it 42-20 with a 6-yard rushing touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Minnesota settled for a field goal to pull within 42-23 with 10:38 to play.
Tracy tallied his second rushing touchdown, this time from 1 yard out, with 5:13 remaining.
Spencer capped the scoring for Minnesota with a 4-yard touchdown catch with 2:37 to go.
–Field Level Media
