J.D. Dellinger was the hero for Purdue in an ending that was so exciting and interesting, it could have been written by J.D. Salinger. Purdue’s 24-22 come from behind win at Northwestern, decided by Dellinger’s 39 yard field goal in the final seconds, was as entertaining as one could expect for $2- that’s how low a price you could find tickets online for this one.
It was the nicest weather day the Chicagoland area has seen in a week and is forecasted to have for another week, absolutely perfect for a college football Saturday, but the sun is definitely not shining right now on the Northwestern football program. The Wildcats went up early 14-0, and they scored six more points today than they did all of October, but it just wasn’t enough.
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Purdue snapped a five game skid against Northwestern, beating them for the first time since 2010. And the Boilermakers did it despite being out-gained by nearly 100 yards and losing the time of possession battle.
Yep, it’s just that kind of year for Pat Fitzgerald and his program.
“We missed tackles, we go three-and-out and they put together two similar touchdown drives,” Fitzgerald said after the game. “But I thought we responded well.”
He also said that he believes the team’s response to going down 21-16 was arguably the best response that they have shown at any time this year. In the Aidan Bowl/battle of the Aidans, Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell out-dueled Northwestern’s Aidan Smith.
O’Connell finished 34-50 for 271 yards, 2 TDs and 2 INTs. Smith was 19-31 for 184, with a pick and two touchdown passes.
The two touchdown passes today equaled their season total entering today. No, that’s not a typo. So where does Northwestern go from here?
Fitzgerald said that they will focus on finishing strong, and getting geared up to play their main rival in the final game of the season.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly appears on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com on Twitter here and his cat on Instagram at this link.