Purdue edges Middle Tennessee 27-24
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Three quarters of mediocre play didn’t shake Caleb TerBush’s confidence.
He engineered a nearly perfect fourth quarter in his first start and threw the game-winning touchdown pass in the final minute to help Purdue beat Middle Tennessee State 27-24 on Saturday in the opener for both teams.
Purdue, trailing 24-20, got a late defensive stop to earn a shot at the win, and TerBush led the Boilermakers 85 yards in 11 plays. His 35-yard touchdown pass to Antavian Edison came with 49 seconds left.
Though TerBush was promoted because of ACL injuries to Rob Henry and Robert Marve, he had earned the team’s confidence.
“He’s not a rookie,” Edison said. “He’s a very mature quarterback. He knows what he’s doing back there.”
The Boilermakers scored 17 points and gained 192 of their 420 yards in the fourth quarter.
“I think we all kind of settled down and got in a groove,” TerBush said. “We ran the things that were working for us and it worked for us clearly.”
Middle Tennessee went for the tie in the closing seconds, but Purdue’s Ricardo Allen blocked a 47-yard field-goal attempt by Alan Gendreau. Allen had fumbled on a punt return early in the game that led to a Blue Raiders score.
“I knew I had to make a play,” Allen said. “That was my chance and I took advantage of it.”
The close loss was difficult for Middle Tennessee to handle. The Sun Belt Conference member fell to 0-4 all-time against the Big Ten, including a 24-17 loss to Minnesota in last season’s opener.
“It kicks you in the gut right now, you’re sick to your stomach that you lost the game, and it’s hard to find a positive right now because of that,” MTSU coach Rick Stockstill said.
Logan Kilgore passed for 330 yards and two touchdowns, Malcolm Beyah caught four passes for 89 yards and a touchdown and Benny Cunningham had 105 yards from scrimmage for MTSU.
Ralph Bolden ran for 120 yards after missing last season with a torn ACL and Justin Siller had five catches for 55 yards for the Boilermakers.
TerBush passed for 219 yards and two touchdowns, but Purdue coach Danny Hope wasn’t entirely complimentary of his performance. TerBush completed 9 of 11 passes for 117 yards in the fourth quarter, but just 10 of 22 before that.
“He could do a lot better,” Hope said. “We missed some checks, we didn’t get some signals, they didn’t line up right at times. The bottom line is we found a way to win and that’s the important thing. I think Caleb grew up a lot today along with other guys around him.”
Purdue trailed 17-10 when running back Akeem Shavers went 30 yards up the middle for a touchdown to tie the score with 11:44 to play.
Middle Tennessee came right back with a 60-yard touchdown drive. Tavarres Jefferson made back-to-back outstanding catches for first downs, then two plays later, Cunningham finished the drive with a 2-yard scoring run to give Middle Tennessee a 24-17 lead with 9:26 to go.
Purdue had a third-and-1 at the MTSU 21 before getting called for a false start. TerBush was sacked on the next play, so Purdue settled for a 47-yard field goal by Carson Wiggs that trimmed MTSU’s lead to 24-20 with 5:57 remaining.
The first break for either team came when Allen fumbled and Middle Tennessee recovered at the Purdue 22. On third-and-14, Kilgore found Beyah for a 26-yard touchdown pass to put the Blue Raiders up 7-0.
Wiggs made a 50-yard field goal later in the quarter, his fifth of at least 50 yards during his career, to cut MTSU’s lead to 7-3.
Eric Russell intercepted a pass by TerBush early in the second quarter and returned it 34 yards to the Purdue 45, but the Blue Raiders couldn’t take advantage. The Boilermakers responded with a 12-play, 98-yard drive. TerBush rolled right and found running back Jared Crank in the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown pass to give Purdue a 10-7 lead with 7:32 left in the second quarter.
Middle Tennessee came back later in the quarter with a 95-yard drive. This time, Kilgore found Sancho McDonald for a 21-yard score to give MTSU a 14-10 lead with 2:10 left in the first half.
Purdue caught a break when Gendreau missed a 39-yard field goal late in the third quarter. He made a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter, extending MTSU’s lead to 17-10.
After Purdue took the lead in the final minute, MTSU took a shot at the end zone, but Kilgore and Beyah just missed the play before Gendreau’s kick was blocked.
“It looked like he gave him a chance,” Stockstill said. “Malcolm got by him a little bit and had a chance. I don’t know if it would have been out of bounds or in bounds.”
The close call might concern some Purdue fans, but it didn’t bother Hope.
“We talked at halftime that this was a team that needed to learn how to win, and this was our chance in the second half,” Hope said. “I don’t care what the score is. We won today and that was big for our football team because we needed to be behind the eight ball and find a way to win.”