The Big Ten West is officially open for business thanks to Michigan State and now Purdue.
A week after the Spartans shocked college football by topping then-No. 13 Illinois, 23-15, now the Boilermakers have gotten in on the action. Purdue handed Illinois its second straight loss, capturing the Cannon after beating Illinois, 31-24.
Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell led the way in the upset effort by completing 25-of-40 passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. Two of those touchdown passes went to tight end Payne Durham, while the other went to former Hawkeye receiver Charlie Jones. Meanwhile, Boilermakers running back Devin Mockobee carried 28 times for 106 rushing yards with a score.
Just two weeks ago Illinois was 7-1 and 4-1 in the Big Ten. Everybody else but Purdue had more than two conference losses and Illinois was in complete control of its own fate. Now, after the Illini’s stumbles, it’s a much murkier picture.
Purdue is now even in the conference win-loss column and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Illini. The winner of Iowa–Wisconsin would pull even, too. Both the Hawkeyes and Badgers need another Illinois loss thanks to the Illini’s head-to-head win over both, but that seems likely with a trip to No. 3 Michigan looming. Each are in good shape with wins over Purdue as well.
Naturally, Iowa fans, Wisconsin fans, and college football fans in general were thrilled with the continued chaos. Here were the best reactions from social media.