Purdue 24, Iowa 7 Reaction
What was going to happen when the Iowa defense didn’t come up with a bazillion takeaways?
Apparently, this.
Purdue was a bad, dangerous opponent for the Hawkeyes. The Boilermaker D was and is the real deal – DE George Karlaftis wore the Iowa backfield as a hat – and the O was more than happy to play a low-scoring fight of a game.
Iowa turned it over four times – QB Spencer Petras threw four interceptions – and Purdue turned it over just once.
The Boilermakers didn’t take too many chances. WR David Bell caught 11 passes for 240 yards and a score, but it wasn’t like QB Aidan O’Connell had to force anything to get him the ball.
Combine the air-tight game – brilliant called by Jeff Brohm and the coaching staff and perfectly executed by both sides of the ball – with a +3 in turnover margin against the statistically worst offense in the Big Ten, and there goes the perfect season for the No. 2 team.
Yeah, this changes up the Big Ten West race – Minnesota, Purdue, and even Wisconsin and Northwestern are back in it – but not really.
For example, Purdue still has Michigan State, at Ohio State, and a slew of other dangerous games to deal with, so …
Don’t just dismiss Iowa quite yet.
Yes, the offense has to be better, and yeah, there has to be a massive tweak to the downfield passing game. But the rest of the schedule is more than manageable.
Wisconsin is hot mess disguised as … not a hot mess. It’s going to turn the ball over 18 times in two weeks when the Hawkeyes visit Camp Randall.
At Northwestern, Minnesota, Illinois, at Nebraska. All of those are losable if the O plays like this, but it’s not insane to think the Hawkeyes could win out and get to the Big Ten Championship at 11-1 with a real shot at the CFP – go 12-1, win your Power Five championship, and you’re in.
Week 7 Big Game Reactions
– LSU 49, Florida 42
– Oklahoma State 32, Texas 24
– Ole Miss 31, Tennessee 26
– Michigan State 20, Indiana 15
– Oklahoma 52, TCU 31
– Cincinnati 56, UCF 21
– Georgia 30, Kentucky 13