Northwestern 38, Purdue 14
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 22, 2014
Where: Ross Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana
Temperature:
49°
Head Official:
Dave Witvoet
Attendance:
30117
By SportsDirect Inc.
Northwestern 38, Purdue 14: Freshman Justin Jackson ran for 147 yards and two touchdowns and the Wildcats' defense turned four first-half turnovers into 17 points en route to an easy Big Ten victory against the host Boilermakers.
Jackson scored on runs of nine and 68 yards to break the 1,000-yard mark for the season for Northwestern (5-6, 3-4 Big Ten), which forced a season-high five turnovers and played the last 2 1/2 quarters without starting quarterback Trevor Siemian (lower body injury). Siemian completed 7-of-12 for 93 yards and a TD and Kyle Prater had four catches for 82 yards for an offense that has scored 81 points during its two-game winning streak after scoring just 50 points during a four-game losing streak.
Austin Appleby was 26-of-48 for 251 yards with a pair of touchdowns and interceptions for Purdue (3-8, 1-6), which has lost all eight home conference games under second-year coach Darrell Hazell. Akeem Hunt ran for 60 yards and scored a TD through the air as the Boilermakers lost for the 12th time in the last 13 Big Ten home contests.
Siemian hit Dan Vitale on a 25-yard touchdown pass just under three minutes in after an interception by Jimmy Hall. Jackson then cashed in a Purdue fumble with a 9-yard TD run late in the first after Siemian hit Prater for a first down on a 4th-and-14. The Wildcats pushed the edge to 21-0 when Tony Jones broke off a 64-yard punt return early in the second quarter, and after a 33-yard field goal by Jack Mitchell, Purdue finally got on the board when Hunt took a screen and scored from 19 yards out with 37 seconds left.
Purdue had a chance to get back in the game but its opening drive of the second half came up empty after 15 plays and 7 1/2 minutes when a 42-yard field goal by Paul Griggs hit the left upright and bounced away. Northwestern backup quarterback Zach Oliver capped a 12-play, 72-yard drive with a 1-yard sneak early in the fourth and Jackson then broke off his season-long run off right tackle to cap his fifth 100-yard game of the season and cap the scoring for the Wildcats.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Purdue had 31 total yards on its first six possessions with four turnovers before the Hunt TD capped a 75-yard drive before halftime. … Northwestern forced eight turnovers over six quarters between its 43-40 win last week over Notre Dame and the first half of this game. … Purdue had the ball deep in Northwestern territory twice in the first quarter but an interception and fumble ended those chances.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Northwestern |
|
Purdue |
Justin Jackson
|
Player |
Akeem Hunt
|
23 |
Attempts |
20 |
147 |
Yards |
60 |
6.4 |
Avg Yards |
3.0 |
2 |
Touchdowns |
0 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Northwestern
|
414 |
233 |
181 |
5 |
1 |
2 |
3.0 |
3 |
Purdue
|
312 |
61 |
251 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1.0 |
1 |