Penn State Football: 3 takeaways from Homecoming blowout of Purdue

Penn State pulled out another dominant win, this time on Homecoming Day in a Week 6 rout of Purdue. What did we learn from the latest Nittany Lions victory?

State College was packed with throngs of alumni in town for Homecoming festivities, and Beaver Stadium was rocking for Penn State’s Week 6 showdown against Purdue. The Nittany Lions did not disappoint, toppling the Boilermakers 35-7 on the first weekend of October. With the win, Penn State reasserted its presence as a major player in the Big Ten race.

From the outset, it looked like a runaway victory. After holding a Purdue team without starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar to three-and-out on the opening drive of the contest, Penn State pushed effortlessly downfield in just more than two minutes to take an advantage they would never relinquish. A similar script played out on the next pair of drives, and by the end of the 15 minutes the Nittany Lions were already up 21-0 on their overmatched visitors and added another touchdown less than a minute into the second quarter.

The Nittany Lions cooled off in the second half, but they were never in doubt of losing against the Boilermakers. It was a tale of two halves that left Penn State fans to wonder what happened after halftime. Nevertheless, these are two programs are trending in wildly different directions.

Now 5-0, Penn State is right there with the winner of the Ohio State-Michigan State game in the Big Ten East. They head into next week’s road trip against Iowa with a wealth of confidence. Purdue, on the other hand, could desperately use a bye that won’t come until mid-November after the loss of Sindelar showed how shallow the depth chart is at quarterback in West Lafayette.

What should we take away from this lopsided result in Happy Valley? Here are three key takeaways from the big Penn State victory in early Week 6 action.