Purdue Football: 3 takeaways from impressive win over Maryland

Purdue football rolled against the Maryland Terrapins today 40-14 at home on Saturday afternoon. Here are three takeaways from the game.

There’s a saying in horse racing when a thoroughbred leads from start to finish: wire-to-wire. There’s no better definition of the proceedings at Ross Ade Stadium this afternoon.

The Boilermakers jumped out to a 13-0 lead and never looked back as they cruised to a 40-14 victory in West Lafayette. Purdue freshman quarterback Jack Plummer had the finest game of his young career at Purdue throwing for over 400 yards and three touchdowns. Receiver Brycen Hopkins had 10 catches to pace the receiving corps.

Maryland sputtered out of the gate and never got going in this one. The Terrapins were without starting quarterback Josh Jackson in this game due to injury. Veteran quarterback Tyrell Pigrome was called to duty and played admirably. The Terps started out behind the 8-ball, but got back in the game cutting into the lead 20-14 but the Boilermakers then rattled off 20 unanswered points.

Here are three additional takeaways from today’s game:

3. Purdue lived up to their moniker

Purdue had 10 players out of this game due to injury, and all 10 were either starters or important contributors to the team on offense, defense or special teams. The most notable absences were starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar and do-everything wide receiver Rondale Moore Jr. both nursing injuries. However, Jack Plummer stepped up and had a big day and Brycen Hopkins filled in nicely for Moore.

This was a “heart” game. Purdue was undermanned in this one, but looked prepared and ready to play.  Keep in mind the Terrapins were also missing significant players  as well including their starting quarterback. The Boilermakers looked like the better prepared team, however.