Purdue Football: 3 players who deserve game ball after upset over Iowa

IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 16: Quarterback Aidan OConnell #16 of the Purdue Boilermakers is surrounded by teammates after a touchdown in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
IOWA CITY, IOWA- OCTOBER 16: Quarterback Aidan OConnell #16 of the Purdue Boilermakers is surrounded by teammates after a touchdown in the first half against the Iowa Hawkeyes at Kinnick Stadium on October 9, 2021 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)
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Iowa coming off their biggest win in years last week over Penn State, moving up to #2 in the country, and welcoming in a Purdue football team that was a double-digit underdog against the Hawkeyes. What could go wrong for Iowa?

Everything really went wrong for Iowa. At the same time, the Purdue Boilermakers came into a tough environment and really dominated on both sides of the ball from start to finish.

The score could have been worse if Purdue football was able to capitalize on a few drives, especially a potential touchdown which turned into being a touchback in the second half.

If you just looked at the stats for this game you would think that the Purdue Boilermakers were the second-ranked team in the country. One huge stat for Purdue was the time of possession.

The Purdue offense did a great job of extending long drives on their end all game. On third down alone Purdue finished the game going 9 for16 which is a huge factor in how Purdue was able to have a big advantage with the time of possession and keeping the Iowa offense on the sideline.

The Purdue victory on Saturday snaps the Iowa Hawkeyes 12-game winning streak dating back to last year, and also pretty much knocks them out of any playoff hopes unless a lot of chaos happens the rest of the year.

Here are a few players who deserve a game ball in the Boilermakers’ historic upset over Iowa.