Syracuse Football: 3 Takeaways from home win against Purdue
By Dante Pryor
2. Both teams fought hard in the second half
“They threw a corner route, completed it in the corner against man-to-man coverage. It was in the end zone, and they scored on it,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. “They did a good job of executing.”
“This is a spiritual-type game here,” said Syracuse coach Dino Babers, who compared the end of the game to a rollercoaster ride. “To win a game like that, to have the scoreboard go back and forth from the third quarter to the fourth quarter, through the highs and lows. … there were turns, there were deep valleys, and then there were big climbs.”
Considering this game started as slowly as it did, both teams kept fighting the entire game.
Syracuse found a way to score with their best player held in check the entire game. Purdue kept stalling many of its drives with penalties but found its way to get in the endzone in the fourth quarter.
The Boilermakers did have an opportunity to put the game away in the fourth quarter, but an unsportsmanlike penalty cost them on the kick-off. The Purdue defense was flagged for holding and defensive pass interference, which kept the drive alive for the game-winning score.