Purdue 45, Eastern Kentucky 24
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, September 3, 2016
Where: Ross Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana
Temperature:
70°
Head Official:
Larry Smith
Attendance:
32074
By The Sports Xchange
Purdue's defense scored one touchdown and set up another, and the Boilermakers built an early 21-0 lead and never trailed Saturday, defeating Football Championship Subdivision opponent Eastern Kentucky, 45-24.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback David Blough ran for two Purdue touchdowns and passed 35 yards to DeAngelo Yancey for another, helping Purdue win its 13 consecutive home opener, including 4-0 for fourth-year coach Darrell Hazell, who improved to 7-30 with the Boilermakers.
Blough completed 25 of 43 passes for 245 yards, and Markell Jones rushed 24 times for 145 yards and a TD. Purdue finished with 512 yards of total offense.
Eastern Kentucky (0-1) started Missouri fifth-year graduate transfer Maty Mauk at quarterback, but the former Tigers starter threw an interception on the Colonels' first possession and lost a fumble the second time his team had the ball.
Bennie Coney replaced Mauk for the third series and directed Eastern Kentucky to 18 first-half points and 284 yards during the first 30 minutes.
Purdue grabbed a quick 7-0 lead, driving 64 yards in six plays after receiving the opening kickoff, scoring on Jones' 3-yard run with 13:04 remaining in the first quarter. Blough's 27-yard pass to Tario Fuller moved the ball to the Colonels' 3-yard line.
Boilermakers safety Leroy Clark's interception of Mauk and 17-yard return to the Eastern Kentucky 23 set up Purdue's second touchdown -- a 1-yard Blough run with 10:13 left in the opening period, extending the lead to 14-0.
The Boilermakers took a 21-0 lead with 3:31 to play in the first quarter when defensive end Gelen Robinson intercepted a pass and returned it 78 yards for a touchdown.
Eastern Kentucky pulled to within 21-8 when Dan Crimmins ran 10 yards for a TD with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter and Neiko Creamer ran for a two-point conversion.
Purdue responded with a 50-yard drive capped by the Blough to Yancey touchdown pass with10:04 left in the half, pushing the advantage to 28-8.
The Colonels scored the first half's final 10 points, including Ethan Thomas' 10-yard touchdown run with 2:04 to play in the second quarter.
Purdue scored 17 points during the final 12:48 after failing to score in the third quarter.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Eastern Kentucky |
|
Purdue |
Ethan Thomas
|
Player |
Markell Jones
|
17 |
Attempts |
24 |
60 |
Yards |
145 |
3.5 |
Avg Yards |
6.0 |
1 |
Touchdowns |
1 |
0 |
Long |
0 |
Team Stats Summary
|
Yards |
Scoring |
Defense |
Team |
Tot |
Rus |
Pas |
TD |
FG |
INT |
Sck |
FF |
Eastern Kentucky |
398 |
176 |
222 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Purdue
|
512 |
261 |
251 |
6 |
1 |
3 |
0.0 |
0 |