So here it was, people, that moment, that moment Purdue's long hungered for, the one many probably didn't think they'd ever see through all those forgettable years, the sort of moment the new school's new AD specifically mentioned when he fired the last coach, the sort of flashpoint that takes a program from one level to the next just by happening.
That was Purdue football's night, a night during which the Boilermakers have never mattered more, a night on which they earned — earned — a signature victory while car-bombing a national championship contender.
Purdue impacted college football today, when everyone was watching.
Again, Purdue has never mattered more, and with the world watching, it did to second-ranked Ohio State what you'd hope to do to Illinois or Rutgers or whoever.
Purdue didn't beat Ohio State on the scoreboard. It beat Ohio State in every sense. It dominated, and if that wasn't the No. 2 team in the country on the other sideline, there might not have been a suspenseful moment after halftime, because from the outset, Purdue had this.
Maybe Ohio State never had a chance.
Not on this night, not in that environment, not with all that went into it, not with David Blough playing the way David Blough's playing and the way Jeff Brohm and his coaching staff have handled the past month-plus. Not with Tyler Trent on ESPN this morning and in Ross-Ade's Pavilion this evening. You can't tell me he didn't have something to do with this.
They call it a buzzsaw, a fight not even the second-ranked team in college football could fight, that moment, a moment of magnitude that hasn't yet fully revealed itself yet.
Start with David Blough, a player who one month ago was fighting for a job who's now writing a legacy. I don't know what the cover charge is for that Cradle of Quarterbacks, but if transcendent leadership counts, he's in.
Ohio State, every year, has some of the best players in college football. Its backups are pros, often.
Yet the best player on the field tonight was an 18-year-old playing for Purdue.
Ohio State could not cover Rondale Moore.
Ohio State could not tackle Rondale Moore, either.
What's that say about Rondale Moore?
The Matrix himself helped deliver an extraordinary night for the older players who endured competitive hell to get to this moment.
DJ Knox was part of all the losing. Maybe he thought about it while he was blowing this game wide open with long touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Purdue not only beating Ohio State, but running it up.
Markus Bailey and Antonio Blackmon, two of the heroes of a heroic defensive performance, if you're the type to equate heroism with something as inconsequential as sports.
Half this team endured losing of the most suffocating fashion prior to last season.
It's those guys this has to mean so much to.
This was their moment, Purdue's moment.
Blough said it best after the recorders went off early Sunday morning in the bowels of Mackey Arena.
"A long time coming."
Purdue has never mattered more.
That was Purdue football's night, a night during which the Boilermakers have never mattered more, a night on which they earned — earned — a signature victory while car-bombing a national championship contender.
Purdue impacted college football today, when everyone was watching.
Again, Purdue has never mattered more, and with the world watching, it did to second-ranked Ohio State what you'd hope to do to Illinois or Rutgers or whoever.
Purdue didn't beat Ohio State on the scoreboard. It beat Ohio State in every sense. It dominated, and if that wasn't the No. 2 team in the country on the other sideline, there might not have been a suspenseful moment after halftime, because from the outset, Purdue had this.
Maybe Ohio State never had a chance.
Not on this night, not in that environment, not with all that went into it, not with David Blough playing the way David Blough's playing and the way Jeff Brohm and his coaching staff have handled the past month-plus. Not with Tyler Trent on ESPN this morning and in Ross-Ade's Pavilion this evening. You can't tell me he didn't have something to do with this.
They call it a buzzsaw, a fight not even the second-ranked team in college football could fight, that moment, a moment of magnitude that hasn't yet fully revealed itself yet.
Start with David Blough, a player who one month ago was fighting for a job who's now writing a legacy. I don't know what the cover charge is for that Cradle of Quarterbacks, but if transcendent leadership counts, he's in.
Ohio State, every year, has some of the best players in college football. Its backups are pros, often.
Yet the best player on the field tonight was an 18-year-old playing for Purdue.
Ohio State could not cover Rondale Moore.
Ohio State could not tackle Rondale Moore, either.
What's that say about Rondale Moore?
The Matrix himself helped deliver an extraordinary night for the older players who endured competitive hell to get to this moment.
DJ Knox was part of all the losing. Maybe he thought about it while he was blowing this game wide open with long touchdowns in the fourth quarter, Purdue not only beating Ohio State, but running it up.
Markus Bailey and Antonio Blackmon, two of the heroes of a heroic defensive performance, if you're the type to equate heroism with something as inconsequential as sports.
Half this team endured losing of the most suffocating fashion prior to last season.
It's those guys this has to mean so much to.
This was their moment, Purdue's moment.
Blough said it best after the recorders went off early Sunday morning in the bowels of Mackey Arena.
"A long time coming."
Purdue has never mattered more.
