Purdue's worst play of the day may also have been its best.
From a sheer football perspective, the pinball interception it threw to help set up a Hoosier touchdown in the first half ? giving IU a 21-14 lead ? was really the lone black eye on an otherwise pristine outing by Purdue's offense.
But it was on that play that dealt the Boilermakers a deficit that Purdue showed it wasn't going to lose, not on this day, not with these seniors.
You may or may not be aware, but Purdue quarterback Robert Marve has a damaged ACL in his knee, one he's now played three full games on.
That didn't stop the quarterback from sprinting the equivalent of half the field to run down Greg Heban from behind and tackle him like a defensive player would.
The tackle saved a touchdown. Indiana would still go on to score on the ensuing possession, but the die was cast then and there: Purdue wasn't going to be denied.
What an incredible play by Marve, the highlight, to me, of a day in which the quarterback threw for a career-best 348 yards and four touchdowns.
He had help.
If my calculations are correct, if Akeem Shavers was on my fantasy football team, he'd have scored a cool 40 points.
But this was real football, and it was Shavers' 21-0 run to close the game that kept that dirty old bucket in West Lafayette and ushered Purdue back into the postseason.
Saturday was a big deal to these guys. The whatever-bowl-Purdue-is-going-to might not seem like a huge deal to the common observer, not in this day and age when bowls are about as hard to get into as PG-13 movies.
But for players they're still big deals. For seniors, just the chance to play again typically means the world.
Purdue's got proud players and they showed it again Saturday.
Yes, this season went off the rails weeks ago. Yes, Purdue was out of the Big Ten race before the Big Ten race even started. Yes, they took advantage of a backloaded schedule to back into the postseason.
But who cares?
Purdue's going to play in a bowl game when a whole bunch of other teams aren't.
And Robert Marve, Akeem Shavers, Josh Johnson and hopefully Ralph Bolden get to play another football game.
Not really sure what to add here that wasn't covered after the Iowa game, but as maddening as it might be that the light didn't come on sooner, this team did not roll over when it had every reason to. It won out when previously it couldn't win, period. It didn't play great teams, but not only did it win, but it won in tight situations, again instances in which it could have buckled.
For that, this team, and these seniors, deserve credit. So does the coaching staff.
Again, everything was working against Purdue after it lost to Penn State. Everything.
For it to have come back from those ashes and at least made something of this otherwise lost season speaks to its makeup, if you ask me.
Just like Marve could have when Heban seemed to have a clear path to the end zone and a gift-wrapped touchdown, Purdue could have just said, "To hell with it" this season and rolled over.
But neither the quarterback nor his team gave up.
From a sheer football perspective, the pinball interception it threw to help set up a Hoosier touchdown in the first half ? giving IU a 21-14 lead ? was really the lone black eye on an otherwise pristine outing by Purdue's offense.
But it was on that play that dealt the Boilermakers a deficit that Purdue showed it wasn't going to lose, not on this day, not with these seniors.
You may or may not be aware, but Purdue quarterback Robert Marve has a damaged ACL in his knee, one he's now played three full games on.
That didn't stop the quarterback from sprinting the equivalent of half the field to run down Greg Heban from behind and tackle him like a defensive player would.
The tackle saved a touchdown. Indiana would still go on to score on the ensuing possession, but the die was cast then and there: Purdue wasn't going to be denied.
What an incredible play by Marve, the highlight, to me, of a day in which the quarterback threw for a career-best 348 yards and four touchdowns.
He had help.
If my calculations are correct, if Akeem Shavers was on my fantasy football team, he'd have scored a cool 40 points.
But this was real football, and it was Shavers' 21-0 run to close the game that kept that dirty old bucket in West Lafayette and ushered Purdue back into the postseason.
Saturday was a big deal to these guys. The whatever-bowl-Purdue-is-going-to might not seem like a huge deal to the common observer, not in this day and age when bowls are about as hard to get into as PG-13 movies.
But for players they're still big deals. For seniors, just the chance to play again typically means the world.
Purdue's got proud players and they showed it again Saturday.
Yes, this season went off the rails weeks ago. Yes, Purdue was out of the Big Ten race before the Big Ten race even started. Yes, they took advantage of a backloaded schedule to back into the postseason.
But who cares?
Purdue's going to play in a bowl game when a whole bunch of other teams aren't.
And Robert Marve, Akeem Shavers, Josh Johnson and hopefully Ralph Bolden get to play another football game.
Not really sure what to add here that wasn't covered after the Iowa game, but as maddening as it might be that the light didn't come on sooner, this team did not roll over when it had every reason to. It won out when previously it couldn't win, period. It didn't play great teams, but not only did it win, but it won in tight situations, again instances in which it could have buckled.
For that, this team, and these seniors, deserve credit. So does the coaching staff.
Again, everything was working against Purdue after it lost to Penn State. Everything.
For it to have come back from those ashes and at least made something of this otherwise lost season speaks to its makeup, if you ask me.
Just like Marve could have when Heban seemed to have a clear path to the end zone and a gift-wrapped touchdown, Purdue could have just said, "To hell with it" this season and rolled over.
But neither the quarterback nor his team gave up.
