San Diego State takes down Wyoming for homecoming

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November 1, 2025

DDC05800 — Photo by Rashad Griffin / fi360 News

SAN DIEGO, CA – Behind another dominant defensive showing and a career night from sophomore running back Lucky Sutton, the San Diego State Aztecs extended their winning streak to six games with a 24-7 Homecoming victory over Wyoming on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium.

Sutton ran for a career-high 158 yards, including a game-sealing 50-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that put the Aztecs (7–1, 4–0 MW) comfortably ahead. It marked the second straight week Sutton has set a career rushing high after running for 131 yards in last week’s shutout at Fresno State. The San Diego native now has four 100-yard games this season and 289 rushing yards with two touchdowns in his last two contests.

“Good win, another dominant performance by the defense. Aside from that opening drive, I think Wyoming had 49 yards in the second half, which is outstanding,” said head coach Sean Lewis, “Another great step by our players.”

Defense Dominates Once Again

After allowing an early touchdown drive, the Aztec defense clamped down for the remainder of the game, forcing four turnovers and holding the Cowboys (4–5, 2–3 MW) to just 110 total yards after their opening possession. Wyoming failed to score again following its first-quarter touchdown.

Linebacker Owen Chambliss led the defensive effort with a career-high 13 tackles, while Trey White added two sacks to continue his strong campaign as the Mountain West preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

The Aztecs’ defense has now limited opponents to an average of 7.3 points per game over their six-game winning streak, outscoring them 176–44 during that span.

Aztecs Capitalize on Turnovers

San Diego State turned two first-half interceptions into points.

In the first quarter, Brice Phillips picked off a pass to give SDSU possession at the Wyoming 24-yard line. Quarterback Jayden Denegal quickly connected with Byron Cardwell Jr. for a touchdown to tie the game at 7–7.

Early in the second quarter, Dwayne McDougle intercepted another Cowboy pass, setting up a 34-yard field goal by Gabe Plascencia to give the Aztecs a 10–7 lead they would not relinquish.

Later in the half, Jordan Napier scored on a 7-yard rushing touchdown, his first career rushing score, to make it 17–7. Napier has now scored in three different ways for the Aztecs — rushing, receiving, and punt return — and even threw for a touchdown last season.

Sutton’s Late Heroics Seal It

After several defensive stands and missed field goals by Wyoming, the Aztecs turned to Sutton to close the game. With under three minutes remaining, facing 1st-and-15, Sutton broke free for a 50-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career, bringing the Homecoming crowd to its feet and putting the game out of reach at 24–7.

Denegal, returning from injury, completed 11 of 22 passes for 194 yards and one touchdown, while guiding SDSU’s balanced attack.

Home Sweet Home

The win keeps San Diego State undefeated at home (4–0) this season, where they’ve outscored opponents 145–31. The Aztecs’ victory also places them in sole possession of first place in the Mountain West during their final season in the conference.

SDSU’s 4–0 start in league play marks just the third time in program history they’ve achieved that milestone (2015 and 2016), both previous seasons culminating in Mountain West championships.

“There’s going to be lots of cleanup this week, because we have to go play a really good Hawaii team and
other future opponents,” said coach Lewis.

Up Next

San Diego State continues its pursuit of another conference title with two more home games remaining at Snapdragon Stadium, where the Aztecs have proven nearly unbeatable this season.

Colorado Buffaloes gets Blown out by Arizona 52-17

By

Devon Martinez

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November 1, 2025

Boulder, CU- The 2025 Colorado football team is 3-6 after a blowout loss to Arizona after a 53-7 loss to Utah last week. The Buffaloes are also 1-3 for their last four games.

Head coach Deon Sanders, in an unprecedented move for the season, made himself the only person to talk to the media at the end of the game.

Colorado Dallan Hayden (7) is brought down by Arizona Genesis Smith (12) in the first quarter at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO on Saturday November 1, 2025. Arizona beat Colorado by a score of 52 to 17. (Photo by Laura Domingue/fi360 News)

“No one will be available tonight, it’s just me,” he said. “Don’t attack the coordinators; come at me. Don’t attack the players; come at me. This has nothing to do with them; it has everything to do with me.”

On Saturday night at Folsom, the Buffaloes failed on all cylinders, falling 17-0 eight minutes in and 38-7 by halftime.

Colorado’s first touchdown was off a Kaidon Salter led drive. Throughout the season, Salter has started the majority of games, but the Buffaloes have switched to their second and third strings in attempts to find offensive success, a strategy Colorado tried against Arizona.

Overall, the offense had a season-high five turnovers and a season-high 13 penalties for 105 yards. Salter contributed two of those turnovers off an interception and fumble and finished the game with 49 yards passing. The defense didn’t fare much better and allowed Arizona to end the game with 417 yards and over 50 offensive points.

Colorado Zach Atkins (85) singles for a first down after making a first quarter reception against Arizona at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO on Saturday November 1, 2025. Arizona beat Colorado by a score of 52 to 17. (Photo by Laura Domingue/fi360 News)

“We’re not executing, and that’s on me. I know this team personally, I know them intimately,” Sanders said. “And they don’t quit. I know when a player quits. I know that when I see it, and I haven’t seen it.”

Five-star freshman quarterback JuJu Lewis provided some relief with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Omarian Miller, to give Colorado their second and final touchdown of the game.

Arizona responded with a four play, 75-yard drive in the fourth quarter, sealing any opportunity for Colorado to comeback.

Arizona Taye Brown (6) and Dalton Johnson (43) trip up Colorado Dallan Hayden (7) in the first quarter at Folsom Field in Boulder, CO on Saturday November 1, 2025. Arizona beat Colorado by a score of 52 to 17. (Photo by Laura Domingue/fi360 News)

Sanders claims he’s struggling to see where the disconnect comes in between his team during the week at practice and during games. “It’s very frustrating not being able to put your finger on it,” he said. “Thinking that you’ve got it and you don’t is the hard part. Thinking you’re going to see it, and that you’re doing the right things, but you’re not. That’s on me”

Colorado heads to West Virginia next Saturday at 10 a.m. mountain time.

Oregon grinds out a victory over Wisconsin

By

Jennifer Moore

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October 25, 2025

_A121780 — Photo by Ben Ammon / fi360 News

Eugene, OR- Oregon handles Wisconsin at home in their Grateful Dead inspired uniforms. The Badgers withstood all of the Ducks punches in the first half till last drive of the half giving up a 3-yard touchdown.

The Ducks were not explosive on the stat sheet with quarterback Dante Moore throwing for only 86 yards on 9-16 attempts. It was enough to get a much-needed victory.

This was an old school Big 10 slug fest, that had running back Jordon Davison gain 102 yards on 16 carries and 2 of Oregon’s touchdowns for the game. Getting in the endzone in both halves on for 3 yards and big 20-yard touchdown in 2^nd half to stretch the lead to 14-0.

“Defense played lights out today,” said Oregon coach Dan Lanning, “They did really good job controlling Wisconsin today.”

Wisconsin defense stepped up big to start off the game and overcome an onside kick that was lost but even with the extra possession the Duck didn’t turn that into points. Mason Posa (8) was all over the field for the Badgers finishing with 8 tackles.

The Badgers defense was able to add pressure most of the game with 4 sacks by Ben Barten, Mason Reiger, Sebastian Cheeks and Aaron Witt.

With all that pressure by the Badgers when Oregon reached the red zone in the 4th quarter, they use their opponent’s aggressiveness. The play action pass to the big fella #78 Gernorris Wilson with 1-yard touchdown catch to push the lead to 21-0.

Today’s victory came at a cost losing Moore in the 3^rd quarter due to nose injury that should just be for today’s contest.

Oregon coach Lanning said after the game that Moore “got dinged” in the nose on a tackle, but should be in “great shape.”

“I think we could have pushed to get him back in, but he’s going to be good,” he said. “He had a bloody nose, he got hit pretty good, but it looks like he’s in great shape.”

Wisconsin will battle back and take this moral victory of getting a late touchdown in the 4^th quarter. They will look to rest up and get two weeks to prepare for the Washington Huskies who will come intown on Nov 8^th after the bye week.

Oregon will take this bye week to get sharp for this last drive of the season, the Ducks will travel to Iowa on Nov 8^th.

Bruins Blown Away in Bloomington: UCLA Crushed 56–6 by No. 2 Hoosiers

By

Davyn Wright

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October 25, 2025

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — What began as a chance for UCLA to prove itself on the national stage turned into a humbling lesson in Bloomington. The Bruins were steamrolled by No. 2 Indiana, 56–6, as interim head coach Tim Skipper’s hot streak cooled dramatically against one of the nation’s elite defenses.

It went wrong from the very start. On the opening play, quarterback Nico Iamaleava was sacked. On the next, he was picked off by Hoosier senior linebacker Aiden Fisher, who raced it back for a touchdown. The tone was set — and the Bruins never recovered.

Iamaleava finished 13-of-27 for 113 yards and two interceptions, unable to find any rhythm as the Hoosiers’ front seven lived in the backfield. UCLA mustered only three points in the first half and just six total, while Indiana turned two early turnovers into quick scores to jump out to a 35–3 halftime lead.

Defensively, the Bruins showed brief fight — a batted-ball interception and a couple of early stands — but missed tackles and poor containment on third downs kept the Hoosiers rolling. A Jalen Berger fumble in the second quarter added to UCLA’s struggles, and by halftime, the game was effectively over.

Jalen Woods provided the lone spark for the Bruins, tallying six tackles for loss, three sacks, and a forced fumble, but the defense couldn’t contain Indiana’s balance or tempo. UCLA finished 1-for-10 on third down, gained under 100 yards through three quarters, and gave up six touchdowns before adding a late field goal.

IU head coach Curt Cignetti had promised aggression before kickoff — “We don’t play scared, we attack” — and his team delivered exactly that. The Hoosiers’ relentless defense and opportunistic offense justified their lofty ranking.

Rico Flores Jr. led UCLA with 50 receiving yards on four catches, but it was far from enough to make a dent against an IU team firing on all cylinders.

D. Wright Take Away:

UCLA (3–2) limps into a bye week searching for answers after one of its worst showings of the season. The Bruins will look to regroup before hosting Nebraska, a game that offers a chance to reset and rebuild momentum. Expect both Mendoza brothers to factor heavily — Fernando Mendoza impressed in limited duty, going 15-for-22 with 168 yards, three passing touchdowns, and one rushing score. If the Bruins are going to bounce back, that’s where it starts.

Golden State Shines, Lakers Lose Opening Night

By

Christopher Floch

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October 21, 2025

LOS ANGELES, CA– It was a dismal start to the Los Angeles Lakers season, missing LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors 119-109, at Crypto.com Arena in this much hyped game that aired on NBC.

NBC had not aired an NBA telecast in over two decades, so the event was hyped. For Laker fans, the anticipation was short lived.

The Warriors held on down the stretch after leading by as many as 17 points. Although the Lakers trimmed the lead to six, at 99-105 prior to the Warriors slamming the door on any thoughts of a comeback.

“Every game is different,” said JJ Redick when asked about how other guys will get involved with Luka.

Luka Dončić, now in his first full season with the Lakers after a stunning trade with the Dallas Mavericks last season, finished just shy of a triple-double with 43 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists.

He shot 17-of-27 from the field but 2-of-10 from the 3-point line. That was about all the Lakers could manage offensively for much of the night, and it hurt.

The Warriors took a one-point lead into the break after what was a pretty sloppy and chippy first half. It was an extremely sloppy game by both teams.

Golden State took over in the third quarter, led by Jonathan Kuminga. He powered half of a 16-4 burst out of the break with a pair of huge 3-pointers to give Golden State control of the game again.

They ended up mounting a 23-9 run out of the period before someone other than Dončić scored for the Lakers.

Curry put the game to bed with a deep contested 3-pointer in the final minute for good measure, too.

“We gotta be really discipline,” said Redick, “Luka and AR are being more vocal now.”

Austin Reaves finished with 26 points, 13 of which came in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers’ rally. Deandre Ayton was the only other player to hit double figures with 10 points and six rebounds. The Lakers shot just 17-of-28 from the free-throw too.

Los Angeles plays the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, October 24th.

UCLA battles back for win, 3 in a row

By

Gabriel Duarte

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October 18, 2025

_RM55395 — Photo by Jevone Moore / fi360 News

PASADENA, CA – When Deshaun Foster was fired as the UCLA Bruins’ head coach a little over a month ago, many didn’t know what to expect from the program. Since then, the Bruins, led by interim coach Tim Skipper, have rattled off back-to-back wins vs. Penn State and Michigan State

Wearing their light blue throwback uniforms on homecoming night, the Bruins got an extraordinary effort out of their defense in a 20-17 win vs. Maryland for their third consecutive win.

The improbable win streak has attracted national media attention because of the upsets UCLA has pulled off, but lost in the mix has been the turnaround from the Bruins’ defense. They were able to keep UCLA in the game all night long despite serious offensive struggles vs. the Terrapins.

“Tough games, you are going to need everybody. We preach all the time, you never know when your moment is going to happen. It was a whole team effort. We talked strain, we talked grinding, every single play matters, we preach that. But literally tonight, every single played mattered,” UCLA coach Tim Skipper said.

UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava didn’t have the prettiest games, throwing for 221 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions, including one pick-six. However, Iamaleava’s touchdown came at a critical moment in the fourth quarter to help spur the Bruins’ comeback effort.

“I’m not going to put it all on Nico. There are a lot of things that happened. Maryland did a great job of giving us a lot of different looks. Our ground game was hit or miss. It was tough sledding out there. But for the whole entire offense, those guys had to stick together. It’s the whole unit. 11 guys and one heartbeat,” Skipper said.

The Bruins were able to hold Maryland to just three points in the first half. Apart from an early second-quarter Maryland field goal, UCLA’s defense looked like the same unit that’s been dominating in the previous two games.

“We took this game with pride. We knew it was going to be on us, they throw the ball a lot. That was our motto this week, put it on us, we have to do what we have to do. The guys played really good. I’m happy for Scooter and the rest of the guys. It was an exciting game. I can’t wait to watch it back,” UCLA defensive back Roderick Pleasant said.

Maryland quarterback Malik Washington got the Terrapins’ offense going in the second half. Playing off the momentum of Iamaleava’s pick-six that gave Maryland a 10-7 lead in the third quarter, Washington directed the offense down the field for a game-tying touchdown to tie the game up at 17 with 40 seconds left in the game.

Iamaleava proceeded to lead the Bruins down the field and set up kicker Mateen Bhaghani for a 23-yard game winning field goal with two seconds remaining.

The Bruins will head to Indiana next week and will be featured on Big Noon Kickoff as they look to shock the world once again vs. an AP Top 5 team.

Twenty Years After the Bush Push, the Irish Flip the Script

By

Davyn Wright

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October 18, 2025

Notre Dame rides Price’s 100-yard return and a dominant run game to stun USC in South Bend thriller.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Twenty years after the legendary “Bush Push” thriller that lifted USC over Notre Dame 34–31, the two storied programs delivered another classic under the cloudy South Bend skies on Saturday night. But this time, it was the Irish who walked away with the momentum and the win, storming back to top the Trojans in a dramatic, turnover-filled finish.

In a top-20 showdown that lived up to the hype, Notre Dame used a dominant ground game and a 100-yard kickoff return from Jadarian Price to erase a late deficit and seize control. The Fighting Irish scored 13 unanswered points in the second half, rallying from a 24–21 hole to hand USC its second straight loss.

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava had flashes of brilliance, going 22-for-42 for 328 yards, two touchdowns, and two interceptions. His 59-yard strike to Ja’Kobi Lane early in the third quarter gave USC the lead, followed by a two-point connection with Lane again. But critical mistakes — including back-to-back turnovers and a costly fumble by Makai Lemon — doomed the Trojans down the stretch.

Notre Dame leaned on its backfield duo all night. Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love combined for nearly 200 rushing yards in the first half alone, setting the tone for a balanced Irish attack. Love’s 63-yard touchdown in the first quarter electrified the home crowd, while Price’s 16-yard score in the second helped Notre Dame keep pace.

USC opened strong with a crisp 10-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a Lake McRee touchdown from Maiava, but inconsistency on the ground and costly penalties stalled momentum. Defensive end Braylan Shelby’s interception gave USC a spark before halftime, yet the Trojans settled for a field goal instead of capitalizing on the turnover.

By the final whistle, Notre Dame (6–2) looked like a playoff contender finding its stride, while USC (5–3) faced another reality check in a season slipping away. Both teams head into their bye week with plenty to fix — and plenty to play for come November.

D. Wright Take Away

Both teams will rest on a bye next week before returning November 1st. USC will likely slide out of the Top 25, while Notre Dame makes its case to climb back into the College Football Playoff conversation. Twenty years after the Bush Push, South Bend once again belonged to the Irish.

USC freshman running back has a big game in win over No. 15 Michigan

By

Eric Ramos

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October 11, 2025

Michigan_Vs_USC_10112025-15117 — Photo by Jordon Kelly / fi360 News

Los Angeles, CA- USC freshman walk-on running back King Miller rushed for 158 yards and a touchdown to lead the Trojans to a 31-13 win over No. 15 Michigan Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

“Awesome win. Tough response by our football team,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “I’m proud of them and the way the guys handled the bye week. We were really looking forward to this game. I thought we attacked it and dominated the football game on all sides.”

Miller led the Trojans in rushing with 158 yards. It was his first time leading USC in rushing yards since the first game of the 2025 season when USC defeated Missouri State 73-13. Miller’s 158 yards are believed to be the most rushing yards by a walk-on since at least the early 1970’s.

“Yeah, King was huge. He played, stepped up, made big plays and was obviously really important for us with the way that it went down,” Riley said. “We’ll get confirmation [on injuries]. Eli’s doesn’t look super positive in terms of the rest of the season, so we’ll get confirmation, but it doesn’t look positive. Waymond wasn’t able to come back in tonight so we will continue to evaluate him and see where he’s at.”

USC took an early 7-0 lead on the opening drive with a touchdown pass from Jayden Maiava to Ja’kobi Lane from two yards out. The Trojans took a 14-7 lead into halftime when Makai Lemon made a tough 12-yard touchdown catch at the end of the second quarter.

Maiava had 265 passing yards and two touchdowns, marking the fifth time in six games Maiava has had at least 200 yards and two touchdowns.

King Miller took over at running back after Waymond Jordan was injured in the first half. Miller gave USC a 21-7 lead in the third quarter on a 15-yard touchdown run.

USC added a field goal before Michigan’s quarterback Bryce Underwood hit Andrew Marsh for a 60-yard touchdown to cut the USC lead. The Trojans answered with a 29-yard touchdown run from Bryan Jackson to extend the lead 31-13 with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter.

Up next for USC is a road game against rival Notre Dame on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Unranked UCLA unravels No. 7 Penn St. for an unexpected upset, 42-37

By

Charle' Moore

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October 4, 2025

_RM58192 — Photo by Jevone Moore / fi360 News

Pasadena, CA- UCLA pulled off a historic upset, 42-37 with an interim coaching staff against No. 7 ranked Penn State whom had a 34-game winning streak over unranked opponents until today after playing at the Rose Bowl Stadium and kicking off Big 10 conference play for the Bruins with beginning and ending the game on unpredictable plays.

Nittany Lions appeared to start the game with an underestimating approach allowing a fast start alongside a bold and blatant message sent by the Bruins playing aggressive for the win.

“We were going to be super aggressive, but not do dumb things, UCLA interim head coach Tim Skipper said. “The plan was to score a touchdown first, we were going to go to it [onside kick]. A lot of film study, just watching those guys on kickoffs…It was a long study. We felt confident in it and it worked.”

UCLA’s in their four season losses, two of them highly unexpected versus Mountain West conference teams trailed each of those four games to start but went up 10-0 against a highly favored Penn State team underscoring dominance on present offense.

“Last night, I knew we had a chance,” UCLA assistant coach Jerry Neuheisel (offensive play-caller) said.” The way they were in our meetings, the way we had our offensive meeting,

the way they took to our team meeting. It was the most enthusiastic 0-4 team you’ve ever seen in your life. And all of a sudden you just get this delusional optimism where you think we might have a chance at this thing, and there’s this belief.”

Such belief continued to fuel the Bruins as they jumped out to a 27-7 halftime lead scoring on majority of their possessions for a total of 370 yards.

“When you play defense, it’s a reactionary thing,” UCLA redshirt senior defensive back Key Lawrence said. “It’s like the analogy when you put one pencil and you break it, but when you put a few

of them together and you try to snap them, they don’t break, because they all hold their own. We all believe in each other…We already knew our defense was still with it, but it was a great thing to see everyone collaborate like this. That’s the main thing right there, believing in one another.”

Penn State did not go away quietly as they seem believe this game was still in reach while perhaps grappling with residue from their disappointing double OT loss to Oregon last week as they opened the third quarter with a fumble by Luke Reynolds following a UCLA missed for the first time a 56-yard field goal, first and longest one of the game.

Momentum seems to shift inevitably for Penn State, while UCLA fought to sustain their lead with defense and on offense hold on to possessions long enough to convert them into scoring drives, including one initial questionable one-yard TD rush by UCLA quarterback Nico Iamaleava with three minutes left in third quarter, 34-21.

Bruins returned to their explosive offense from the first half after going scoreless most of the third quarter, out-gaining the Nittany Lions 446-357 in a game where they were predicted to be outscored by 24.5 points.

“Coach Skip was preaching to us to strain and start fast, Iamaleava said. “It was a lot of games where we could have started fast like that and felt better about the game. We’ve been coming from behind these last four games, and it felt great to get a lead.”

One more chance for Penn State came at the final two minutes mark after a fourth-down stop in UCLA territory, but UCLA returned the favor stopping Nittany Lions on their own nine-yard field line.

To seal the victory, UCLA called a shifty play with an intentional safety to run down the clock, leaving only 12 seconds for Penn State to consider throwing hail mary at the end zone from its own territory. Just as stunned as Penn State seem from an early on side kick by UCLA they were yet again surprised by the safety, as the game clock wind down a good five seconds before the defense reacted and reached the Bruin punter.

“We were going to take that safety because we are up seven, coach Skipper said. “We knew they were going to try and hold us up, so if they are holding us up then we are going to have more time to eat up the clock. I believe it was eight seconds we took off – doing the safety. That was huge.”

UCLA Interim head coach Tim Skipper. Photo by Jevone Moore / fi360 News

With a huge win under their belt, UCLA(1-4) will be able to continue believing and building off what their former coach, recently fired DeShaun Foster said he saw and believed during his final postgame press conference, an undisciplined team with great potential that he knew could be better at executing consistently as they now seem to found discipline after Foster’s presumably swift exit and knocking down a top 10 conference opponent with an outstanding offensive output led by Iamaleava finishing with 166 yards and two touchdowns on 17-of-24 passing plus 128 rushing yards and three rush touchdowns.

Illinois Surges Past Purdue, 43-27, in West Lafayette

By

Davyn Wright

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October 4, 2025

Illinois Fighting Illini Football vs Purdue Boilermakers Oct 04 — Illinois Fighting Illini Football vs Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on, October 04, 2025. (photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

West Lafayette, IU- As always, chants of “IU sucks” rang out at kickoff inside Ross-Ade Stadium, but the roar faded as Illinois ripped momentum away from Purdue, rolling to a 43-27 win Saturday in West Lafayette. The Fighting Illini (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) lit up the scoreboard with nearly 400 passing yards from quarterback Luke Altmyer, while Purdue (2-3, 0-2) dropped its third straight game and fell deeper into Big Ten West trouble.

Illinois Fighting Illini Football vs Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium on, October 04, 2025. (photo by Andre Hollis / fi360 News)

Illinois owned the second quarter, flipping the game from a 7-0 Purdue lead into a halftime cushion they’d never give back. After Michael Jackson III’s costly fumble, Altmyer connected with Hank Beatty for a 62-yard strike, then kept torching the Boilers with explosive plays through the air. Kaden Feagin’s 6-yard run and Ca’lil Valentine’s 25-yard burst capped a scoring frenzy that had Illinois up 24-7 before the break. A late 60-yard bomb from Purdue QB Ryan Browne to Corey Smith gave the Boilers a glimmer, but Illinois tacked on a field goal to head into halftime up 27-14.

The second half brought more of the same. Altmyer continued dealing, finishing just shy of 400 yards passing while spreading it around to Beatty, Ashton Hollins, and others. Purdue managed touchdowns from Antonio Harris and Devin Mockobee to keep the crowd alive, but the Illini always had an answer, closing it out 43-27. Harris led the Boilermakers’ backfield with 68 yards, including a 41-yard burst, while Mockobee chipped in on the ground.

Purdue actually started hot, sparked by a 10-play, 62-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter that ended on a wild QB sneak from Browne—who bobbled the snap before scrambling into the end zone. Jojo Hayden’s highlight-reel tackle and early defensive stops had the stadium rocking. But once Illinois’ air raid started clicking, the Boilers couldn’t keep up.

Purdue coach Barry Odom didn’t mince words afterward:

“We didn’t do anything defensively well enough to win a game against anyone. Credit to Illinois, they have a good team and good players. But for us to get where we want to go, we have a long ways to go.”

The Wright Take

Illinois came into West Lafayette and straight-up punched Purdue in the mouth during the second quarter, taking control and never letting go. The Boilers had their moments—big plays from Browne, Harris, and Smith—but the secondary got cooked all afternoon, and Odom’s squad couldn’t string together enough stops. Purdue has to tighten up or risk sliding deeper in the Big Ten cellar.

Next Up: Purdue heads to Minnesota looking to snap the skid, while Illinois preps for a major showdown with Ohio State.