West Lafayette, In- Fresno State Bulldogs came into Purdue ready to go toe to toe with their Big Ten opponent and shock college football world. The Bulldogs did just that with a 39-35 road victory.
In the closing minutes of the game Boilmakers looked to be in position to have the football last and bring home victory with a touchdown. A big stop with a tipped pass for Fresno State on 4th and short to secure the victory.
Winning quarterback Mikey Keene threw for 366 yards, 4 touchdowns, 1 interception while completing 31/44 pass on Purdue’s defense. They were able to dominate game from stats column with 487 total yards compared to Purdue 363 yards.
“He lit us up,” Purdue first-year coach Ryan Walters said of Keene.
Keene’s favorite target Erik Brooks who caught 9 pass two touchdowns for 170 yards to lead all receivers. Elijah Gilliam carried the football 20 times for 93 yards just 1 more carry could put him over the century mark.
Fresno State took their first lead of the game with an off-tackle sweep run into the endzone by Makik Sherrod with 13:44 32-28 lead.
This battle was an all-out slug fest back and forth with Purdue throwing haymakers and Fresno State just kept responding.
Hudson Card was able to throw for 254 yards and two touchdowns in defeat, which on most games this would been enough to win.
Boilmakers receiver Deion Burks gave the fans a lot to cheer about through out the game snagging 4 catches with 2 touchdowns amassing 152 yards a team high.
Coming out of the half Purdue special teams got involved to extend their lead 28-17. The Bulldogs just would not go away. Receive Jalen Moss caught a two-point conversion to bring the game with in a field goal at 28-25 in the 4th quarter.
“There are some plays I wish I had back along with some decision-making,” Card said. “We’ll have to look at film and learn from it. Give credit to Fresno State, they came ready to play. Everything we want to accomplish is still in front of us.”
Purdue jumped out fast on their first drive with an 84 yards shallow drag to Deion Burks who slipped out of few tackles on his way to the endzone 7-0 lead.
Fresno State answered back with a 29-yard score to Erik Brooks to give the fireworks in 1st quarter.
Bulldogs coach Jeff Tedford after this win has taken his team to its 10 victory in a row showing folks they are a team to beat. They have weapons on the ground and the air.
Next Purdue will travel to Virginia Tech and look to get their first victory. Fresno State will host Eastern Washington with the opportunity to go 2-0.
