Fueled by the passing of Aidan O’Connell, Purdue scored two touchdowns in the final 3:19 to rally to a 31-29 Big Ten victory over Maryland Saturday afternoon in College Park, Md.
The Boilermakers (4-2, 2-1) gave up a late touchdown, but stopped the Terps on a 2-point conversion pass attempt. Maryland (4-2, 1-2) completed an apparent conversion pass to tie it, but the Terps were penalized five yards for having an ineligible player downfield.
O’Connell threw a go-ahead 4-yard touchdown pass to Payne Durham with 3:19 left. Then after Purdue forced a punt by Maryland, Devin Mockobee scored on a 1-yard carry with 1:20 to go to put the Boilermakers up 31-23.
Taulia Tagovailoa responded for Maryland (4-2, 1-2) with an 18-yard touchdown pass to Corey Dyches with 35 seconds left. But two plays later, his conversion throw sailed high to Rakim Jarrett, who was well covered in the back of the end zone.
O’Connell completed 30 of 41 passes for 360 yards and two touchdowns. Durham caught seven passes for 109 yards as the Boilermakers remained in a tie for first place in the Big Ten West.
Tagovailoa completed 26 of 38 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns. Dyches had four catches for 106 yards and two scores.
After the teams failed to score in the first 22 minutes of the second half, they combined for four touchdowns in the final 7:47.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Tagovailoa directed a go-ahead, 69-yard drive, which included four third-down conversions. The fourth was a screen pass from Tagovailoa that Roman Hemby turned into an 11-yard touchdown play and gave Maryland a 23-17 lead.
Early in the game, Maryland became the first team to score on its opening possession against Purdue this season, as Tagovailoa jump-started a 69-yard drive with three straight completions and then finished it with a 9-yard touchdown carry off a read-option fake.
But the Boilermakers responded with scores on their next three possessions to take a 17-10 lead. After Mitchell Fineran made a 39-yard field goal, O’Connell completed all nine of his passes in directing touchdown drives of 65 and 75 yards.
On the first march, O’Connell threw an incomplete pass on third-and-goal, but Maryland was flagged for having 12 players on the field. On the next play, Dylan Downing pounded into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown carry to give Purdue a 10-7 lead.
Another mistake by the Terps helped the Boilermakers complete their next touchdown drive as Ahmad McCullough drew a penalty with a late hit on O’Connell, turning a third-and-12 situation into a first down.
Three plays later, Mershawn Rice made an over-the-shoulder catch of an O’Connell pass to give the Boilermakers their 17-10 lead.
Very late in the half, Tagovailoa scrambled up in the pocket and threw a 68-yard touchdown pass on the run to Dyches, who dragged a defender the final 12 yards to tie it with 14 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
