By Tyler Wooten
GoSycamores.com

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Boilermakers got out to an early 14-0 lead following two long passing touchdowns and never looked back, as Indiana State fell to in-state Big Ten rival Purdue, 38-14, on Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium.

The Sycamores (1-1) showed flashes of potential at times – particularly on defense – but some costly injuries and a lethal aerial assault by Purdue (1-1) became too much to overcome in the end.

“I look at it very simple: we did not play well enough, first of all to win that game, but we didn't play anything like our expectation is and what our plan to win is,” said head coach Mike Sanford. “Our plan to win is great defense, but we gave up too many big plays. On offense, we were very inconsistent, especially early in the game.”

While the ISU defense did have quick glimpses of brilliance with several key three-and-outs, some timely tackles for loss and two forced fumbles that ended up as turnovers, Purdue was able to produce three scoring plays of 50 yards or more within the first half alone en route to 540 yards of total offense in contrast to ISU's 362.

“We just didn't make the plays we were supposed to make,” said junior starting safety Tsali Lough. “When everybody did their job, we had a three-and-out, we had turnovers, we made big plays. When they made big plays we had a missed assignment, a miscommunication, and that is just not how we play.”

Purdue opened the game with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Austin Appleby (20-of-34, 289 yards, four touchdowns) to Cameron Posey, but rather than sulk, the Sycamore defense showed resiliency. Osborn Umeh pinned Purdue to their own 12 – thanks to a great hustle tackle from gunner and wide receiver Tyler Denton. The ensuing offensive possession for the Boilermakers ended in the first of three Purdue three-and-outs on the day, which then led to a near-miss by Eric Heidorn on what would have been an ISU record 55-yard field goal.

The Sycamore defense remained tough through the remainder of the first quarter until 26 seconds remained, when Appleby found another big hole in the ISU defense, hitting DeAngelo Yancey in stride for a 50-yard touchdown strike.

Midway through the second quarter, Umeh pinned the Boilermakers within the 20 again, which directly helped lead to ISU's first touchdown. Purdue punter Joe Schopper shanked one out-of-bounds at Purdue's 33, allowing Sycamore quarterback Matt Adam to find a wide-open Gary Owens at the left-front pylon for a 17-yard touchdown and cut Purdue's lead to 14-7 at 9:34.

The Sycamores looked to take a stranglehold on momentum on the ensuing kickoff when redshirt freshman Katrell Moss forced a fumble from Purdue running back D.J. Knox, which was recovered by senior safety Marcus Gray at the Purdue 35 yard line. However, the Sycamores could only make it to the 17 before settling for a field goal from 35 yards out, which was promptly blocked by Purdue's Ryan Watson.

Again, ISU proved resilient, fighting the Boilermakers back-and-forth for the remainder of the quarter, only yielding a 19-yard field goal along the way to make the score 17-7 in Purdue's advantage. That is, until the final play of the second half.

Purdue received the ball with 30 seconds left in the half, and appeared ready to run out the clock. However, the Boilermakers got a first down at their own 49, and decided to spike the ball and set up a try for the Hail Mary. As time expired, Appleby rolled left, flung one to the right side of the endzone, and somehow found Dan Monteroso behind ISU defensive back Alex Stowers in the back of the endzone for a momentum-draining score to end the half up 24-7.

“That play wasn't executed very well, and we need to execute better,” Sanford said. “That was a heartbreaker, to give up that kind of play at the end of the half.”

The second half didn't feature nearly as many fireworks, with Purdue only out-scoring the Sycamores 14-7. But, it did offer an opportunity for starting quarterback Matt Adam a chance to lead ISU on a couple solid drives – including a 27-yard touchdown pass up the seam to junior Robert Tonyan Jr.

Adam, in just his third career start, struggled at times against a big and fast Boilermaker defense that sacked him four times and picked him off twice.

“(Purdue) got me on the edge a little bit, and sometimes when I didn't have pressure I would run, when I did have pressure sometimes I would stay,” Adam said. “I have to be more comfortable in there and stay in. The offensive line did well, I thought I could have made a couple more plays to help them out.”

But, Adam also fought back impressively through both the air and on the ground. Adam was Indiana State's best rusher on the day at 88 yards on 19 rushes. Adam's gain on the day was actually 119 yards when his sacks aren't included in his total. Through the air, Adam was 18-of-37 for 194 yards and two touchdowns. In the second half alone, Adam tallied 78 rushing yards and 150 passing yards.

“I definitely learned how to stay in and throw while taking a hit, and I just want to keep building off it,” Adam said.

A large concern going forward from today's game for Indiana State, though, are the number of injuries sustained today and cumulatively this season. Starting running back LeMonte Booker and All-MVFC safety Mark Sewall both went down with leg-related injuries, but the severity of those injuries is not yet known.

This is in addition to the loss of starting inside linebacker Jordan Jackson and backup running back Dimitri Taylor to torn ACLs last week against Butler, as well as single-game injuries this week that kept out defensive back Kevin Beacham, defensive lineman Chris McDaniel, starting linebacker Kendall Walker and offensive lineman Marcus Smith.

“(Injuries) is not an excuse, we have to step up,” said junior linebacker Jameer Thurman. “We have to come together to make sure that there is no lay off from the starters to the next guys up.”

The Sycamores return home next Saturday, Sept. 19, to host Southeast Missouri State. The Redhawks are currently 0-1, but play host to Southern Illinois tonight at 7 p.m.

“We really need to answer and our defense needs to step it up because we gave up 600 yards,” Lough said. “We are not going to win any games giving up 600 yards. We are going to figure it out and play better.”

“We had big leadership all around today, trying to keep our guys in it and we were always fighting and never gave up,” Adam said. “I thought that was big by our guys.”

NOTE: Senior linebacker Connor Underwood broke Indiana State's all-time tackles for loss record, bringing down Purdue running back D.J. Knox for a two-yard loss to open the fourth quarter. Underwood entered at 54.0 career TFL, just one-half TFL behind Kyle Mitchell's all-time record of 54.5. Underwood ended the game with five total tackles, all solo.

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