Purdue Boilermakers vs Iowa Hawkeyes Match Player Stats On Nov 21, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Nov 21, 2015

IOWA CITY, Iowa -- Not even snow was going to hinder the celebration at Kinnick Stadium on Saturday.

With its 40-20 victory over Purdue, the No. 5 Iowa Hawkeyes moved to 11-0, clinched the Big Ten West Division and secured their place in Indianapolis for the 2015 Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 5.

Before kickoff, Iowa City received nine inches of snow and plows were needed to clear the playing field Saturday morning. But once the game got going on a relatively clear playing surface, Iowa wasted little time. The defense forced an immediate three-and-out, which was then followed by a 11-play scoring drive capped off by junior running back LeShun Daniels running in from 2 yards out to put Iowa ahead 7-0.

The lead extended to 14-0 later in the quarter when Daniels scored again on a 13-yard touchdown run, which was his fifth touchdown on the ground in the last two games.

A key moment in the game then occurred when Purdue freshman quarterback David Blough was knocked out of the game on a hit by Iowa senior safety Jordan Lomax and junior cornerback Desmond King was there to recover Blough's fumble.

Iowa would extend the lead in the second quarter when junior quarterback C.J. Beathard tossed a 7-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Matt VandeBerg. But Purdue junior defensive tackle Jake Replogle blocked Iowa senior kicker Marshall Koehn's extra-point attempt to keep the score at 20-0.

Filling in for the injured Blough, Purdue junior quarterback Austin Appleby stepped in and gave the Boilermakers' offense a much-needed spark with two scoring drives to cut the deficit in half heading into halftime. Appleby completed 10 of 11 pass attempts for 98 yards en route to those 10 second-quarter points scored by the Boilermakers. He finished the game 23-of-40 passing for 259 yards and a 19-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to senior receiver Shane Mikesky.

The momentum would carry over in the second half as Purdue received another field goal from senior kicker Paul Griggs to make the score 20-13. But Iowa found its offensive groove by getting its tight ends involved and were rewarded handsomely when Beathard found junior tight end George Kittle wide open over the middle of the field for a 35-yard touchdown to move back up two scores.

Beathard completed four passes during this series with three of those being completed to Iowa tight ends to account for 64 of the 91 yards marched down the field.

Purdue countered by getting deep into Iowa territory, but the Boilermakers turned the ball over on downs when Appleby was unable to connect with senior receiver Danny Anthrop on fourth-and-7 play from the Hawkeyes' 21-yard line. Iowa capitalized when Beathard threw his third touchdown pass of the game to senior tight end Henry Krieger Coble for a 22-yard score to make it 33-13. Krieger Coble later recovered an onside kick after the Boilermakers got back within 13 points with 4:46 remaining.

Senior running back Jordan Canzeri sealed the game for Iowa in the closing minutes with a 42-yard touchdown run.

Before heading to Indianapolis in two weeks to meet the Big Ten's East Division champion, Iowa will have an opportunity to complete its regular season undefeated when it travels to Nebraska on Nov. 27. Purdue (2-9) concludes its 2015 season at home on Nov. 28 in its annual Old Oaken Bucket game against intrastate rival Indiana.

NOTES: Saturday's game between No. 5 Iowa and Purdue had a temperature of 27 degrees at kickoff. The coldest game ever played at Kinnick Stadium occurred in 2013 when Iowa and Michigan met in temperatures of 18 degrees. ... TE George Kittle's 35-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter capped off a 91-yard scoring drive for the Hawkeyes. Iowa now has six scoring drives of 90 yards or more this season, all of which have resulted in Hawkeye touchdowns. ... As the West Division champion this season, Iowa will be the designated home team for the Big Ten Championship Game against whichever team represents the East Division. The designations are on a rotation basis that started last year when the conference realigned its divisions by geography following the additions of Maryland and Rutgers.