SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 20, 2014
Purdue 35, Southern Illinois 13: Danny Etling passed for two touchdowns and ran for another in the first half as the host Boilermakers downed the Salukis in the first-ever meeting between the schools.
Etling finished 15-of-26 and threw for 192 of his 198 yards in the first half for Purdue (2-2), which surpassed its win total from last season. Danny Anthrop hauled in a 44-yard touchdown and tallied season highs in catches (five) and receiving yards (106) while backup quarterback Austin Appleby ran it in from 11 yards out to account for the game’s final score with 36 seconds remaining.
Mark Iannotti went 24-of-45 for 248 yards and ran for a touchdown for Southern Illinois (3-1), which was held 31 points and 133 yards below its season averages. MyCole Pruitt – the Salukis’ FCS All-American tight end in 2013 – set career highs with 10 receptions for 136 yards.
Ja'Whan Bentley recovered Malcolm Agnew’s fumble on the Southern Illinois 23 on the Salukis’ first possession and Etling paid it off six plays later with a 10-yard throw to DeAngelo Yancey in the back of the end zone. Landon Feichter intercepted Iannotti on the following drive and Etling hit Anthrop in stride over the middle on the next play for Purdue’s longest play of the season.
Paul Griggs drilled a 30-yard field goal with seven seconds left in the first quarter and Etling capped off a run of four straight scoring drives for the Boilermakers on a 1-yard keeper to make it 25-0 after Brandon Cottom converted a two-point try. Griggs answered a late second-quarter field goal from Southern Illinois with one of his own as time expired in the first half before Iannotti’s 1-yard TD closed the gap to 28-10 midway through the third quarter.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Big Ten improved to 50-2 all-time against Missouri Valley Conference foes. … Purdue RB Akeem Hunt finished with 60 rushing and 39 receiving yards, giving him 3,613 all-purpose yards for his career to move him past Scott Dierking (3,561) for ninth place in school history. … The Boilermakers have turned all five of their takeaways into touchdowns.