Down goes Iowa! No. 2 team in the country routed at home by unranked Purdue
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Iowa Hawkeyes may have, to borrow a phrase from Nick Saban, bought into the rat poison this week.
After a big home win over then-No. 4 Penn State last weekend, the Hawkeyes stayed in Iowa City this weekend when unranked Purdue came to town.
And, not only was it a letdown game for the Hawkeyes, it was a beatdown. The Boilermakers controlled the contest from the opening kickoff and never looked back.
This pass from QB Aidan O’Connell to WR David Bell extended the Boilermakers’ lead to 24-7 early in the fourth quarter:
https://twitter.com/LorneMalvoSzn/status/1449498990693654529
That proved to be the dagger, as Purdue held on for the 24-7 win.
Bell had a massive performance, making 11 catches for 240 yards and the above touchdown. He couldn’t be stopped all game long.
This is simply what Purdue does, though. This is the Boilermakers’ ninth win as an unranked team against a top-2 school. That’s simply incredible:
Purdue has eight wins as an unranked team against top-2 opponents. That's twice as many as any other school all-time. It's about to be nine wins. #PURvsIOWA
— Matt Schick (@ESPN_Schick) October 16, 2021
If only Purdue played every week like it was playing a top-2 team. Who knows how good the Boilermakers could be then?
For now, though, the Hawkeyes’ College Football Playoff hopes have taken a big hit. They’ll drop in the polls on Sunday.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
