Purdue loses in excruciating fashion after QB fumbles his own completed pass
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Purdue had the ball late in the 4th quarter, in a tie game, on its home field against a very beatable Rutgers team.
Then Purdue simply beat itself on a ridiculous play that went viral and will make already suffering Boilermakers fans suffer that much more. It was the first play of what Purdue hoped would be a game-winning drive, only the drive never had a chance because of what quarterback Ryan Browne managed to do.
The sophomore signal-caller took the snap at his own 33-yard line and dropped back to pass. That was where the fun began, at least for visiting Rutgers. Browne’s pass was batted up in the air, but Browne himself was quickest to the deflection, catching it out of midair and trying to pick up some unexpected yardage on the ground.
Bad idea. Instead of getting a few extra yards, Browne fumbled the ball and, naturally, Rutgers recovered it at the Purdue 30-yard line. Suddenly, it was Rutgers who was in position to steal the game in a battle of struggling teams searching for their first Big Ten victories. The Scarlet Knights, who had just tied the game at 24-24 with a field goal before the Purdue turnover, ran 2 running plays that gained 17 yards, then booted another field goal from 30 yards on the final play to prevail, 27-24.
Here is the absurd play that turned heads and turned the game in Rutgers’ favor:
Rutgers improved to 4-4 overall and got that elusive first Big Ten win, while snakebitten Purdue fell to 2-6 overall and is now 0-5 in the Big Ten.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
