Northwestern, 6-1, rebounds from only loss with win over Purdue

 

VIDEO PLAYLIST

• Northwestern Wins Convincingly Over Purdue, 48-26

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	23	23
Total Yards	466	451
Passing	308	260
Rushing	158	191
Penalties	9-69	8-47
3rd Down Conversions	3-12	6-13
4th Down Conversions	0-2	0-0
Turnovers	5	3
Possession	27:48	32:12

Air/Ground Leaders
Purdue Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Painter 26/41 273 1 3 Elliott 5/10 35 0 0	Northwestern Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Bacher 20/33 230 3 1 Peterman 1/1 30 1 0
Purdue Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Sheets 17 168 2 76 Smith 1 4 0 4	Northwestern Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Sutton 18 96 0 14 Conteh 8 49 1 15
Purdue Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Orton 7 100 1 32 Tardy 8 87 0 28	Northwestern Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Ebert 4 65 0 40 Sutton 4 62 1 26

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				PUR	NW
	FG	04:42	Carson Wiggs 20 Yd	3	0
	FG	00:28	Carson Wiggs 37 Yd	6	0
SECOND QUARTER				PUR	NW
	TD	13:56	Eric Peterman 45 Yd Pass From C.J. Bacher (Amado Villarreal Kick)	6	7
	TD	10:57	Sidney Stewart 30 Yd Pass From Eric Peterman (Amado Villarreal Kick)	6	14
	FG	09:54	Amado Villarreal 26 Yd	6	17
	TD	01:09	Kory Sheets 2 Yd Run (Pat Failed)	12	17
	TD	00:15	Tyrell Sutton 9 Yd Pass From C.J. Bacher (Amado Villarreal Kick)	12	24
THIRD QUARTER				PUR	NW
	FG	09:57	Amado Villarreal 29 Yd	12	27
	TD	01:44	Brendan Mitchell 1 Yd Pass From C.J. Bacher (Amado Villarreal Kick)	12	34
FOURTH QUARTER				PUR	NW
	TD	14:52	Greg Orton 32 Yd Pass From Curtis Painter (Carson Wiggs Kick)	19	34
	TD	07:23	C.J. Bacher 1 Yd Run (Amado Villarreal Kick)	19	41
	TD	06:21	Omar Conteh 14 Yd Run (Kyle Daley Kick)	19	48
	TD	06:00	Kory Sheets 76 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick)	26	48

EVANSTON, Ill. -- C.J. Bacher threw three touchdown passes and ran for a fourth score to help Northwestern rebound from its only loss to beat Purdue 48-26 on Saturday, sending the Boilermakers to their fourth straight defeat.

Northwestern (6-1, 2-1 Big Ten) responded after falling to Michigan State last Saturday as Eric Peterman caught a TD pass and threw for another on a wild offensive day at Ryan Field.

Purdue (2-5, 0-3) was hurt by penalties and five turnovers and had difficulty containing Northwestern's spread offense.

Bacher's 9-yard TD pass to Tyrell Sutton with 15 seconds left in the second quarter -- 54 seconds after Purdue's Kory Sheets ran in for a 2-yard score -- erased any momentum the Boilermakers had hoped to take into the half and gave Northwestern a 24-12 lead.

The Wildcats made it 34-12 late in the third quarter when Corey Wooton hit Curtis Painter as he threw, forcing the ball to go in the air with Brad Phillips intercepting at the Boilermakers' 12. That set up Bacher's 1-yard TD pass to Brendan Mitchell.

Painter's 32-yard TD pass to Greg Orton early in the final quarter, made it 34-19.

Northwestern then got a boost from a video review. After Jordan Mabin intercepted a pass and returned it 38 yards to the Purdue 1, the ball appeared to come loose as Sutton tried to cross the goal line for the TD.

But after the video review, officials determined that Sutton was down at the 1 before the apparent fumble. and Northwestern retained possession. Two plays later, Bacher sneaked in to make it 41-19.

Omar Conteh's 14-yard TD run after a 41-yard fumble return by Brian Peters put Northwestern up 48-19. Sheets, who gained 168 yards on 17 carries, broke loose for a 76-yard TD with six minutes to go.

Purdue backup quarterback Joey Elliott, who replaced Painter in the second quarter, separated his soulder on a keeper with 1:44 left in the first half. Painter returned to the field and immediately threw a 24-yard pass to Orton to get the ball to the Northwestern 4 to set up Sheets' 2-yard run that made it 17-12.

On the ensuing kickoff, Purdue was called for its second personal foul penalty of the game to give Northwestern good field position. Bacher completed a 30-yard pass to Jeremy Ebert to the Purdue 5 and on third down, he flipped the TD pass to Sutton.

Peterman's versatility helped the Wildcats take the lead. He broke a tackle during a splendid 45-yard catch-and-run TD that put the Wildcats up 7-6.

Three minutes later, he took the flip on a reverse, rolled right and tossed a 30-yard TD pass to a wide open Sidney Stewart, giving the Wildcats a 14-6 lead.

Painter completed 26 of 41 passes for 273 yards with three interceptions and moved into No. 2 all-time in Big Ten completions (919) ahead of former Northwestern QB Brett Basanez. Bacher finished 20-of-33 for 230 yards.

Northwestern middle linebacker Malcolm Arrington, tied for second on the team in tackles entering the game, injured his left leg on a running play with just under six minutes left in the first quarter and had to be helped off the field.