Elliott powers Purdue to victory against Illinois

 

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• Purdue Hands Illinois 6th Loss Of Season

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Team Stat Comparison
1st Downs	15	21
Total Yards	322	386
Passing	142	166
Rushing	180	220
Penalties	8-65	7-44
3rd Down Conversions	4-14	4-12
4th Down Conversions	2-4	1-1
Turnovers	1	0
Possession	28:23	31:37

Air/Ground Leaders
Illinois Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Williams 9/18 77 0 1 Charest 4/8 52 0 0	Purdue Passing   C/ATT YDS TD INT Elliott 15/24 166 0 0
Illinois Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG LeShoure 15 122 0 65 Williams 14 38 1 18	Purdue Rushing   CAR YDS TD LG Bolden 21 78 1 11 Taylor 6 71 1 44
Illinois Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Ramsey 3 44 0 15 Graham 1 31 0 31	Purdue Receiving   REC YDS TD LG Smith 5 61 0 22 Valentin 4 50 0 28

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER				ILL	PUR
	TD	06:49	Daniel Dufrene 4 Yd Run (Matt Eller Kick)	7	0
	TD	04:53	Jaycen Taylor 44 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick)	7	7
SECOND QUARTER				ILL	PUR
	TD	12:21	Ralph Bolden 3 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick)	7	14
	TD	05:38	Joey Elliott 5 Yd Run (Carson Wiggs Kick)	7	21
THIRD QUARTER				ILL	PUR
	TD	07:18	Juice Williams 6 Yd Run (Derek Dimke Kick)	14	21
	FG	01:16	Carson Wiggs 25 Yd	14	24

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Joey Elliott passed for 166 yards and ran for 62 yards and a touchdown, and Purdue beat Illinois 24-14 Saturday to avoid a letdown after upsetting Ohio State last week.

Ralph Bolden ran for 78 yards and a touchdown, and Jaycen Taylor ran for 71 yards and a score for the Boilermakers, who rushed for 220 yards on 39 carries.

Mikel LeShoure rushed 15 times for a career-high 122 yards for the Fighting Illini (1-6, 0-5 Big Ten). Illinois lost its fifth straight, and all have been by double digits.

Juice Williams started at quarterback despite Illini coach Ron Zook's decision not to commit to him during the week. Williams completed 9 of 18 passes for 77 yards and ran 14 times for 38 yards.

The Boilermakers (3-5, 2-2) won back-to-back games for the first time this season. It was Purdue's first turnover-free game this year.

Leshoure got off to a good start. He went 65 yards on an option play in the first quarter before Daniel Dufrene scored on a 4-yard run on the next play to make it 7-0.

Taylor's 44-yard run tied the score for Purdue.

After Williams threw an interception, Purdue went 68 yards in 10 plays to take the lead. Bolden scored on a 3-yard run, his first touchdown since Week 2, and the Boilermakers took a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.

Williams was benched and replaced by redshirt freshman Jacob Charest on the next drive, but Illinois went three-and-out. On Purdue's next possession, Elliott scored on a 5-yard quarterback draw to make it 21-7.

Illinois had the ball fourth-and-4 at the Purdue 35 when Charest completed a pass to tight end Hubie Graham for 31 yards. A face-mask penalty moved the ball to the Purdue 2-yard line. On second down, Arrelious Benn scored on an end-around, but the play was called back because of holding. Illinois' Matt Eller missed a 23-yard field goal wide left to close the half.

Williams came back to start the second half, and he took advantage by scoring on a 6-yard run to cut Purdue's lead to 21-14.

Purdue's Carson Wiggs kicked a field goal late in the third quarter to extend Purdue's lead to 24-14.