The Boilermakers became bowl eligible for the 10th time in 11 years under Joe Tiller with a 31-6 victory over Iowa Saturday, and it was an encouraging victory. At least in the sense that Purdue's offense showed some life for the first time in three weeks.
As expected, Iowa rarely blitzed, and that gave Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter typically plenty of time to be able to make his reads and find receivers. A good sign for the Boilermakers offensive line: on the several occasions Iowa did blitz, Purdue did a pretty good job of picking it up. On Painter's first of two touchdown passes to Dorien Bryant, running back Jaycen Taylor and tackle Sean Sester absorbed the extra rushers to give Painter just enough time to make the connection.
Purdue also went back to running the ball more against the Hawkeyes with 42 carries. The average wasn't great -- only 2.8 per carry -- but starter Kory Sheets had 71 yards and Jaycen Taylor played well in his first game back since breaking his left arm in Week 3 (67 yards on 19 carries).
All in all, scoring 31 points while mixing up the offensive play-calling made this a nice victory for the Boilermakers.
-- By Stacy Clardie, The Journal Gazette
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