With literally half the Big Ten on bye this week, it was up to the Illini and the Purdue Boilermakers to carry the flag against the MAC in two match-ups. Both were extremely lopsided. One went in favor of the Big Ten, Illinois CRUSHING Miami of Ohio 50-14. The other most certainly did not (Purdue Boilermakers giving up a Ross-Ade Stadium record 55 points, while putting up just 24 of their own) Northern Illinois QB Jordan Lynch got off to 14-15 for 166 and 2 TDs start, and never looked back.
Lynch burned the Boilers over and over with his arm, while Purdue was most concerned about “Lynch for 6” torching them Since Rob Henry was so terribly ineffective (5-16, 2 picks, 130 yards) for them, the Purdue Boilermakers burned the redshirt of quarterback Danny Etling.
NIU Safety Jimmie Ward, who picked-six Purdue QB Danny Etling to the tune of 62 yards, played Pop Warner football with Alabama QB AJ McCarron. I’m sure Jimmie Ward now knows: Danny Etling is NO AJ McCarron.
Well, Etling’s honeymoon didn’t even last long enough to get to the hotel room, let alone get the pants off..
— Travis Miller (@HammerAndRails) September 28, 2013
I’ve noticed that the Purdue Stadium PA announcer sounds a little like Boris Karloff, the guy who sings “you’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch.” I bring this up because is voice can be a bit ominous sounding. And ominous would be a good way to describe what lies ahead this college football season for the Purdue Boilermakers and their fans.
The 31 point differential is tied for the worst ever loss for a Big Ten team against a MAC school. (Toledo-Minnesota in 2001)
Also NIU became the first MAC team to ever beat two Big Ten schools in the same season.
They came in 3.5 point underdogs to NIU. But they committed numerous turnovers today in Ross-Ade, and were just utterly obliterated into a million little pieces.
Actually, the yardage battle was pretty close. Not that lopsided at all. But all those turnovers, Yeesh….Boilers had no chance in this one and were out of it by halftime.
“I’m happy for Jimmie Ward,” NIU Coach Rod Carey said. “We said we’ve got to have seniors play like seniors and he’s playing his best ball. Our defense was opportunistic and made things happen.”
“I was impressed with our offense, and our defense played a great game.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan and 1620 The Zone, he also writes for Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Facebook