Iowa football cruises past Purdue with well-rounded attack

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — As Purdue took the field at a windy Ross-Ade Stadium, the little train that was supposed to lead the Boilermakers on the field seemed to be running out of steam.

It would inch a little, then stall, inch a little, then stall. Eventually, about a half-dozen people had to physically push the miniature locomotive off the Bermuda grass playing surface.

Even the mascot Purdue Pete was on the sideline helping get the train to its designated spot near the north end zone.

The Purdue team that awkwardly jogged past the failing train had a similar level of oomph against the Hawkeyes once the game began.

The Hawkeyes (5-4, 3-3) put together one of their most complete performances Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium, excelling on offense, defense and special teams en route to a 24-3 win over Purdue (5-4, 3-3).

Iowa exceeded 350 total yards for the second consecutive game and finished with 376 yards.

True freshman running back Kaleb Johnson had a starring role, putting up a career-high 200 rushing yards while averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

He is the first Hawkeye to record 200 rushing yards in a game since Akrum Wadley had 204 against Northwestern in 2015.

Johnson’s 75-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second half was Iowa’s longest offensive play of the season.

“Once we get the running game going, it opens everything up,” Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras said.

Petras had one of his best performances of the season. He was 13-for-23 for 192 yards and two touchdowns after having only three touchdown passes in his previous eight games combined.

The two touchdown passes were 90 seconds apart from each other. The first one was a 16-yard completion to tight end Sam LaPorta. It followed a key 14-yard LaPorta reception on third down.

Then Petras connected with wide receiver Nico Ragaini for a 29-yard touchdown on a drive started by a Kaevon Merriweather interception.

The Merriweather pick happened as Purdue’s Aidan O’Connell overshot Purdue wide receiver and former Hawkeye Tyrone Tracy Jr. The ball went off Tracy and to Merriweather.

“It was kind of overthrown,” Merriweather said. “So it wasn’t all on me. I’m going to say Tyrone definitely dropped it.”

Iowa’s defense limited Purdue’s high-powered offense to 3.4 yards per play. O’Connell, a second-team all-Big Ten honoree, completed just 47 percent of his passes, threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.

“I was really impressed with the way our defense played,” Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said. “I, sure as hell, will not stand here and say I saw that one coming because these guys move the ball really well.”

Purdue’s lone scoring drive — 11 plays for 53 yards and a Mitchell Fineran 34-yard field goal — only continued after a fourth-down holding call on Iowa defensive back Cooper DeJean.

The gusting winds from south to north did not seem to cause many issues for the Hawkeyes. All 24 points came against the wind. Punter Tory Taylor thrived despite the windy conditions, averaging 51.8 yards on eight punts.

“Last week I said that was the best we played, and then today I think certainly we took another step forward,” Ferentz said.

The Hawkeyes’ last two wins have come against teams that have been particularly pesky in recent years.

Iowa had lost four of its last five games to Purdue before Saturday’s win and four of its last six games to Northwestern before last week’s win.

Iowa will look to break another troubling trend next week against Wisconsin. The Badgers have bested the Hawkeyes in five of their last six meetings.

For now, Iowa has a little time to soak in being an above-.500 team.

“No offense to anyone in here, but you guys had us dead two weeks ago,” Petras said to the tent full of reporters. “We couldn’t do anything right, as did the whole outside world, it felt like. But that’s not what football is. ... If you do things right, work hard, then good results happen.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com