CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – After one of the spirited comeback efforts in program history, the Purdue football team fell to a heartbreaking 50-49 overtime loss at No. 23 Illinois on Saturday afternoon.

The Boilermakers trailed 27-3 early in the second half and trailed 40-28 with five minutes remaining for the redshirt freshman Ryan Browne led the team on a pair of touchdown drives, giving Purdue the lead, 43–40, with 46 seconds left. Illinois converted a 38-yard field goal as time expired, sending the game into overtime.

After the Illini found the end zone to start overtime, the Boilermakers answered with a touchdown of their own as Arhmad branch used his speed to beat the defenders against the pylon. With the ball in its hands, Purdue opted to go for two to win the game.

On the final play of the game, Illinois applied the pressure and stopped the Boilermakers to prevent the greatest comeback in Purdue history.

One day without starting quarterback Hudson mapBrowne stepped into the role of signal caller and lit up the box score, going 18 of 26 for 297 yards and three touchdowns, as well as collecting 118 rushing yards on 17 carries for a 6.9 average in his first career start.

Browne became the third Purdue quarterback to pass for more than 200 yards and run for more than 100 yards since Mike Phipps against TCU in 1969 and Brandon Kirsch against Michigan State in 2002.

The Clarkston, Michigan native also became just the sixth Boilermaker quarterback to rush for 100 yards in a game, joining Phipps, Bob Bobrowski, Gary Danielson, Rob Henry and Brandon Kirsch. His 118 rushing yards were the most by a Purdue quarterback since Henry had 132 at Northwestern on October 9, 2010.

Max Klare led Purdue with a career-high 133 yards on six catches. Devin Mockobee racked up 102 yards on 11 carries, marking his eighth career 100-yard game.

Kydran Jenkins paced the defense with 10 tackles, six solos, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Will Held also had a career-best 1.5 sacks and 1.5 TFLs.

Spencer Porath finished two-on-two on field goals and converted all five PAT attempts. Keelan Crimmins only had to punt twice for 97 yards with a long of 58 yards, his second-longest boot of the season.

Purdue fell behind 10-0 before Browne and company went to work on a nine-play, 74-yard drive that extended all the way to the Illini four-yard line. The Boilers, however, were held to one Spencer Porath field goal, cutting the deficit to 10-3 with just under six minutes to play in the second quarter.

A tumultuous end to the first half spelled trouble for Purdue, as Illinois (5-1, 2-1 B1G) got the ball back and went nine plays to the end zone.

Trailing 17-3 with less than two minutes until intermission, the Boilers’ return team misread a punt that caused an abnormal rebound downfield, and Illinois pounced on it first. Starting from the Purdue 25-yard line, the Illini took advantage to put Purdue in a 24-3 hole at halftime.

After a field goal early in the third quarter extended Illinois’ lead to 27-3, the Boilermakers needed a spark. They charged all the way back and almost caused a historic shock.

Browne found junior Jahmal Edrine for a 53-yard score, good for Purdue’s longest touchdown pass since the opening drive of the 2023 opener against Fresno State.

On the first play of the subsequent drive, Nyland Green forced Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer into a strip sack. Heldt recovered the fumble and took it home, Purdue’s first scoop-and-score since Oct. 28, 2023, at Nebraska. It was Green’s first career sack and forced fumble, as well as Heldt’s first touchdown.

The Boilermakers turned Illinois on the next possession and marched down the field for a 24-yard Porath field goal, suddenly flipping the script to make it a 27-20 game.

The Illini answered with a touchdown of their own, but Purdue wasn’t done fighting yet. After six plays, Browne surgically led the offense down the field, finishing with an eight-yard touchdown pass to Jaron Tibbs.

Klare caught a pass for a successful two-point attempt, making the score 34-28, Illinois, but the Illini answered again to go up by 12 late in the game.

Boilermaker’s violation was not denied; Mockobee capped a 10-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with under four minutes remaining.

Trailing by five, the Boilermakers successfully recovered an onside kick from Ben Freehillthe first time they have done so since September 28, 2019 against Minnesota.

Starting at the Illinois 43-yard line, the Boilermakers needed just three plays to take the lead with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Mockobee. Another successful two-point attempt by Edrine gave Purdue a 43-40 lead.

Illinois got the ball back with a 42-second lead and came within field goal range, sending the game into overtime. Illinois scored on its first play to go up 50-43.

Mockobee went to the edge and rushed 22 yards to the Illinois 3, and Branch capitalized with a quick three-yard score on the next play.

Down 50-49, with the automatic two-point try ahead in double overtime, head coach Ryan Walters chose to go for victory in the hostile environment. With the game on the line, the attempt was unsuccessful and Illinois escaped with a win at home.



NEXT
The Boilermakers return home after a short week to host No. 3 Oregon on Friday night. Kickoff from Ross-Ade Stadium is at 8pm on Fox.

NOTES
•Purdue totaled 536 yards of total offense, 239 – rushing and 251 – passing, for the second-highest mark among head coaches Ryan Walters.
• In his first collegiate start, Ryan Browne rushed for 118 yards on 17 carries with a long of 20 yards while going 18 of 26 through the air for 297 and three touchdowns.
• Browne is the sixth quarterback in Purdue history to rush for more than 100 yards.
• Browne is also the first Purdue quarterback since Mike Phipps in 1969 to throw for 200 yards and rush for more than 100 yards, surpassing Phipps’ marks of 286 yards passing and 104 rushing yards.
• Max Klare had a career day with six receptions for 133 yards. He caught a career-long 62-yard pass from Browne in the third quarter.
• Klare had the most receiving yards by a Purdue tight end since Payne Durham’s 150-yard night against Oregon State in 2021. It was the sixth most by a Purdue tight end since 1996.
• Devin Mockobee carried the ball 11 times for 102 yards and a touchdown. He moved up to sixth on the 100-yard game chart with Montrell Lowe (1999-02) with eight. He also moved up the career touchdown list to 11th with Otis Armstrong (1970-72) with his 17th score on the ground.
• Purdue was a perfect 6-of-6 in the red zone.
• Kydran Jenkins led the team on defense with 10 tackles, six solos, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and 1.5 sacks.
• Jenkins moved to 12th in program history in tackles-for-loss with 39.5, passing Tom Kingsbury (1977-80).
• The Boilermakers finished with eight tackles for loss, the most against a Big Ten opponent since they had nine at Nebraska last year.
• Will Held scored his first career touchdown on a 16-yard fumble. It was Purdue’s first defensive score since then Kydran Jenkins scored a 55-yard fumble against Nebraska.
• Spencer Porath connected on steps of 22 and 24 yards. They were his fourth and fifth appearances of the year, all in a row, and moved into fifth place behind Scott Sovereen (1975) on the freshman season list.
• Keelan Crimmins launched his sixth kick of 50 yards or more with a boot of 58 yards, his second-longest kick of the season.