GAMEDAY College Football

Purdue 24, Iowa 20

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Sophomore receiver David Bell caught three touchdown passes, including the game winner, to guide the Purdue Boilermakers to a 24-20 victory over Iowa Saturday.

With the Boilermakers' top receiver Rondale Moore sideline for undisclosed reasons, Bell caught 13 passes for 121 yards.

His difference maker was a 6-yard TD from Aidan O'Connell with 2:15 remaining in the fourth quarter to give Purdue the lead. Purdue's defense stiffened on the final drive, stopping Iowa on fourth-and-10 from its own 44.

O'Connell, who was named starter just before the game, completed 31-of-50 passes for 282 yards. Zander Horvath, who got the start because King Doerur was out with a hamstring injury, led the Purdue rushing attack with 129 yards on 21 carries.

Purdue's game winning drive was set up by a big turnover.

With Iowa leading 20-17 and driving, the Hawkeyes' Mekhi Sargent had the ball stripped by Dedrick Mackey and Cam Allen recovered at the Purdue 28. The Boilermakers followed with a 12 play, 72-yard drive.

Spencer Petras completed 22 of 39 passes for 265 yards for Iowa.

Iowa took a 17-14 lead into halftime when Keith Duncan kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter.

Purdue wasted a nice opening third quarter drive when O'Connell was intercepted by Barrington Wade at the Iowa 3-yard line on second down-and-10 from the Iowa 11.

The Hawkeyes pushed the lead to 20-14 with Duncan's 33-yard field goal with less than two minutes elapsed in the fourth quarter. Purdue's 14-play drive stalled, and the Boilermakers settled for J.D. Dellinger's 29-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 20-17.

Purdue had tied it at 14-all when Bell caught an 11-yard TD pass from O'Connell. Bell opened the scoring for Purdue with an 9-yard touchdown catch in the opening quarter

After Petras tied it at 7-all for the Hawkeyes with a 1-yard quarterback sneak with 10:21 left in the second quarter, Iowa went ahead 14-7 when Sargent capped off an 11-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard TD run.

Associated Press