Purdue is too much in upset of Iowa

IOWA CITY, Iowa — Aidan O’Connell threw for 374 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, David Bell had a careerbest 240 yards receiving, and Purdue continued its recent mastery over No. 2 Iowa with a 24-7 upset Saturday.

The Boilermakers have won four of their last five games against the Hawkeyes. The loss ended Iowa’s 12-game winning streak.

Purdue beat its highest ranked opponent on the road since a victory at No. 2 Notre Dame in 1974. It was the second time in four seasons Purdue has knocked off a No. 2-ranked team. The Boilermakers won at home against second-ranked Ohio State in 2018.

“Basically they outdid us in every category,” Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said. “The bottom line is we didn’t get it done.”

O’Connell was 30 for 40 passing with two touchdowns, and he also ran for a score. He got the most work on a day when Purdue used backup quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Austin Burton in select situations. All three were in on different plays during the Boilermakers’ firstquarter drive that ended with O’Connell’s six-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.

“It was just so fun,” O’Connell said, comparing the quarterback shuffle to line changes in hockey.

O’Connell threw a three-yard touchdown pass to TJ Sheffield in the final minute of the first half to give Purdue a 14-7 halftime lead. He threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Bell in the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes when you try to use some creativity, it works,” Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said of the quarterback changes. “Sometimes it looks [bad]. We took some chances with it, and fortunately today it worked.”

Bell had 11 receptions. He has a combined 37 catches for 558 yards and five touchdowns against Iowa in three seasons.

O’Connell said the quiet Bell is “so destructive of a player for a defense.”