It was hardly your usual Big Ten defensive battle.
Iowa and Purdue put on quite the offensive show Saturday, combining for 84 points and more than 1,000 yards of offense. But those numbers don't tell the whole story as the Hawkeyes jumped all over the Boilermakers from the start of this one, holding a four-touchdown lead at the half and watching it shrink without too much panic en route to a 49-35 win in West Lafayette.
Iowa racked up an astonishing 365 rushing yards, getting 326 of those from just two guys, Akrum Wadley and LeShun Daniels Jr. Wadley went for 170 yards and a touchdown on just 14 carries, while Daniels had 24 carries for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns. C.J. Beathard completed just 10 passes on the day, but two of those went for touchdowns as he recorded a 140-yard day through the air.
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Daniels and Beathard each rushed in for touchdowns in the first quarter, Beathard adding a touchdown toss to Riley McCarron before 15 minutes were gone for a lightning-quick 21-point edge. Daniels made it a 28-0 game with a second-quarter touchdown run before Purdue finally got on the board with the first of David Blough's touchdown passes. Wadley had a massive 75-yard touchdown scamper before the end of the first half.
The second half was all Purdue, but it didn't matter much with the gap what it was at the break. Blough pitched four touchdown passes after halftime, but Iowa countered with another Beathard scoring throw and a 41-yard interception-return touchdown from reigning Thorpe Award winner Desmond King.
Blough threw an eye-popping 60 passes and completed just half of them, but he ended with an impressive yardage total of 458 to go along with his quintet of touchdowns. He also threw an interception.
Iowa racked up 520 total yards, the majority coming on the ground. Purdue ended with 503 total yards, almost all of them coming via the pass. The Boilers had just 46 rushing yards. Purdue had the game's lone turnover, while not even 12 penalties could slow down Iowa.
Big Ten
The Hawkeyes moved to 5-2 with the win. Next up is a game against a top-10 Wisconsin team.
Purdue is 3-3 after the loss and faces off against a top-10 Nebraska team next weekend.