The Purdue Boilermakers football program blew it. After a go-ahead, 72-yard interception return late in the game, Purdue University didn't do enough offensively to hold onto the lead- and the defense tired, leaving the door open for a Penn State football comeback. So where did the Boilermakers go wrong?
One Penn State Nittany Lions defender knows exactly where. And it's probably what everyone else is thinking, too. Here's what the Nittany Lions defensive lineman had to say, per Adam Rittenberg of ESPN.
#PennState defensive linemen P.J. Mustipher: "Definitely in the fourth quarter when they were up, I think it was like six minutes on the clock, I thought they would run the ball a little bit more, but they didn't and that's that."
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) September 2, 2022
Penn State football defender P.J. Mustipher said that he “thought they would run the ball a little bit more.” Mustipher referenced Purdue University's first drive following the interception, where the team inexplicably ran eight straight passing plays, barely taking any time off of the clock before punting the ball back to the Nittany Lions.
The Boilermakers then got a stop and got the ball back, but they squandered that opportunity as well. Purdue ran just one run play, picking up one first down before again handing the ball right back to Penn State football with a little over two minutes remaining on the clock.
It simply wasn't good clock management by Purdue football. And it certainly wasn't lost on the Penn State Nittany Lions, judging by Mustipher's comments.
Penn State University made Purdue pay, too. The Nittany Lions marched down the field on an eight-play drive, scoring the game-winning touchdown on a Sean Clifford pass to Keyvone Lee.
The Nittany Lions won the game. However, it's hard to not think that the Purdue Boilermakers let an opportunity slip away.
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