On a frigid afternoon inside Ross-Ade Stadium, Purdue made enough explosive plays on offense to claim a narrow 17-9 victory over Northwestern despite losing starters Gus Hartwig and Devin Mockobee to injury.
Hartwig, a junior center that's appeared in every game this season for the Boilermakers, had to be helped off the field in the second quarter. Redshirt sophomore Josh Kaltenberger snapped the ball to sixth-year senior quarterback Aidan O'Connell for the remainder of the game.
"Unfortunately, Gus is going to be out for quite a while from what it looks," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "He was having a great year. He's the main leader of our offense, knows all the calls, can snap it and has played really well. I feel bad for him."
Brohm said that Hartwig has played with two broken hands this year and missed time in practice as a result of those injuries. Mockobee, who leads the Purdue offense in rushing this season, also left Saturday's game against Northwestern after recording just 18 yards rushing on five carries.
Dylan Downing, Kobe Lewis and Tyrone Tracy filled the void in the backfield and helped the Boilermakers register 140 yards on the ground. They combined to have 31 of the team's 42 attempts for 123 yards rushing, and each produced one run of at least 10 yards.
"Those guys work hard and they run hard," Brohm said. "We just got to continue to work with them, but they've given us great effort. They've been tremendous teammates and got us some yards today. We're gonna need them for the remainder of the season.
"I just think that coach [Chris] Barclay has done a really good job with them, and they understand what their role is. Like everything, now their role is to step up and be a playmaker. They're gonna have to come through for us these next couple weeks."
On Purdue's first drive of the game, O'Connell was sacked on first down for a loss of 10 yards. On the subsequent play, Tracy took an end-around for a pickup of 19 to the Northwestern 33-yard line. The 11-play, 46-yard drive would later be cut short after failing to convert on fourth down, but it was the first of four possessions for the Boilermakers of at least 10 plays.
After the defense forced a Northwestern three-and-out, Downing ran for 10 yards on second-and-11 to push Purdue past midfield for the second straight drive. Lewis would later surge ahead for 19 yards on the ground to put the offense in the red zone. Two plays later, O'Connell found sixth-year wide receiver Charlie Jones for a touchdown with 1:48 left in the first quarter.
It was the first of two first-half touchdown drives for the Boilermakers, who were 3-for-3 in the red zone and held the Wildcats scoreless in the first and third quarters. O'Connell would later find redshirt senior tight end Payne Durham for a 3-yard score before leading 14-3 at halftime.
With Hartwig out of the lineup, O'Connell was only sacked once by the Wildcats. Kaltenberger is expected to continue the year as the starting center, but redshirt junior Spencer Holstege and true freshman Malachi Preciado must be prepared to play the position as well.
"He's been here, he's worked hard and his strength is he's a really good snapper which is important," Brohm said of Kaltenberger. "It's as important as anything else to get the play started. We felt comfortable there, and I think he went out there and competed."
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