Christmas came early in Syracuse, N.Y., on Saturday. The gift? A come-from-behind win for the Orange, courtesy of Purdue’s generosity in the final minute of the game.
Future records will show the Orange beat the Boilermakers at the Carrier Dome. In reality, a series of horrible miscues on Syracuse’s final offensive drive — all of them Purdue penalties — allowed the home team to escape with a victory.
The trouble began, somehow, on a go-ahead touchdown by the Boilermakers with 57 seconds remaining in the game. Aidan O’Connell gave Purdue a 29-25 lead with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Payne Durham.
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However, two unsportsmanlike conduct fouls — including one on Purdue coach Jeff Brohm — netted Syracuse an extra 25 yards before its ensuing drive. Purdue had to kick off from its 10-yard line:
After scoring to go up 4, Purdue gave Syracuse 30 penalty yards on the ensuing kickoff 15 of which came from an unsportsmanlike on a coach. pic.twitter.com/Z7X2onxrxD
— Richard🇬🇾Johnson (@RJ_Writes) September 17, 2022
Syracuse took over at midfield after a 27-yard return. It appeared briefly that the good field position wouldn’t matter as Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader threw three straight incompletions. But a 10-yard defensive holding penalty on third-and-10 netted the Orange a first down at the Purdue 40.
Once again, Shrader threw three straight incompletions, but another penalty — this time for pass interference — netted another 15 yards for SU to the Purdue 25. The next play saw Shrader throw a 25-yard touchdown to Oronde Gadsden II.
CUSE WINS, CUSE WINS, CUSE WINS 🍊
With just seven seconds left in the game, Garrett Shrader throws a laser to Oronde Gadsden II.
Down to the wire, that one was 😅
🎥: @espn pic.twitter.com/og3w5CRpe6
— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬 (@sportingnews) September 17, 2022
To recap: Syracuse gained 50 yards in penalties and 25 yards of offense on its final drive.
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Purdue, which apparently just couldn’t help itself at that point, committed another three penalties before receiving the ball: an offside penalty on the point-after attempt and two more unsportsmanlike penalties that resulted in this kick:
After taking the lead late against Purdue, Syracuse kicked off from the Purdue 35 due to several penalties. College football rules. pic.twitter.com/ZSQJmOPjUc
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) September 17, 2022
Purdue started its last offensive drive at its 25. One failed hook-and-lateral later, Syracuse was escaping the Carrier Dome with a gifted victory to move to 3-0 on the season.
Perhaps Syracuse coach Dino Babers will send Brohm a Christmas card for the Boilermakers’ thoughtfulness.
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