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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) Hudson Card connected on 24 of 25 passes, including his final 17 in a row, for 273 yards and four touchdowns in leading Purdue to a 49-0 romp over Indiana State in Saturday’s season opener for both teams.
Card tied a FBS completion percentage with 96% on a minimum of 20 passes, tying Georgia's Greyson Lambert, who was 24 of 25 against South Carolina in 2015.
“I’m not surprised because he’s been doing this spring ball,” Purdue coach Ryan Walters said. “I’ve been talking about how much more comfortable he is. How much more confident he is, in not only what we’re doing on offense but as a leader and embracing his role as quarterback on this team. I anticipated a big jump from year one to year two, it’s only one game but I’ve seen that jump from spring ball to fall camp. I was proud of the offensive line for protecting him. The ball was spread around a lot to receivers, tight ends and running backs.”
Card said he got in a rhythm by starting off throwing some bubble screens.
“It definitely helped getting me in a rhythm,” Card said. “Those plays opened up some deeper shots. At the end of the day, I was trying to take they gave us.”
Card threw for 168 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Boilermakers to a 21-0 halftime lead. Card threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to Max Klare in the first quarter and a pair of 8-yard TD passes to Jaron Tibbs and De’Nylon Morrissette in the second quarter.
Purdue expanded the lead with a pair of TDs in the third quarter, a 6-yard run by Reggie Love III and a 31-yard pass from Card to Leland Smith.
The Boilermakers expanded the lead to 42-0 on Elijah Jackson’s 69-yard touchdown run in the first five minutes of the fourth.
A blocked punt led to Purdue's final score, a 4-yard TD run by Jaheim Merriweather.
Devin Mockobee was the Boilermakers' leading rusher with 89 yards on 11 carries.
The closest Indiana State came to scoring was a 45-yard missed field goal at the end of the first half.
“Give Purdue a lot of great credit, they made great improvement from year one to year two,” Indiana State coach Curt Mallory said. “I felt our team was ready. We gotta build off good things and we got to get better. Our defense kept playing. We put them in tough spots. We didn't convert on third down like we needed to, but they kept fighting.”
THE TAKEAWAY
Indiana State: The Sycamores are 0-36 against Power 4 programs, including seven losses to Purdue. Indiana State had trouble throwing the ball with Elijah Owens completing just half of his 10 passes for 50 yards.
Purdue: The Boilermakers dominated on both sides of the ball with a 583-154 advantage in total offense. The only turnover for Purdue was when Drew Biber fumbled at the Indiana State 27 after a 2-yard catch, ending a first-quarter drive.
MAKING THE JUMP
Purdue sophomore rush defensive end Will Heldt had six solo tackles, including two sacks.
“It’s night and day being in the system,” Heldt said. “Being there last season and playing behind two great players and learning from there. I have a better feel for rush and being on the edge.”
UP NEXT
Indiana State: At Eastern Illinois next Saturday.
Purdue: Has a bye before playing host to Notre Dame on Sept. 14.
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