Hudson Card went 18-of-26 passing for 217 yards and two touchdowns to lead Purdue to a 44-19 win over Illinois in a Big Ten contest on Saturday at West Lafayette, Ind.
Tyrone Tracy Jr. rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries for Purdue (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten), which won its first home game in four tries this year.
Luke Altmyer went 16-of-25 passing for 202 yards and a touchdown in defeat for Illinois (2-3, 0-2).
Leading 16-13 at halftime, Purdue blew the game open by scoring three touchdowns in the third quarter.
Purdue took a 23-13 lead with 9:59 remaining in the third on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Card to Garrett Miller.
Devin Mockobee scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 3:41 to go in the third to make it 30-13, and then Card hit Deion Burks for a 10-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds remaining in the quarter to give Purdue a 37-13 lead.
Illinois drew closer, cutting its deficit to 37-19 with 6:27 remaining on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Altmyer to Pat Bryant.
Tracy then scored on a 1-yard touchdown run 1:58 left to cap off the scoring.
With 5:48 remaining in the first quarter, Purdue took a 6-3 lead when defensive lineman Malik Langham recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown.
The fumble was caused after defensive back Markevious Brown came in on a blitz, sacked Altmyer at the Illinois 1-yard line and forced the ball loose. The extra point failed.
The Fighting Illini took a 10-6 lead with 7:52 remaining in the second quarter on a 7-yard touchdown run by Josh McCray, which capped off a 5-play, 80-yard drive.
Purdue regained the lead at 13-10 with 5:46 remaining until halftime on a 16-yard touchdown run by Dylan Downing to finish off a seven-play, 73-yard drive.
Purdue’s Julio Macias (from 40 yards) and Illinois’ Caleb Griffin (53) traded field goals in the final 30 seconds to make it 16-13 Purdue at halftime.
–Field Level Media
