Fame Ijeboi powers Purdue past Minnesota, 41-13

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) —

Fame Ijeboi ran for a career-high 195 yards and three touchdowns to lead Purdue to a 41-13 win over Minnesota on Saturday night.

Ijeboi, a Minnesota transfer who had 441 yards rushing last season as a redshirt freshman, averaged more than 6 yards per carry.

Purdue coach Barry Odom described Ijeboi's game as tremendous.

“He’s got the heart of champion," Odom said. “He works every day as hard as he can to win. He cares about his teammates. He finishes runs going forward.”'

Ijeboi credited the offensive line for his success.

“I couldn't have done it without them,” he said.

Ryan Browne was 14-of-24 passing for 159 yards and a touchdown for the Boilermakers (3-3, 2-1 Big Ten) and added 81 yards rushing and a TD on seven carries.

“Ryan got us in right looks, made the right checks,” Odom said. “He ran the ball the well. He had a great night executing.”

Drake Lindsey, who had 248 yards passing for Minnesota (4-2, 2-1), connected with Jalen Smith for a 42-yard TD to trim Purdue’s lead to 27-13 in the third quarter, but the Boilermakers answered when Browne rushed for a 12-yard TD early in the fourth quarter and after a muffed punt gave Purdue the ball on the Minnesota 10, Ijeboi's 1-yard TD run on fourth down capped the scoring with 7:35 left.

“Defensively, we had a push and reestablished the line of scrimmage," Odom said. “We tried to take away the run game and had success in that.

"We made big time plays in the kicking game. When you do that and don't turn the ball over, you put yourself in position to play winning ball. We played well in all three phases, which is great to see.”

The Boilermakers dominated in the first half, leading 20-3 at halftime. Jacobo Echeverria Lozano kicked a 45-yard field goal and a 15-yard TD pass from Browne to George Burhenn made it 10-0 going into the second quarter.

After a 49-yard field goal by Minnesota’s Luke Drzewiecki, Purdue answered with a 28-yard field goal and a 3-yard TD run by Ijeboi.

Ijeboi's 1-yard TD run pushed the lead to 27-3 early in the third quarter.

“They dominated the game in pretty much every facet,” Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck said. “You have to give them a ton of credit. We have to get a lot better. When you get beat in every single area and they play well in every area, the score is going to look like the score looked.”

Minnesota: It was a flat performance from the Gophers coming off a 20-14 win over visiting Michigan. Minnesota managed just 16 rushing yards in the first half and 25 on 12 carries overall. “We'd love to stay with the ground game and get it moving, but then the score got different where we had abandon it,” Fleck said.

Purdue: The Boilermakers captured their second consecutive victory with their most complete game this season. Purdue scored on all six red zone possessions and did commit a turnover.

Minnesota: Hosts No. 20 Iowa on Oct. 24.

Purdue: Hosts Washington on Friday.

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