Ryan Browne leads Purdue past Indiana State 44-19 in Boilermakers' season opener

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Ryan Browne threw for a career-high 317 yards and three touchdowns to lead Purdue to a 44-19 victory over Indiana State on Friday night in the Boilermakers' season opener.

Browne, who surpassed his previous record of 311 set last year, completed 23 of 29 passes. The junior had TD passes of 6 yards to Chauncey Magwood, 7 yards to Tra’Mar Harris and 18 yards to Asaad Waseem.

“I've had help from NFL quarterbacks, but the coaching staff has done a great job with me as well,” Browne said.

Eleven different Boilermakers caught passes, led by Florida Atlantic University transfer Waseem, who caught six passes for 107 yards in his Purdue debut.

“Ryan was putting the ball right on the money," Waseem said.

Purdue coach Barry Odom called it a solid performance by the second-year starter.

“He made some good checks and put us in position to make some big-time plays," he said.

The Boilermakers (1-0) led 16-6 at halftime before scoring 28 unanswered points.

“We need to start faster,” Browne said. “We've talked about it before, Purdue can not beat Purdue."

Odom said the defensive start in the second half set the tone.

“Then the offense responded the way they did,” he said. “We played good complementary football. Good teams find ways to self-correct.”

Purdue took a 44-6 lead on a 35-yard interception return by Don Saunders with 12 seconds gone in the fourth quarter.

“I just was doing my job, broke on the ball and made a play,” Saunders said. “I was blessed to be out there in my first game as a Boilermaker.”

The Sycamores (0-2) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Brady Allen, in relief of Elijah Owens, completed 3 of 5 passes for 117 yards and one touchdown in the fourth quarter. Owens was 9 of 17 for 101 yards.

Indiana State: The Sycamores, winless in eight games against Purdue, fared better than the last two meetings — 56-0 in 2022 and 49-0 in 2024. Indiana State did manage to keep it close in the first half and compile 284 yards.

Purdue: Fame Ijeboi, a transfer from Minnesota, rushed for 87 yards and a touchdown in his Boilermakers debut, It could have been bigger as he had a 63-yard TD run nullified by penalty. The Boilermakers were penalized nine times for 85 yards. Purdue finished with 523 total yards. “Ijeboi did a good job getting to the second level," Odom said. “He's got good vision and good balance..”

The Boilermakers’ offense sputtered inside the opponents’ 25-yard line three times in the opening half and had to settle for field goals. The good news for Purdue is freshman Jacobo Echeverria Lozano made all three from 39, 25 and 23 yards. Spencer Porath transferred from Purdue to Notre Dame after making 15 of 17 field goals last season.

“We have to be better in the red zone,” Browne said.

Indiana State: At Eastern Illinois on Sept. 12.

Purdue: Hosts Wake Forest on Sept. 12.

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