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Recap: Purdue outlasts Southern Illinois in 34-17 win

by: Dub Jellison09/07/25dubjellison
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Purdue wide receiver Nitro Tuggle against Southern Illinois.

Purdue football outlasted Southern Illinois on Saturday night to move to 2-0 on the season, with a 34-17 victory over the Salukis. With the win, Barry Odom becomes the first Purdue head coach to start his tenure 2-0 since Cleo O’Donnell did so back in 1916.

Purdue also continued its undefeated streak against FCS foes to 15 straight, after having headed into Saturday night with a 14-0 mark.

After a blazing start a week ago, Southern Illinois put Purdue on its heels in the opening frame on Saturday night. The Salukis and quarterback DJ Williams marched down the field and crushed the Boilermakers’ hopes of another shutout in the game’s opening minutes. Williams then connected with Fabian McCray for a 63-yard gain on the first play of the second drive, setting up a touchdown.

PDF: Purdue-Southern Illinois statistics

The Purdue offense had a pair of responses to the Salukis sprint out of the gates. Purdue leaned on Devin Mockobee in its first possession of the game and response to Southern Illinois’ score, riding the veteran tailback down the field and into the red zone. Ryan Browne found Arhmad Branch for a 13-yard score to cap off the drive.

On the following drive, Purdue tried its hand at the ground game again, with Mockobee and Browne getting into Saluki territory with their legs. Sophomore wide receiver Nitro Tuggle came up with his first big moment in a Purdue uniform, with a 29-yard touchdown reception.

After the Boilermakers utilized the aerial attack against Ball State, offensive coordinator Josh Henson established the run game against Southern Illinois, as Purdue rushed for 215 yards and two touchdowns. Devin Mockobee was the bell cow back for the Boilermakers, having 32 attempts for 126 yards and two touchdowns. The veteran tailback eclipsed 100 yards in a game for the first time since October 18th of last year, which came against Illinois.

After the 14-14 start through the first quarter, Purdue rattled off 20-straight points to take a commanding lead and put the Salukis’ upset bid to bed. Mockobee had two scores on Purdue’s “Hippo personnel” package on the goal line, while sophomore kicker Spencer Porath knocked two field goals through the uprights during the stretch.

Southern Illinois snapped the scoring run with a 53-yard field goal of their own with 7:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Ryan Browne was not as prolific through the air as his season debut, but finished with 170 yards, completing 60% of his passes (14-23) with two touchdowns and an interception. He made a contribution to the ground-centric offense, however, accounting for 50 yards with his legs.

Aside from Branch and Tuggle’s scores via Browne, the Purdue receiving corps struggled to find much success. The leading receiver on the day was sophomore tight end George Burhenn, who finished with three catches for 48 yards.

Purdue’s defense got punched in the mouth in the first quarter, but settled in from that point forward. Southern Illinois signal caller DJ Williams racked up 119 of his 202 passing yards on the night in the first 15 minutes of the contest. The Boilermakers made adjustments over the next three quarters, holding the Salukis to less than 150 yards of offense for the remainder of the game. The Boilermakers also held Southern Illinois to 72 yards rushing on less than three yards per carry.

CJ Nunnally and Charles Correa came up big later in the game for the Purdue defense, with Correa tallying five tackles, including two tackles for loss, a sack and a pass breakup, while Nunnally tallied two tackles for loss and two sacks.

Purdue now moves to 2-0 on the season and sets up a matchup with fellow undefeated Southern California, who defeated Georgia Southern, in Ross-Ade Stadium next Saturday.

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