Elijah Brown’s 3 TD passes help Washington end 3-game skid with 38-26 victory over Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Elijah Brown threw for 302 yards and three touchdowns Friday night to help Washington break a three-game losing streak with a 38-26 victory over Purdue.

In his first start for the Huskies, Brown completed 21 of 27 passes and overcame three interceptions.

“It felt great,” said Brown, who transferred from Stanford after last season. “I felt we played as a team. I had those three interceptions, but everyone stayed positive and kept on encouraging me and we got it done.”

Chris Lawson was a top target with six catches for 103 yards

“We’ve been on a bad run, but we felt this game was a good one to get everything started and get it rolling,” Lawson said.

Washington (4-3, 1-3 Big Ten) took a 31-20 lead early in the fourth quarter on Brown’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Dezmen Roebuck.

The Boilermakers (3-4, 2-2) narrowed the deficit to 31-26 on Ryan Browne’s 8-yard TD run but the 2-point conversion attempt failed.

Trey Cooley’s 53-yard touchdown run gave the Huskies a 38-26 edge with 10:30 left in the fourth quarter. Cooley finished with a team-high 113 yards on eight carries.

Helped by a crucial penalty, the Huskies had taken a 24-17 halftime lead. A roughing the passer call on an incomplete pass on third down-and-10 on Purdue’s 10-yard line gave the Huskies a first down. Two plays later Brian Bonner Jr. scored on a 1-yard run with 27 seconds left that gave the Huskies the lead for good.

“You are not usually minus-4 in the turnover battle and win the game,” Huskies coach Jedd Fisch said. “I thought our guys played so hard today. The way the kids in all three phases wanted it so bad.”

Fisch said his defense did a great job holding Purdue to 98 yards rushing with most coming on one 59-yard run by Antonio Harris.

“Their defensive line won on the line of scrimmage,” Purdue coach Barry Odom said. “They had everyone in the box and we were not able to counter, unfortunately. I think our offense will probably go as we’re able to run the ball. We couldn’t find enough room to get that going to help the passing game enough. I thought Ryan made some big-time throws. We didn’t win at the point of scrimmage.”

Browne was 21 of 41 for 273 yards with two interceptions.

The takeaway

Washington: Elijah Brown suffered an interception on the first play from scrimmage, but the Boilermakers were not able to capitalize, which was pretty much the story of the game. The Huskies held a 488-371 advantage in total yards.

Purdue: After running for 195 yards in the previous game against Minnesota, Fame Ijeboi was limited to 19 yards on 13 carries. The Boilermakers must now win three of their last five games to become bowl eligible.

Foot fault

Purdue recovered the ball on the Washington 10 after a punt took a bounce and hit the back of the Huskies’ Dylan Robinson’s foot. Ijeboi caught a 10-yard TD pass on first down to make it 17-all with 2:35 left before halftime.

Up next

Washington: Following a bye week, the Huskies are at Nebraska Oct. 31.

Purdue: After a bye week, the Boilermakers play at Penn State Oct. 31.

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