Purdue trailed Northwestern 31-27 with inside three minutes to play in their season opener on Thursday in West Lafayette. The Wildcats faced a third-and-11 at the Boilermakers’ 33-yard line, right on the edge of field goal range. A stop would at least give the Boilers’ the ball back, whether by way of a kickoff after a field goal, a punt, or maybe a turnover on downs.
Purdue iced a loss to Northwestern with this extremely pointless personal foul
You could argue about the call, or you could just not do this.
They appeared to get their spot, until they didn’t. They stacked up Northwestern running back Jeremy Larkin for a loss of a yard, bringing up either a 52-yard field goal to put Northwestern up seven or a punt to give Purdue a long field, down four. But neither happened, because Purdue lineman Lorenzo Neal did something dumb:
After a gang tackle had clearly stopped Larkin’s forward progress and, more importantly, after the whistle had blown, Neal threw Larkin to the ground with more force than he needed. Officials assessed a no-brainer unnecessary roughness call. Northwestern took 15 free yards and, more importantly, an automatic first down. The Boilers never got the ball back and squandered a decent chance, though not a guarantee, to come back.
Purdue fans were incensed. But, it’s clear that Neal’s toss of Larkin fit the definition of a personal foul under the NCAA’s rulebook. The rules say (emphasis mine): “No opponent shall tackle or block the runner when he is clearly out of bounds or throw him to the ground after the ball becomes dead.” The Boilers didn’t have a legitimate beef.
With Neal’s help, Northwestern closed out a win without any drama. The Wildcats are 1-0, and Purdue has to cope with a pointless lost opportunity.
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