Fame Ijeboi ran for 195 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night against his former team as Purdue routed Minnesota 41-13 in West Lafayette, Ind., in Big Ten Conference action.
Ijeboi scored on a 3-yard run and a pair of 1-yard runs, the last one coming on 4th-and-goal out of the Wildcat formation with 7:35 left to cap his career-best game. His power runs helped the Boilermakers (3-3, 2-1 Big Ten) win consecutive conference games for the first time since 2022.
Quarterback Ryan Browne completed 14 of 24 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown while adding 81 yards and another score on seven rushes. Purdue ran for 299 yards and held the Golden Gophers to 25.
Drake Lindsey completed 22 of 39 passes for 248 yards with a touchdown and an interception for Minnesota (4-2, 2-1), which entered with a three-game winning streak that included its first home win over Michigan since 1977.
But coach P.J. Fleck warned earlier in the week that the Boilermakers would be a dangerous foe and he was proven correct. Jacobo Echeverria Lozano drilled a 45-yard field goal 2:07 into the game to put Purdue ahead for good.
Browne made it 10-0 at the 2:26 mark when he connected with George Burhenn for a 15-yard touchdown strike. The Gophers got on the board with Luke Drzewiecki’s 49-yard field goal with 10:48 left in the half but Lozano hit from 28 and Ijeboi scored on a 3-yard run with 1:55 remaining in the half for a 20-3 Boilermakers cushion.
Ijeboi capped a 69-yard drive at the 9:33 mark of the third quarter with his second scoring run. Minnesota got within 27-13 when Drzewiecki nailed a 37-yard field goal and Lindsey found Jalen Smith for a 42-yard scoring pass with 3:11 remaining in the third.
Purdue put the game away when Browne finished off a 75-yard drive by rolling left and rushing 12 yards for a score with 13:17 left.
