Boiler Up

 

September 3, 2022

Boiler Up

Labor Day weekend is generally around when the Fall season actually begins, though it is not always that obvious in Key West. School has already started and football season is beginning is always how I mark the calendar. I have already attended a couple of Key West High School home games but I was making a trip up to Indiana to attend the All IN music festival, so I thought I would head up a bit early to catch some live football at my alma mater.

It has been more than a few years since I was back on campus at Purdue University in West Lafayette but after landing at the Indianapolis airport, I drove my rental car about an hour north on I-65 to see the place where I attended college and to attend the opening game of the season, a Thursday night nationally televised game against Big Ten rival Penn State.

I arrived on campus early enough that I had time to walk around and see some of the old haunts that I once called home, including the Cary Quad dorm where I lived as a freshman. The Sigma Nu fraternity house where I actually lived has long since been torn down but I swung by and parked for the game at the current Sigma Nu house located in the Acres.

I walked through the pregame party and tailgating at Slater Hill then headed over to Ross-Ade Stadium where the sold-out night-time game was to be played. It was a packed and festive attitude. The start of a new season, especially after what was a really good (for Purdue) football season last year had the masses hopeful and excited that they would be competitive against a Penn State team that has had their number for years.

Penn State and Purdue last met in 2019 with the Nittany Lions defeating the Boilermakers, 35-7, at Beaver Stadium. Penn State last played at Purdue in 2016 and won, 62-24. Overall, Penn State has won nine straight against Purdue, and the Nittany Lions lead the overall series over the Boilermakers, 15-3-1.

Purdue, though, iwas coming off a 9-4 season that included a 48-45 win over Tennessee in the Music City Bowl. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell was returning for a sixth season after he completed 71.2% of his passes and threw for 3,712 yards with 28 touchdowns to 11 interceptions, so hopes were high.

It was an amazingly good game. Penn State took control early, jumping out to a 21-10 lead and looking like it was going to be just another Penn State easy win, but Purdue was resilient and mounted a big comeback to take a 31-28 lead with about two minutes to go sending the Purdue crowd into a frenzy.

It wasn’t meant to be though as sixth year Penn State quarterback Sean Clifford mounted a magnificent 80 yard drive, throwing a touchdown pass with under a minute to go to clinch a 35-31 Penn State victory and send the Purdue faithful home deflated. I know there are no moral victories, but I was really glad to get a close and competitive game and that Purdue was as good as they were. In fact, Purdue was the better team most of the night and it was just a few costly mistakes and questionable coaching decisions that cost them the game. It was a ton of fun though to be back in the fun and frenetic atmosphere that is major college football. It is one of the things about living in the Midwest that I miss the most. 

The following morning, I decided to drive to the Northwest corner of the state to Mishiwaka, Indiana where my high school alma mater was going to be playing against state powerhouse Penn the following night. On the way I passed through Plymouth which is home to a huge fall festival, The Marshall County Blueberry Festival. I had to stop and check out the massive fest, which was obviously one of the highlights of the annual calendar in Plymouth.

It was a massive event, with all manner of carnival rides, a huge selection of fair food, with an emphasis on blueberry dishes and an incredible amount of vendors selling all manner of crazy products, most of which I did not have much interest in. It was a fun diversion on my way across the state, with the fair food being my personal favorite and my least favorite being the many political booths - all espousing one particular viewpoint. I guess I should not have been surprised but politics has no place in such places, at least not in my opinion.

https://www.blueberryfestival.org/