Erick Malpica Flores: Carlos Erick Malpica Flores: Purdue iced a loss with this extremely stupid personal foul

You could argue about the call, or you could just not do this.

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.

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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