Final score: TCU 34 Purdue 13

Brief recap: Purdue was playing short-handed from the start. Offensively, the Boilermakers were without starting quarterback Elijah Sindelar, who missed the game to concussion. Linebacker Markus Bailey is out for the year. And against a really good TCU team,  Purdue needed to play flawlessly to escape with a win. The Boilers were solid through one half and trailed the Horned Frogs 13-6 through two quarters. But TCU’s rushing attack — and Purdue’s lack thereof — really wore down the Boilermakers, making the final score pretty lopsided.

Key moment: Pinned at their own 8-yard line, TCU put together a nine-play, 92-yard drive midway through the third quarter to take a two-touchdown advantage at 20-6. That drive crushed Purdue’s spirit and the two-touchdown lead was essentially insurmountable for an offense that was one-dimensional all night.

Key stat: TCU finished the day with 346 rushing yards. Purdue had 23 — and all of those came when the game had been decided late in the fourth quarter. Enough said.

Key player: Since the focal point was on the ground all night, Darius Anderson gets the nod from TCU. He piled up 179 yards and two touchdowns on just 16 carries, an 11.2 yards per touch average. He also caught two passes for 13 yards. Basically, he was a nightmare for the Purdue defense all night long.

What it means: Even if Sindelar was available under center, Purdue certainly can’t be this abysmal on the ground and expect to win games in the B1G — at least not regularly. Somehow, Jeff Brohm needs to find a way to pick up yardage on the ground, even if it’s just to keep the defense honest once in a while. You saw just how ugly things can get for the Boilermakers without at least some resemblance of a ground game.