For the first time since the 2011 Little Caesar’s Bowl, the Purdue Boilermakers are have won a bowl game. After more then doubling their win total from last year, head coach Jeff Brohm has the Boilers going in the right direction.

The Foster Farms Bowl between the Arizona Wildcats and Purdue was a game of runs. It all started after Arizona scored their second touchdown through the likes of their star quarterback Khalil Tate, which gave the Wildcats a 14-7 lead. After that though, the wheels started to churn for the Boilers as they scored 24 unanswered points, including two big touchdown catches from senior Gregory Phillips, to take a 31-14 lead going into the half.

After the half, Khalil Tate and Co. came guns a-blazing as Tate threw three touchdowns to pull Zona ahead 35-31 with 3:51 remaining. Thanks to the late heroics of sophomore play-caller Elijah Sindelar and senior wide out Anthony Mahoungou, Purdue scored on an amazing pitch and catch bomb to the senior in his final game to put Purdue ahead for the final time with 1:44 left.

The game was definitely a quarterback duel as Tate finished the game with having played fantastic, as he went 17/26 for 302 yards and five touchdowns. Though they may have lost the game, the Wildcats should be looked at as a favorite for the Pac 12 title going into next season, as they played 56 freshman this year. On the opposite sideline, Elijah Sindelar had 33 completions on 53 attempts (Tied a school record) for 396 yards and four touchdowns. I think it’s safe to say that both programs are trending in the right direction.