It wasn’t quite Big Ten After Dark given the time of day, but the Purdue Boilermakers absolutely shocked the third-ranked Michigan State Spartans on this amazing flea-flicker throwback screen touchdown pass from quarterback Aidan O’Connell to halfback Jackson Anthrop. The touchdown put Purdue up 21-7 in what would be a major upset, and though Sparty came back with a touchdown drive to make it 21-14 near the end of the first half, this play was something else.
O’Connell took the snap with 5:06 left in the second quarter, pitched the ball to Anthrop, who pitched it to receiver Milton Wright, who gave it back to O’Connell. All that matriculation allowed Anthrop to get out to the left side of the field for the throwback screen, and as you can see below, Anthrop had his entire offensive line blocking the screen for him.
You don’t see that every day.
We feel confident saying it:
This is the wildest B1G play you'll see today. 😲@AnthropJackson // @BoilerFootball pic.twitter.com/LdT54PDKh1
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) November 6, 2021
Michigan State’s defense struggled in the first half to keep up with Purdue head coach Jeff Brohm’s creativity, and this was the most obvious example. We’ll see if the Boilermakers can keep the upset going through the second half.
