Purdue Football NCAA 13 Season Simulation: Week 7

TheBoilingPoints.com will be simulating the 2012-13 college football season in NCAA Football 13. In case you were sitting at home trying to figure out how to spend the next three weeks while you wait for the Olympics to begin, check back at TheBoilingPoints.com every weekday afternoon to see the results.

We’ll be doing one game per day, but will simulate each game three times: once with Robert Marve at quarterback and once with Caleb Terbush at quarterback. We began one with Rob Henry at quarterback, but he made it through just three weeks before being injured and missing the rest of the season. Sorry Austin Appleby fans, we’ll hook you up when NCAA Football 14 comes out.

In week seven the Boilers open Big Ten play against Michigan.

Simulation 1: Robert Marve

Marve’s Boilermaker(3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) team tried to bounce back from its home loss to Michigan in week six and bring its Big Ten record back to .500 with a win over No. 6 Wisconsin (5-1, 1-1) in Ross-Ade Stadium this week.

It started out well for the Badgers, who jumped out to a 7-0 lead four minutes into the game on a 4-yard fullback run. The Boilermakers went 3-and-out on their next three possessions, but the defense did a great job of holding the Badgers at bay as well. Finally, just before the end of the quarter, Marve connected with Antavian Edison on a 65-yard bomb to even the score.

The second quarter was another defensive battle, with both teams being held scoreless until Wisconsin connected on a 7-yard touchdown pass with 1:10 left in the half to jump to a 14-7 lead. Purdue’s two-minute offense was effective in responding, however, and scored a 23-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the half to go into the break down just 14-10.

Wisconsin struck first again in the third quarter, jumping out to a 21-10 lead on a five yard run by Sherard Cadogan three minutes into the second half. Purdue responded two possessions later with a 3-yard Akeem Hunt touchdown run, cutting the Badger lead to 4, 21-17.

The fourth quarter opened with Purdue scoring on its first possession, with Robert Marve connecting with Gary Bush on a 5-yard touchdown pass with 11:42 to play. That gave the Boilers a 24-21 lead, which they would not surrender the rest of the game.

With the loss, the Badgers fell to No. 20 in the polls.

Marve was 14-33 on the day for 232 yards and two touchdowns. He threw one interception and was sacked twice. He also rushed 10 times for 22 yards.

Akeem Shavers led the Boilermaker rushing attack, with 14 carries for 81 yards. Akeem Hunt added 31 yards on eight carries, including one touchdown.

Crosby Wright led the team in receptions, with five catches for 31 yards. Antavian Edison led the team in yards, with 103 on three catches. OJ Ross added three catches for 53 yards.

Montee Ball had 138 yards on 22 carries for the Badgers, but was held out of the endzone.

Simulation 2: Caleb Terbush

Terbush’s team (3-2, 0-1 Big Ten) is also coming off a loss to Michigan as it hosts No. 4 Wisconsin (6-0, 2-0).

The game began with the defenses winning, as both teams were held scoreless until Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, the Heisman front-runner, scored on a 10-yard run with 30 seconds left in the opening period.

Purdue would respond with a 40-yard Paul Griggs field goal midway through the second quarter, but over the next 15 minutes of action Ball found the end zone twice more on carries of 4 and 1 yards, respectively. The Badgers led 21-3 at the end of the third quarter.

Purdue’s offense finally showed some life with back-to-back Caleb Terbush touchdown passes in the first seven minutes of the fourth quarter. First, he connected with freshman Shane Mikesky on a 66-yard throw with 11:40 to go in the game (2-pt conversion failed). Then, he found Crosby Wright three minutes later on a 12-yard pass to make the score 21-16.

Unfortunately, the comeback bid would end there as the Badgers hit a 20-yard field goal with 5:46 remaining to bring the lead to 8 and Purdue’s offense couldn’t respond. The Badgers went on to add another field goal with seven seconds left to make the final score 27-16

Terbush finished 10-29 on the day for 163 yards and two scores. He threw one interception and was sacked four times. He also led the team in rushing, with 13 carries for 29 yards.

Akeem Shavers and Akeem Hunt both had six carries on the day, with 27 and 21 yards each, respectively.

Shavers led the team in receiving, with three catches for 49 yards. Crosby Wright had three snags for 35 yards and OJ Ross had three for 13 yards.