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Caleb TerBush passed for two touchdowns and ran for another to help Purdue defeat Eastern Michigan 54-16 on Saturday afternoon.
Akeem Hunt ran for 106 yards and a touchdown on just four attempts and scored a 50-yard touchdown on his only catch. Brandon Cottom ran for 95 yards and Antavian Edison caught five passes for 78 yards for the Boilermakers (2-1), who were coming off a last-minute 20-17 loss to Notre Dame.
Purdue's defense was stingy again, holding the Eagles to 313 total yards. Eastern Michigan's only touchdown before the fourth quarter came on a 28-yard interception return by Pudge Cotton in the second quarter.
Dominique Sherrer led the Eagles (0-3) with 12 carries for 73 yards.
The Boilermakers gained 576 total yards and ran 42 times for 392 yards.
Purdue took advantage of Eastern Michigan's porous run defense, which had allowed 272.5 yards per game to rank 118th out of 120 teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
The Boilermakers pass defense, meanwhile, held Eastern Michigan to 144 yards on 14-of-29 passing and intercepted three passes.
Frankie Williams intercepted a pass by Alex Gillett on Eastern Michigan's second possession. The Boilermakers opened the scoring later in the first quarter when Akeem Shavers broke loose for a 40-yard touchdown run.
Purdue forced Eastern Michigan to punt and Taylor Richards blocked it, allowing the Boilermakers to take over at the Eastern Michigan 29. TerBush closed the possession by rolling right, stopping near the sideline and firing back across the field to find Edison in the back of the end zone for an 18-yard touchdown. The extra point failed, and the Boilermakers led 13-0.
Later, a fumble by Purdue's O.J. Ross set up a field goal by Eastern Michigan's Dylan Mulder that cut the Boilermakers' lead to 13-9.
It was all Boilermakers from there. Hunt took a short pass from TerBush 50 yards for a score to make it 20-9. Cottom then broke for his long run, the fourth-longest in school history. TerBush closed the first-half scoring with a 2-yard run with 9 seconds left in the second quarter.
Hunt broke loose for a 56-yard scoring run early in the third quarter to push Purdue's lead to 40-9.
Eastern Michigan's Tyler Benz scored on a 2-yard run to give the Eagles their first offensive touchdown with 8:40 remaining. Purdue's Danny Anthrop capped the scoring with his first career touchdown, a 4-yard run with 1:47 to play.
