Purdue suffers nearly 6-hour delay for first win

BLACKSBURG, Va.– Hudson Card threw for 248 yards and hurried for a score to lift Purdue to a 24-17 triumph over Virginia Tech on Saturday after a weather condition hold-up stalled the contest for 5 hours and 27 minutes.Card’s 1-yard

run with eight minutes staying was the difference for the Boilermakers (1-1), who handed first-year coach Ryan Walters his very first success and took a few of the sting out of a 39-35 defeat to Fresno State in the season opener.

“That was a really big win for us and just the confidence for our guys,” Card stated. “I take pride in the method we completed. It wasn’t simple, but we found a method.”

It was indeed a long day at Lane Stadium following a noon ET kickoff. A thunderstorm hit the location with 5 minutes remaining in the first quarter, leading to Virginia Tech officials to clear the stadium. The storm dumped more than 4 inches of rain.Virginia Tech(

1-1) rallied from a 17-0 deficit, scoring 17 unanswered in the last 6 minutes of the first half. However the Hokies’ 6 second-half possessions ended with 4 punts, a turnover and a loss of ownership on downs.Grant Wells tossed

for 243 backyards and 2 scores for the Hokies, however likewise tossed two interceptions and was sacked 3 times.Editor’s Picks 2 Associated The Boilermakers, who did not

turn the ball over, weren’t ideal

in this one, but Card made some prompt plays, Devin Mockobee had some difficult runs and the defense kept in the 2nd half.When the game lastly ended, Walters got the popular Gatorade shower on what was

already a soggy sideline.”It makes you want more,”Walters said.”I’m really proud of the people. This was a special game in and of itself with the hold-up, however to get that very first one on the road against a quality opponent, I thought the men showed a great deal of resiliency and just how they ‘d react to difficulty.”Purdue’s players invested much of the hold-up playing spades or hangman, or just socializing with

friends and family in the arena’s concourse– all part of their coach’s strategy to get their minds off the game and the delay. Authorities from both schools wished to restart the game at 3 p.m., however the storm had not dissipated, and they then considered canceling the game before consenting to try a 6:15 p.m. reboot.”We did not want to do that,” Walters said of canceling.”We got in touch with our pilots, and they stated as long as we were removing by 4 in the early morning, we were great. I figured if we might start playing by 1 a.m., we ‘d remain in good condition. You just get 12 guaranteed chances, so I didn’t want to squander this one.”The Associated Press contributed to this report.