Sindelar steps up, leads Purdue rally

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Markell Jones scored on a 12-yard run with 1:17 left and Elijah Sindelar rallied Purdue twice — once before a heavy storm delayed Saturday’s game and once after — to beat Minnesota 31-17. Sindelar replaced David Blough in the first half and had the best game of his career. He finished 19 of 26 with a career-high 248 yards and one touchdown. And he helped make Jeff Brohm’s first Big Ten win with the Boilermakers (3-2, 1-1) a memorable one. The game was delayed for 1 hour, 28 minutes after rain and lightning moved into the area — just moments after Purdue made a 19-yard field goal to take a 16-14 lead with 9:58 left in the fourth quarter. When play resumed, the Golden Gophers (3-2, 0-2) took more than 7½ minutes off the clock and took a 17-16 lead on Emmit Carpenter’s 38-yard field goal. It didn’t last long. Four plays after D.J. Knox’s 44-yard kickoff return, Jones faked out a defender on a run around the right side, cut inside and jogged in for the go-ahead score. Ja’Whaun Bentley sealed it with a 76-yard interception return with 11 seconds left. The first weather delay at Ross-Ade Stadium since Sept. 8, 2007, wasn’t the only oddity. Minnesota forced four turnovers in the first half and ran for 227 yards but couldn’t put the game away. Instead, after converting their first two takeaways into touchdowns to take a 14-6 halftime lead, they stalled. That kept Purdue in the game, and eventually the Boilermakers took advantage. Sindelar started th