Purdue somehow scores a TD on a trick play that a USC player read perfectly

You aren’t going to see another trick play go from near disaster to ecstasy this season like Purdue’s third-quarter deception against USC.

Trailing 20-3, the Boilermakers decided they needed to get creative. QB Ryan Browne threw a backwards pass to WR Michael Jackson III on the right side of the field. Jackson then fired the ball back to Browne … but USC LB Eric Gentry snuffed out the play.

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Gentry went up to catch the pass but the ball sailed through his hands. Browne picked it up on the bounce and, somehow, ran it in for a touchdown.

Our description doesn’t do it justice. Just watch for yourself.

The play was reviewed to make sure that Jackson didn’t throw the ball forward. If the pass had gone forward, it would have been ruled incomplete since it hit the ground before Browne picked it up.

Thankfully for Purdue it didn’t, but Browne’s TD only cut the lead to 10 points before USC kicked a field goal on its ensuing drive to extend the lead back to 13.

The game was delayed over three hours from its original 3:30 p.m. ET start time thanks to thunderstorms across Indiana.