Purdue’s Bilal Marshall pulls in a long pass during Iowa’s 49-35 win at Purdue Saturday afternoon. (Photos by Dave Deak)

WEST LAFAYETTE – Iowa scored touchdowns on five of its six opening-half possessions and defeated Purdue 49-35 on Saturday, winning its school-record ninth consecutive road game.

The Hawkeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) broke the former school record of eight consecutive road victories set from 1920-23. Of the nine consecutive road triumphs, eight have been against Big Ten opponents.

For Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz, the road winning streak is a special accomplishment.

“Our guys do a good job when they get on the bus,” Ferentz said. “They really are focused on what we’re trying to get done. It is a business-like atmosphere when we come to different environments, but the game is still played on the field. A key is that we have had good leadership and good maturity.”

Iowa, 3-0 this season in Big Ten road games, completely dominated the first two quarters, running 41 plays for 397 yards, successfully converting 7 of 8 third-down opportunities.

Purdue’s drum major looking debonair.

Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard ran 16 yards for one touchdown and passed 42 yards to wide receiver Riley McCarron for another first-half TD.

Running back LeShun Daniels ran 1 and 4 yards for Iowa touchdowns, and Akrum Wadley added a 75-yard TD run with 1:18 remaining in the second quarter, giving the Hawkeyes a 35-7 lead through 30 minutes.

“We wanted to get off to a fast start offensively,” Beathard said. “Going back to last week’s game against Minnesota, we didn’t play well offensively. We came out and scored on our first couple of drives and then did all right today.”

Purdue’s David Blough threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brycen Hopkins and a 53-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cole Herdman, trimming the Iowa lead to 35-14, but Beathard countered with a 5-yard TD pass to Noah Fant, giving the Hawkeyes a 42-14 advantage.

Blough’s 7-yard touchdown pass to Bilal Marshall with 8:40 remaining pulled the Boilermakers (3-3, 1-2) to within 42-21, and his 54-yard TD pass to DeAngelo Yancey with 5:36 left cut the deficit to 42-28.

Iowa cornerback Desmond King’s 41-yard interception return for a touchdown with 1:44 remaining capped the Iowa scoring before Blough threw his fifth TD pass — a 37-yarder to Hopkins — with 17 seconds on the clock.

Blough finished 30 of 60 for 458 yards.

“We didn’t do a good job with getting off to a good start,” Purdue coach Darrell Hazell said. “Every time we felt we were flipping momentum, they hit a big (play) on us. Something we have to get settled right now is stopping the long run. That’s killing us right now.”

Iowa rushed 53 times for 365 yards and added 155 passing yards.

While Blough’s final numbers were impressive, he said his performance was not good enough.

“We have to do it from the start, not against reserves or second-stringers,” Blough said.