With the Arizona State fiasco behind us, it is time to turn our attention to the Purdue Boilermakers, as they come into Camp Randall Stadium with a 1-2 record. Purdue lost a heartbreaking 31-24 game to rival Notre Dame in West Lafayette this past Saturday. Purdue is off to a rough start once again, which is becoming all too familiar for Purdue fans. That downward spiral for Purdue started on an October night nine years ago.
It was October 2004. George Bush was a few weeks from defeating John Kerry in the election, "Goodies" by Ciara and Petey Pablo was the Billboard No. 1 song and the Boston Red Sox would win their first World Series in 86 years later that month. Purdue was also looking for a championship, led by Heisman front-runner Kyle Orton. The Boilermakers had built on the momentum from the 2003 team that went 9-4 as they won the first five games of 2004 by an average of more than 28 points per game.
College Gameday was in town to see No. 5 Purdue host No. 10 Wisconsin under the lights at Ross-Ade Stadium. It was a battle between the great offense and the great defense. Purdue came into the game averaging more than 500 yards of offense and more than 41 points per game.Wisconsin, on the other hand, came into the game allowing just 6.5 points per game, which led the nation.
It was a defensive struggle early on, as Wisconsin scored first on a touchdown run by Anthony Davis late in the second quarter to give the Badgers the 7-0 lead going into halftime. But Purdue scored 17 unanswered points, including what most people thought was the dagger, a 6-yard touchdown run by Orton to give Purdue a 17-7 lead midway through the final quarter.
Sophomore quarterback John Stocco then led the Badgers back, a 73-yard touchdown drive, which ended with a Stocco pass to Booker Stanley to cut the deficit to three with 5:29 left. After the kickoff, Purdue moved the chains twice and was looking to do so one more time to bury the Badgers.
Purdue faced a third down and two at its own 38-yard line. Wisconsin desperately needed that one stop to help get the offense back on the field to give it a chance to win.
The offense didn't need to go back on the field. The defense did the scoring for them.
On the critical play of the game, Orton rolled out to the right and tried to pick up the first down with his legs. He reached the 40, which was a first down, but was flipped up into the air by Wisconsin cornerback Scott Starks. Orton, holding the ball in the wrong arm, had the ball knocked out of his grasp by safety Robert Brooks. Starks, who was on the ground, quickly got up to his feet and picked up the loose ball and raced 40 yards for the touchdown to give the Badgers the lead.
Obviously, with a play of this magnitude would get reviewed, especially since it was close. Purdue's fans and coaching staff pleaded with the replay officials to call him down. But after looking for a number of minutes, the replay booth decided that the play would stand. In an unlikely turn of events, it would be Wisconsin that had the lead 20-17 with less than three minutes to play.
Unfortunately for the Badgers, all Purdue had to do was kick a field goal after the extra point was blocked. Purdue also still had the early season Heisman front-runner in Orton. For a quick strike offense like the Boilermakers, 2:36 was more than enough time for Orton's offense to move down the field and recapture the lead.
On the ensuing drive, Purdue started on its own 13-yard line. Fifteen plays and 62 yards later, the Boilermakers faced a fourth down at the 25-yard line of Wisconsin. Coming onto the field was junior kicker Ben Jones to attempt a field goal to send the game into overtime. A year earlier, Jones made four field goals, including the game-winner in Purdue's 26-23 victory in Madison.
But this time, the kicker was not so fortunate, as Jones' kick sailed wide right and the Badgers took a knee and ran the clock out to survive a 20-17 thriller.
The Starks fumble return will not soon be forgotten in Madison........or by Boilermaker backers. The touchdown is one of the signature moments (and there were many) of Barry Alvarez's tenure at Wisconsin. For Purdue, on the other hand, it went on a downward spiral that season after the game and the program has yet to recover and we're nine years removed from it.
That game started a four game losing streak for the Boilermakers, never scoring more than 21 points in any game. Purdue limped to a 7-5 record and a Sun Bowl loss to Arizona State, a far cry from the team that started the season 5-0 and ranked No. 5. For a team that had Rose Bowl aspirations, the season turned out to be a total disappointment.
After that game, Purdue went on a tailspin that the program has yet to recover from. The Boilermakers are 40-59 with a miserable 2-23 record against the top 25 since that game. Purdue has made four bowl appearances (not including the one in 2004 due to its hot start), but those bowls were the Champs Sports Bowl, Heart of Dallas Bowl and the Little Cesars Bowl twice (one was when it was still named the Motor City Bowl). The conference record of 28-41 has been less than stellar as well.
Since that night in 2004, Purdue has also made two coaching changes. From Joe Tiller to Danny Hope and now from Hope to Darrell Hazell, Purdue still has not been able to get off the mat. This is Hazell's first year, so he has time, but it is clear he has his work cut out for him.
No comments:
Post a Comment