Sunday, October 29, 2000
Purdue 31, Ohio State 27
Rose hopes slipping away
Manfield News Journal
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Massive highway construction snarled traffic crawling into town for Saturday's big game, foreshadowing the fourth-quarter roadblock 12th-ranked Ohio State encountered.
Passes by Drew Brees — especially critical ones on third down — littered the field like orange cones as Purdue denied the Buckeyes access to the Pasadena on-ramp with a 31-27 victory.
Brees overcame four interceptions and a 20-10 Ohio State lead, rallying the Boilermakers to two touchdowns in the final six minutes to put them in the driver's seat in the race to the Rose Bowl.
Wins over Michigan State and Indiana would guarantee 16th-ranked Purdue (7-2, 5-1) at least a share of the Big Ten championship and its first Rose Bowl trip since the 1966 season. The Boilermakers already own victories over co-leaders Michigan and Northwestern.
Ohio State, which controlled its own, once “rosy” fate entering Saturday's contest, lost on the road for the first time this season. The setback
snapped a seven-game winning streak over the Boilermakers and was Ohio State's first on Purdue's turf since 1984.
“You'd think we'd be down, but we're really not,” said middle linebacker Matt Wilhelm. “We played our hearts out. The pieces just didn't fall into place in the end.”
Even after wasting its 10-point lead, it looked like clear sailing for Ohio State when Mike Doss intercepted an off-balance offering from Brees and returned it 33 yards to the Purdue 2. Jerry Westbrooks scored from there to give the Buckeyes a 27-24 lead with 2:16 left.
Purdue started at its own 36 after the ensuing kickoff with only one timeout remaining. Unfortunately for Ohio State, two minutes are an eternity for Brees.
He needed only 10 seconds.
Atoning for possibly the worst pass of his prolific career, Brees launched a 64-yard bomb to wide-open Seth Morales for the winning touchdown. Morales got behind the blown zone coverage of Doss and cornerback David Mitchell on the second-and-10 play to cap Purdue's 21-point fourth quarter flurry.
“I knew we would get another chance (after Doss' interception) because if they scored, we were going into the two-minute drill,” said Brees, who finished 39 of 65 for 455 yards and three TDs. “I stepped into the huddle and told the guys this is the way it's supposed to be. We will be successful. It's hard not to think about the mistakes, but I guess I redeemed myself.”
Doss' emotions went from ecstasy to agony.
“I blew the coverage before (Morales) made the catch and they won the game,” Doss said. “In big games, big players make big plays, and Brees made the last one.”
Ohio State's desperate attempt to fire the last salvo underscored problems the offense encountered all afternoon. On second down out of shotgun formation, the snap from center LeCharles Bentley hit in-motion wideout Chad Cacchio, and Purdue recovered the loose ball at the Ohio State 31 to settle the wild affair.
“It's as though we had to beat them twice,” said Purdue coach Joe Tiller.
The Buckeyes' offense was a lot of things Saturday, but opportunistic wasn't one of them.
Brees fired three interceptions in the first half — one less than he had thrown in 336 attempts coming in — but Ohio State collectively netted one yard on nine plays after those picks and trailed 7-3 at the break.
“I don't know if I've seen a quarterback put on a better performance than Brees did against us,” said Ohio State coach John Cooper. “I'm proud of our team. I thought we played hard, but they were great on third down conversions.”
Ohio St. ....... 0 3 17 7—27
Purdue ....... 0 7 3 21—31
Second Quarter
OSU—FG Stultz 35, 9:02.
Pur—Ennis 2 run (Dorsch kick), 3:41.
Third Quarter
Pur—FG Dorsch 34, 12:40.
OSU—FG Stultz 45, 8:52.
OSU—Martin 1 run (Stultz kick), 3:41.
OSU—Clements 83 punt return (Stultz kick), 1:53.
Fourth Quarter
Pur—Standeford 5 pass from Brees (Dorsch kick), 12:46.
Pur—Sutherland 19 pass from Brees (Dorsch kick), 5:59.
OSU—Westbrooks 2 run (Stultz kick), 2:16.
Pur—Morales 64 pass from Brees (Dorsch kick), 1:55.
A—68,666.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Ohio St., Combs 15-73, Westbrooks 7-19, Martin 1-1, team 1-(minus 1), Bellisari 7-(minus 22). Purdue, Lowe 14-38, Brees 6-4, Ennis 2-3, Sutherland 2-(minus 6), team 4-(minus 8).
PASSING—Ohio St., Bellisari 17-29-1-208. Purdue, Brees 39-65-4-455.
RECEIVING—Ohio St., Rambo 6-75, Germany 5-59, Combs 3-30, Sanders 2-38, Cacchio 1-6. Purdue, Stratton 12-100, Sutherland 10-142, Morales 7-115, Standeford 7-52, Simpson 2-33, Winston 1-13.
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Purdue 31, Ohio State 27
