2008 Week 6

Purdue opened the season 4-0 with wins against a ranked Oregon team and Notre Dame. If they could find a way past the Top-10 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, the team and the fans knew they might have something special on their hands.

It wasn't to be, as Penn State scored at will throughout the contest. And though they had a tough time stopping Purdue as well (neither team punted) they were able to force two crucial interceptions which tipped the balance of the game in their favor.

Penn State won the toss and elected to kick. Purdue marched down the field but was forced to kick a field goal. Game over.

Penn State came back and scored on a two and a half minute drive that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown plunge by Darryl Clark, one of three one-yard Touchdown plunges on the day for the burly signal caller.

Purdue managed to come back and take the lead for the last time of the game on the subsequent drive, as senior QB Curtis Painter found his favorite target, Greg Orton, for a 35-yard touchdown.

Penn State came right back and scored on another 1-yard TD plunge by the quarterback, taking a 14-10 lead. By the time halftime, it was 35-24.

To sum up Purdue's defensive performance, Painter and the offense scored with 47 seconds remaining in the first half to make it 28-24 Penn State. The Nittany Lions required just 22 seconds to score their next touchdown.

Joe Tiller might have worried about the explosive athleticism of the Lions a bit too much, as he instructed placekicker Chris Summers to kick the ball straight up in the air on kickoffs. This kept the damage on kick returns to a minimum, however the Lions were routinely starting at their 45 yard line.

"You never know," said Tiller when asked to second guess his decision. "If we kick it to Williams or even Butler, they probably would make us pay. We paid for every other mistake we made today, why not that one?"

In reality, despite the fact that the game turned into a blowout, it still was not as close as it appears. And despite what Tiller said, Purdue did not pay for every mistake. Painter had two or three errant throws bounce off enemy hands.