Boilers to hold open scrimmage

By Doug Healey
Assistant Sports Editor

Purdue fans will be able to watch the Boilermaker football team play Saturday — it just won’t be against Notre Dame.

Coach Joe Tiller has scheduled a one-hour scrimmage at Ross-Ade Stadium and said "fans are welcome to attend" free of charge. The Boilers will take the field at 11 a.m., with the scrimmage starting at approximately 11:20 a.m.

Purdue, which last played Sept. 2 at Cincinnati, winning 19-14, didn't want to have 20 days without at least a simulation of a game.

"We need to have a game-type situation," said Tiller. "We can’t afford to go three weeks without game-speed activity with the youth on our team, particularly offensively."

With the postponement of its contest with Notre Dame, originally scheduled for Saturday, until Dec. 1, Purdue won't play again until Sept. 22, when it hosts Akron.

Sophomore defensive end Shaun Phillips said the scrimmage will give the team, which will also practice today, a chance to work on its timing.

If the scrimmage is highly attended by fans, the stadium will present more of a game atmosphere, which Tiller said was another reason he decided to open the scrimmage to the public.

After Purdue honored Notre Dame's request to side with the Big East Conference and participate in a moratorium on college athletics Wednesday, the major college conferences and the National Football League decided on Thursday to cancel all football games scheduled for this weekend.

Because the United States declared today as a national day of mourning, Tiller said the scrimmage may help the recovery process for the fans and athletes.

"I hope some people show up to the scrimmage with American flags in their hands," he said. "We’re slowly getting over the tragedy but we’re still stunned. Maybe getting onto an activity that would allow people to think about something else might be a good dose of mental therapy for everybody."

Phillips agreed.

"Of course the tragedy still affects us, but you just have to learn how to be focused at the task at hand," Phillips said. "That’s what we’re trying to do."

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