Purdue wins overtime thriller
at Minnesota
No. 24 Purdue 35,
Minnesota 28 OT
By Dave Campbell
Associated
Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Brandon Hance caught a touchdown
pass and threw for three more, including the go-ahead score to John
Standeford in overtime, as No. 24 Purdue rallied from an 11-point fourth-quarter
deficit and beat Minnesota 35-28 on Saturday.
Hance, a redshirt freshman, hit Standeford from
19 yards out on third-and-4 on the Boilermakers’ first OT possession.
Minnesota’s Travis Cole had his third-down
pass intercepted in the end zone by Stuart Schweigert.
Hance completed 22 of 36 passes for 308 yards and
two interceptions. Travis Dorsch kicked a 48-yard field goal as time
expired in regulation.
Purdue (3-0, 1-0 Big Ten Conference) trailed 28-17
with 8:09 left after Cole’s 3-yard TD pass to Ron Johnson.
But Hance was 7-for-8 on the next drive, capped
by a 6-yard TD pass to Seth Morales. He found Taylor Stubblefield in
the flat for the 2-point conversion to pull Purdue to 28-25 with 4:05
left.
The Golden Gophers (1-2, 0-1) chewed up the clock
and a punt put Purdue at its own 6 with 19 seconds left. Hance threw
a 27-yard pass to Standeford and a 39-yarder to Stubblefield. With the
officials frantically trying to spot the ball and move the chains, the
Boilermakers set up for Dorsch’s kick just before time ran out.
Cole threw two TD passes to Johnson and put an
end to Minnesota’s quarterback rotation. Tellis Redmon had 132
of his 152 rushing yards in the first half and threw a tiebreaking TD
pass in the third quarter for the Golden Gophers, playing their first
game since Sept. 8.
Cole, who had split time with Asad Abdul-Khaliq
for the first two games and all of last season, took every snap Saturday.
He was 12-for-26 for 153 yards, two TDs and three interceptions.
Johnson caught eight passes for 92 yards and now
has a reception in 38 straight games — the longest current streak
in the country.
Cole’s first-down pass on Minnesota’s
third possession was picked off by Ashante Woodyard, but Cole threaded
a ball to Johnson over Woodyard’s right shoulder for a 13-yard
score later in the first quarter to give the Gophers a 7-0 lead.
It was set up by Mike Lehan’s blocked punt
that gave the Gophers the ball at the Boilermakers’ 14.
Redmon’s 2-yard TD run tied the game at 14
with 1:49 left in the half.
Mike Lehan picked off Hance’s pass in the
third quarter and returned it 56 yards to the Purdue 22. On fourth-and-goal
from the 1, Redmon ran right and found tight end Ben Utecht in the end
zone to put Minnesota up 21-14.
Purdue pulled ahead 14-7 with 2:58 left in the
first half when guard Sean Rufolo went in motion, making the Gophers
think he was blocking for Montrell Lowe — running right on an apparent
toss sweep.
But Lowe stopped, pivoted and threw across the
field to a wide-open Hance for a 31-yard touchdown.
Hance hit Morales on a quick slant in front of
freshman Justin Fraley for a 13-yard score that tied the game at 7.
The teams jogged on the field in silence before
the game to honor of the victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks as
several Minnesota athletes gripped a large American flag. Utecht and
Gophers kicker Dan Nystrom sang the national anthem.
Purdue-Minnesota
Purdue 0 14 0 11 7 — 35
Minnesota 7 14 7 7 0 — 28
First Quarter
Minn—R. Johnson 13 pass from Cole (Nystrom
kick), 1:50.
Second Quarter
Pur—Morales 13 pass from Hance (Dorsch
kick), 14:12.
Pur—Hance 31 pass from Lowe (Dorsch
kick), 2:58.
Minn—Redmon 2 run (Nystrom kick), 1:49.
Third Quarter
Minn—Utecht 1 pass from Redmon (Nystrom
kick), 4:04.
Fourth Quarter
Pur—FG Dorsch 21, 11:56.
Minn—R. Johnson 3 pass from Cole (Nystrom
kick), 8:09.
Pur—Morales 6 pass from Hance (Hance
pass to Stubblefield), 4:05.
Pur—FG Dorsch 48, 0:00.
Overtime
Pur—Standeford 19 pass from Hance (Dorsch
kick).
A—40,160.
———
Pur Minn
First downs 24 20
Rushes-yards 39-151 43-216
Passing 337 190
Comp-Att-Int 23-37-2 14-28-3
Return Yards 116 106
Punts-Avg. 6-37.8 5-37.6
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Penalties-Yards 7-61 6-50
Time
of Possession 32:14 42:46
———
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Purdue, Lowe 23-76, Hance 13-70, Harris
1-6, Brown 1-2, Morales 1-(-3). Minnesota, Redmon 24-152, Barber 12-49,
Cole 6-11, Henderson 1-4.
PASSING—Purdue, Hance 22-36-2 306, Lowe 1-1-0
31. Minnesota, Cole 12-26-3 153, Redmon 2-2-0 37.
RECEIVING—Purdue, Stratton 8-67, Stubblefield
6-95, Morales 4-73, Standeford 2-46, Hance 1-31, James 1-16, Heaggans
1-9. Minnesota, R. Johnson 8-92, Burns 3-83, Henderson 1-18, Utecht
1-1, Redmon 1-(-4).
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