Sept. 4, 1999
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By FRED GOODALL
AP Sports Writer
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - Drew Brees and No. 22 Purdue gave Central Florida a taste of how tough life without Daunte Culpepper could be.
Brees threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns Saturday night as the Boilermakers matched their longest winning streak in 20 years with a season-opening 47-13 rout.
The victory was the seventh straight for Purdue. The Boilermakers won six in a row each of the past two seasons, but hadn't won seven consecutive since 1979.
Brees took up where he left off in a record-breaking sophomore year with TD passes of 27 yards to Chris Daniels, 18 to Tim Stratton, 2 to Randall Lane and 22 to Vinny Sutherland.
"I felt really comfortable out there. There was no time when I felt pressure," Brees said. "Overall, you can play a lot better. But we did score 44 (actually 47) points.
Safety Adrian Beasley set up touchdowns with two of Purdue's four interceptions off Vic Penn, a junior college transfer making his debut as Culpepper's successor for Central Florida.
Mike Rose scored on a 25-yard interception return. The Boilermakers also got a TD pass from kicker Travis Dorsch, who threw to Chris Randolph after his 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked in the third quarter.
"We were just too inconsistent to move the football. We couldn't protect. We dropped a few passes, which I didn't think we would do," Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek said.
"I thought Victor played fairly well, considering the heat was on him. It's aggravating to play inconsistently the way we did. I'm not going to make excuses."
Central Florida increased its national profile the past four seasons with Culpepper, who was the 11th pick in this year's NFL draft.
Without him, it will be difficult to duplicate last year's 9-2 record.
Central Florida's September schedule is one of the toughest in the nation with all four opponents ranked in the Top 25. The Knights visit No. 4 Florida next week, then travel to No. 10 Georgia Tech and No. 12 Georgia.
Penn, 24-of-45 for 250 yards and one touchdown, began his college career with South Carolina in 1997 before spending last season at Garden City (Kan.) Community College.
Purdue sacked him four times and also forced a fourth-quarter fumble by the quarterback.
"I didn't think we played well offensively, but we played solid defensively after the opening drive," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said.
Brees threw for 3,753 yards and 36 touchdowns a year ago, setting school and Big Ten records for attempts, completions, yards and TDs.
The junior didn't have one of his more productive games in Purdue's 35-7 rout of Central Florida in 1998, but moved the ball almost at will in building a 23-6 halftime lead this time.
Daniels scored late in the first quarter, taking a pass over the middle and using a burst of speed to elude two defenders and a couple of nifty moves to get past two more would-be tacklers to get into the end zone.
Brees capped a 79-yard, second-quarter drive by finding Stratton alone on a play in which Central Florida had 12 men on the field. While the penalty was declined, the mistake was indicative of the kind of errors that hindered the overmatched Knights.
Central Florida marched 83 yards to open the game, taking the lead on Penn's 26-yard TD pass to Kenny Clark. Central Florida botched the extra point when Mike Hedge snapped the ball over the heads of the kicker and holder.
Seven minutes later, the Knights lined up to punt and Hedge snapped the ball through the end zone for a safety.
Purdue also blocked a punt, and Central Florida's Javier Beorlegui missed a 40-yard field goal after the Knights recovered a first-quarter fumble at the Boilermakers 39.
Brees, who's tied with Jim Everett for third on Purdue's career TD pass list with 43, completed 26 of 43 passes and was intercepted once.