Sept. 30, 2000
By ROB MAADDI
AP Sports Writer
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Penn State, off to its worst start in 36 years, took advantage of three special teams errors by Purdue and beat the No. 22 Boilermakers 22-20 on Saturday.
Travis Dorsch missed a 46-yard field goal that would have given Purdue the lead with 2:32 left, allowing Penn State to defeat a higher-ranked opponent for the first time since 1996.
Earlier, two botched punts by Dorsch led to two short Penn State touchdowns drives.
Drew Brees tied the Big Ten record with his 74th touchdown pass and also caught a touchdown, but failed to beat Penn State for the third time. His desperation pass fell incomplete as time expired.
Purdue (3-2, 1-1 Big Ten) hasn't beaten Penn State since 1951. The unranked Nittany Lions (2-4, 1-1) took the lead for good on a 1-yard TD run by Paul Jefferson that made it 15-13 with 2:15 left in the third quarter. The extra point attempt was blocked.
A 3-yard TD run by quarterback Rashard Casey built the lead to 22-13 at the end of the third quarter.
Both of those two drives - 11 and 6 yards - were set up when Penn State's Derek Wake came through the middle and prevented punter Dorsch from kicking the ball as tacklers swarmed him.
Brees, the Big Ten's career leader in attempts and completions, tied Iowa's Chuck Long for the conference record for touchdown passes on a 39-yard TD pass to Vinny Sutherland that cut it to 22-20 with 11:30 left in the game.
Brees also caught a 5-yard TD pass from Sutherland that gave Purdue a 13-6 lead minutes into the third quarter. He finished 23-of-49 for 281 yards and rushed for 43 yards.
Penn State avoided its first 1-5 start in 69 years. The Nittany Lions wore No. 43 on the back of their helmets to honor Adam Taliaferro, a freshman cornerback who sustained a severe spinal cord injury against Ohio State last week.
Penn State took a 3-0 lead on Ryan Primanti's career-best 46-yard field goal about two minutes into the game.
It was the first time the Nittany Lions scored on their opening possession this season, and it gave them a lead for the first time since a 67-7 victory over Louisiana Tech three weeks ago.
Eric McCoo ran for 106 yards on 16 carries, and Casey was 11-of-25 for 109 yards and one interception.
Dorsch had field goals of 44 and 25 yards in the first half.
On its second possession, Penn State used the shotgun formation for what might have been the first time in Joe Paterno's 35 years as coach. Casey, though, was sacked for a 7-yard loss. He then gained 9 yards rushing on third-and-16, and Penn State didn't use the shotgun again.