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Oct 27, 2001
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Video Courtesy of ESPN
Brandon Hance throws a bomb to Seth Morales for a 50-yard TD.
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By DAN GELSTON
Associated Press Writer
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Montrell Lowe had a lofty goal for his junior season as he talked openly about rushing for 1,000 yards - a milestone he missed by only 2 yards last year.
Instead, Lowe has spent most of this season as a frustrated spectator as his carries and production diminished behind an inexperienced offensive line.
Lowe ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and Brandon Hance ran and passed for touchdowns as No. 24 Purdue beat Northwestern 32-27 Saturday.
The Boilermakers (5-1, 3-1 Big Ten) entered the game 10th in the conference in rushing at 92.7 yards per game. They failed to have a 100-yard rusher and Lowe only totaled 246 yards on the season, but Purdue coach Joe Tiller used a mid-week pep talk to motivate his offense.
"He walked up to us in practice and said 'let's get it done,"' Lowe said. "We all took that challenge and got it done."
The running game had been virtually nonexistent this year. The Boilermakers did not break the 100-yard barrier in each of the past two games. Lowe was the first Boilermaker to go over 100 yards since he did it in the regular-season finale last year against Indiana.
Against the Wildcats, Purdue ran for 172 yards against the ninth-ranked defense in the conference.
"We really felt like we could run the football today," Tiller said. "We felt like we were on a mission to see if we could run. I felt like we did a pretty good job with that."
Hance, who threw for 190 yards on 14-of-31 passing and rushed for 49 yards on nine carries, has thrown for over 200 yards only twice this year, but he has Purdue off to its best start since it was 6-1 in 1997.
The Boilermakers, who were off last week, bounced back from its first loss of the season by cutting down their penalties. Against Michigan, they had 15 for 105 yards, but that was down to 4-for-36 against the Wildcats.
"The first step toward winning is not beating yourself. We were better today with that," Tiller said.
The Wildcats (4-3, 2-3) trailed by 15 at the half, but scored twice in the third quarter to come within two.
After Purdue punt returner Seth Morales fumbled, Zak Kustok, who completed 22 of 42 passes for 235 yards, threw a 29-yard TD to Jon Schweighardt to make it 22-14.
With 5:00 left in the third, Damien Anderson scored on a 1-yard run to make it 22-20, but Kustok was sacked by Matt Mitrione on the conversion attempt.
Hance added a 1-yard run in the fourth and Travis Dorsch kicked a 30-yard field goal in the fourth to seal the win.
Northwestern has lost three of its last four games. Coach Randy Walker said this wasn't a time to dwell on the negatives.
"Would it be unrealistic to believe we could still win the championship with three losses?" he said. "Instead of thinking about we don't have, I choose to think about what we still have to gain and we have a lot of football left this season."
The Boilermakers scored two plays into the game when cornerback Jacques Reeves, making his first career start, scooped up Sam Simmons' fumble and ran 25 yards for a touchdown. It was Purdue's first fumble return for a score since 1999.
Northwestern answered on the next drive, going 80 yards on 14 plays capped off by Kunle Patrick's 11-yard run for a 7-6 lead.
Purdue took the lead for good on the next series when Hance connected with Seth Morales for a 49-yard TD pass - the longest pass play of the season - for a 12-7 lead.
"We had been wanting to complete that play, but we have not had a chance," Hance said. "We tried some play action and just went over the top. I think it was huge for our momentum because it happened at the beginning of the game."
Dorsch, who had missed only one point after attempt this season, missed his first two against the Wildcats, but he kicked a 43-yard field goal with 1:52 left in the first for a 15-7 lead.
Lowe added a 1-yard TD run to give Purdue a 22-7 lead at the half.
Kustok, who extended his streak of consecutive touchdown passes in a game, said the conference championship may be out of reach, but the Wildcats had to keeping playing hard.
"We're not going to let this season go in the tank," he said. "The leaders of this team have to make sure the team won't backslide."
The Boilermakers improved to 29-4 against unranked opponents under Tiller.