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Motor City Bowl 2007
Purdue Central Michigan
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By TOM KUBAT Lafayette Journal and Courier
DETROIT- In what at first looked to be an easy Purdue victory over Central Michigan, the Boilermakers ended up having to hold off a valiant comeback effort by the Chippewas and finally won a 51-48 Motor City Bowl-offensive shootout Wednesday night when Chris Summers kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired.
Central Michigan tied it at 48-48 when Dan LeFevour passed 19 yards to Bryan Anderson for a touchdown with 1:09 remaining. But the Boilermakers drove from their own 39-yard line to the CMU 22 in six plays.
On the play before Summers' kick, quarterback Curtis Painter ran along the line of scrimmage to center the ball at midfield before calling a timeout with 0:02 on the clock.
Summers' winning field goal, which had plenty of distance, ended a three-game bowl losing streak for the Boilermakers.
"I love kicking in domes," Summers said of Ford Field. "I kept my head down and knew it was good as soon as it left my foot."
A Motor City Bowl-record crowd of 60,624 witnessed the offensive fireworks.
Painter, who finished 35 of 54, threw for a school-record 546 yards and three touchdowns. The combined 99 points is a game record.
The 51 points is the most scored by Purdue in a bowl game, topping the 41 scored in a 41-21 victory over Georgia Tech in the 1978 Peach Bowl.
Three Purdue players finished with more than 100 yards receiving -- Dustin Keller had seven catches for 150 yards, Greg Orton nine for 136 and Jake Standeford eight for 112.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller credited the fact that the Boilermakers used a no-huddle offense for the super successful air attack.
"I thought they would try to take away the run, after the way we ran the ball on them at our place (in a 45-22 victory in September)," he said. "That's why we went to the no huddle. It's nice to be on the other side of one of these."
The Boilermakers ended up with 587 yards of total offense to 435 for Central Michigan. LeFevour passed for 292 yards and ran for 114.
Anderson finished with seven catches for 129 yards and three TDs, and Brown had four receptions for 94 yards.
Similar to the regular season victory over Central Michigan, the Boilermakers jumped out to a big first-half lead, only to have the Chippewas storm back in the second half.
Purdue's quick-strike offense scored on three consecutive possessions to take a 21-6 first-quarter lead. The 21 points set a Motor City Bowl record for a half, and ended the Boilermakers string of six bowl games in a row with no points in the opening quarter.
Kory Sheets scored the Boilermakers first TD on a 1-yard run, which was set up by passes of 18 yards to Sheets, 21 yards to Orton and 30 yards to Dorien Bryant.
Then Purdue, which operated out of a no-huddle offense, hit the Chippewas with a pair of one-play "drives" on its next two possessions.
After a 35-yard punt return by Bryant, Painter faked a pass to the right flat, faked a handoff and then passed 29 yards to a wide-open Orton in the end zone.
The big-play attack struck again the next time Purdue had the ball. From its own 38-yard line, Painter passed to tight end Dustin Keller, who avoided a pair of would-be CMU tacklers and ran 45 yards to complete a 62-yard scoring play (video).
With Summers kicking field goals of 30 and 21 yards, and Sheets scoring on another 1-yard run, the Boilermakers went to the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 34-13 lead.
Or so they thought.
Central Michigan came roaring back, scoring 28 points in the third quarter, which set a Motor City Bowl record for a half.
The Boilermakers took a 48-41 lead with 8:19 to play when they drove 76 yards in 12 plays, with Jaycen Taylor scoring on a 13-yard run around right end.
For awhile it looked like that would be good enough for the victory, until Purdue had to punt and the Chippewas took over at their 34 with 2:15 on the clock.
LeFevour completed passes of 34, 13 and 16 yards before connecting with Anderson for the TD that tied it at 48-all.
But just when it looked like the game was headed to overtime, the Boilermakers drove down for Summers' winning field goal. During the clinching drive, Painter passed 13 yards to Bryant, 11 to Orton, 9 to Bryant and 4 to Jake Standeford. |
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| Painter threw for 546 yards. | LeFevour kept UCM init with rushng TD's. |
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Josh Hoskins carries for CMU. |
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Jaycen Taylor scores to put Purdue up by seven late.
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Summers hit the game winner as time expired and the Boilers hit the field in celebration. |
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Attendance: 60,624
Scoring Summary
First Quarter CMU- FG Aguila 27 PUR- Sheets 1 run (Summers kick) PUR- Orton 29 yard pass from Painter (Summers kick) CMU- FG Aguila 47 PUR- Keller 62 yard pass from Painter (Summers kick)
Second Qaurter PUR- FG Summers 30 PUR FG Summers 21 CMU- Anderson 49 yard pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick) PUR- Sheets 1 run (Summers kick)
Third Quarter CMU- Brown 76 yard pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick) PUR- Standeford 19 yard pass from Painter (Summers kick) CMU- Bryan 10 yard pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick) CMU- LeFevour 9 run (Aguila kick) CMU- LeFevour 4 run (Aguila kick)
Fourth Quarter PUR- Taylor 13 run (Summers kick) CMU- Anderson 19 yard pass from LeFevour (Aguila kick) PUR- FG Summers 40
Individual Statistics
Rushing PUR- Sheets 12-27, Taylor 10-23 CMU- LeFevour 33-114, Hoskins 6-15, Brown 2-14
Passing PUR- Painter 35-54-546 CMU- LeFevour 17-34-292
Receiving PUR- Keller 7-150, Orton 9-136, Standeford 8-112, Bryant 5-65, Sheets 3-46, Tardy 1-26 CMU- Anderson 7-129, Brown 4-94, Brooks 2-50
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The
Chippewas scored on a 76 yard pass play from LeFevour to Antonio Brown,
a 10-yard pass to Anderson, a 9-yard run by LeFevour (
