News - 09/20/2003

NCAA - Purdue University

Purdue U. Switches to Black Jerseys

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Joe Tiller was tired of seeing Purdue stumble at home in its gold uniforms.

So he sent the Boilermakers out in black Saturday and watched them crank it up.

Quarterback Kyle Orton threw three touchdown passes, Jerome Brooks and Jerod Void each ran for two touchdowns and a dominant defense never allowed Arizona to get started.

The predictable result: No. 25 Purdue 59, Arizona 7.

"Those are our traditional colors and when you wear black, it brings a swagger to you," linebacker Niko Koutouvides said. "You feel good, you look good and you play good."

Purdue (2-1) produced one of its most complete performances since ditching the black jerseys following the 2001 season.

The 59 points matched the most since Tiller and his wide-open offense arrived in 1997. The Boilermakers defeated Minnesota 59-43 on Oct. 11, 1997.

Purdue also had 580 yards in offense, its most in more than three years, and the 174 yards Arizona scrambled for was the second-fewest allowed since Tiller came to West Lafayette.

What Tiller liked most was that his surprise jersey switch helped his team regain a home-field edge that appeared to be slipping away after it lost three of four at Ross-Ade Stadium.

"I'm not superstitious, but after what happened against Bowling Green, I said, 'That's it,'" Tiller said. "You won't see us in gold anymore."

For Purdue, everybody from the equipment manager, who changed the uniforms, to the players seemingly had a role.

Orton completed 16 of 28 passes for 261 yards, including a career-long 81-yarder to John Standeford that helped break open the game just before halftime.

Void carried 12 times for 60 yards before being pulled in the third quarter. Brooks, a backup, responded with 21 carries for a career-high 122 yards and two late touchdowns to help wrap things up.

Standeford caught four passes for 111 yards, finishing one reception short of Tim Stratton's school record (204).

But the biggest day belonged to linebacker Landon Johnson, who finished with four tackles, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, a sack and an interception.

"Every time some type of play was made, it seemed like 47 was over there," Koutouvides said. "This was his breakout game and he was all smiles."

The Boilermakers put mistake-prone Arizona (1-3, 0-1 Pac-10) in a hole early and it was far too much to overcome.

The Wildcats lost by more than five touchdowns for the third consecutive week and it was every bit as ugly as the score indicated.

Arizona was outrushed 292-66. Its top runner was Nic Costa, who carried three times for 47 yards.

The quarterback contest, which had been between Ryan O'Hara and Costa, may have gotten a third entrant -- freshman Kris Heavner, who led Arizona on its only scoring drive long after the outcome had been decided.

Heavner's play hardly made a difference, though.

The three quarterbacks combined for 13-of-31 with 108 yards and two touchdowns and only three drives netted more than 20 yards.

"What happened early in the game is our runners tried to outrun them and you can't outrun them," coach John Mackovic said. "You have to be able to spread them out and then block and run inside."

Afterward, an angry Mackovic, who has been under fire since a player's revolt last November, refused to shake hands with Tiller.

Mackovic may have been upset the Boilermakers scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter -- after Tiller pulled his starters. But all three were on the ground, and Purdue kept finding holes.

Tiller tried to apologize.

"I tried to encourage John, but he's a wiser coach than I," Tiller said. "So I shouldn't be saying anything."

The Boilermakers took the cue from Tiller's jersey switch and changed their ways.

They converted four Arizona turnovers into 24 points and scored on their opening drive with a 35-yard TD pass from Orton to Ray Williams.

Purdue made it 14-0 early in the second quarter when Void scored on a 2-yard run, then took control just before halftime when Ben Jones hit a 27-yard field goal and Orton and Standeford hooked up on the 81-yard TD pass to make it 24-0 with 40 seconds left.

The Boilermakers sealed the outcome early in the second half when Void broke free up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown run and Orton threw a 43-yard TD pass to backup running back Brandon Jones. That made it 38-0 and gave Purdue something to smile about.

"We didn't even know we had black jerseys," Koutouvides said of the jersey switch. "It was nice to be back in black."

AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service