Northwestern Suffers a 31-10 Setback to Purdue

Saturday, October 14

Evanston, Ill.

11:00 AM

Northwestern

2-5 , 0-3

Purdue (Family Weekend, U.S. Cellular Day)

5-2 , 2-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Purdue	7	10	7	7	31
Northwestern	7	3	0	0	10

Northwestern Suffers a 31-10 Setback to Purdue

10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Oct. 14, 2006

Box Score | Quotes | Notes

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern won the battle on the ground, but lost the battle in the air and the result was a 31-10 defeat to Purdue Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field.

Curtis Painter threw for a career-high 431 yards and two touchdowns, as the Boilermakers outgained the Wildcats 448 to 83 yards in the air.

On the ground, Northwestern outrushed Purdue 168 to 62 yards, and limited the Boilermakers to 2.2 yards per rush attempt, but Purdue's aerial attack was too much to overcome.

Purdue ended a two-game losing streak while Northwestern suffered its fourth straight defeat, and its third in the Big Ten.

The nation's fifth-leading passer, Painter set career highs with 35 completions and 49 attempts. He was intercepted once -- by Northwestern defensive end Corey Wootton, who picked off his second pass of the season.

Painter hit Dustin Keller for a 19-yarder on the first play of the second quarter to put the Boilermakers (5-2, 2-1 Big Ten) ahead for good, 14-7. And his 1-yard pass to Jake Standeford late in the third made it 24-10.

Greg Orton caught 13 passes for 144 yards, while Keller had six receptions for 91.

Purdue totaled 510 total yards, while the Wildcats managed 251 against a defense that ranked 115th in the nation. The Boilermakers converted 9-of-15 third downs.

Tyrell Sutton led the Wildcats with 82 yards on 10 carries after hurting his shoulder in the first quarter. Andrew Brewer completed 7 of 11 passes for 58 yards for 59 yards and ran for 30 more on 20 attempts.

Up 17-10 in the third, the Boilermakers went on an 80-yard drive that culminated with Painter's pass to Standeford with 1:47 left in the third.

Sutton broke off a 54-yard run that put the ball on the Purdue 25 to start the ensuing possession. But with Joel Howells about to attempt a 42-yard field goal, Northwestern got called for back-to-back delay penalties and punted.

Northwestern, which stayed close for a half in losses at Penn State and Wisconsin the previous two weeks, scored the game's first touchdown on a 7-yard run by Brandon Roberson. Tied at 7, Royce Adams set up the go-ahead touchdown when he picked off Brewer at the Purdue 44 and returned it to the 28 late in the first.