Northwestern Drops 35-17 Decision at Purdue

Saturday, October 27

West Lafayette, Ind.

11:00 AM

Northwestern

5-4 , 2-3

Purdue

7-2 , 3-2

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Northwestern	0	14	3	0	17
Purdue	14	0	0	21	35

Northwestern running back Omar Conteh breaks the tackle of Purdue defensive end Cliff Avril on his way to score on an 11-yard-run run during the second quarter. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Northwestern Drops 35-17 Decision at Purdue

10/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Oct. 27, 2007

Final Stats | Notes | AP Photo Gallery

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Despite four first-half turnovers, Northwestern carried a 17-14 lead into the fourth quarter of Saturday's game at Purdue.

Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they could not close out the game and "finish" -- a word that is used often in Northwestern football vernacular.

The Wildcats were unable to come up with a first down and finished with just four yards of total offense in the final 15 minutes.

The loss halted Northwestern's three-game winning streak and prevented the 'Cats from earning victory number six and climbing into the upper half of the Big Ten race.

Purdue's Jaycen Taylor ran for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns to help the Boilermakers notch the homecoming victory.

Taylor, in his second game back after missing four weeks with a broken left arm, gained 114 yards on 15 carries in the second half.

Curtis Painter passed for 182 yards and two touchdowns and Dorien Bryant caught seven passes for 65 yards and a touchdown for Purdue.

Bryant moved to second place on the Big Ten's all-time receptions list. He has 269 catches and trails only Purdue's Taylor Stubblefield, who caught 325 passes from 2001-2004.

Northwestern quarterback C.J. Bachér passed for 208 yards and a touchdown, but he had three passes intercepted. He had passed for at least 361 yards in his previous three games, all wins for the Wildcats.

Purdue (7-2, 3-2 Big Ten) clinched a winning season and positioned itself to contend for a major bowl bid. Northwestern (5-4, 2-3) missed out on a chance to become bowl eligible.

Amado Villarreal made an 18-yard field goal to give Northwestern a 17-14 advantage, its only lead of the game, with 6:56 left in the third quarter.

Purdue came back with a 69-yard touchdown drive. On a fourth-and-1 from the 1-yard line, Taylor scored to give the Boilermakers a 21-17 lead with 11:21 to go.

On Purdue's next possession, a scrambling Painter found Bryant in the back left corner of the end zone. Bryant leaped, then got both feet in bounds to make it 28-17 with 6:24 to play.

Taylor scored again in the final minute, a 1-yard run that gave the Boilermakers a 35-17 lead.

A game many expected to be an offensive show was dominated by the defenses in the first half.

A 33-yard run by Taylor set up Purdue's first score. On a third-and-goal from the Northwestern 1-yard line, Taylor fumbled into the end zone, but teammate Dustin Keller recovered to give the Boilermakers a 7-0 lead with 5:29 left in the first quarter.

Purdue cornerback Terrell Vinson intercepted his second pass of the day with 3:52 left in the first quarter. Painter completed a 1-yard pass to Jonte Lindsey on fourth-and-goal to make it 14-0.

Northwestern's Omar Conteh scored on an 11-yard run with 13:14 left in the second quarter to trim Purdue's lead to 14-7.

Northwestern took advantage of a Purdue mistake to tie the score. When Bachér was sacked, Justin Scott made contact with a Northwestern receiver well after the play ended and drew a 15-yard penalty. On the next play, Bachér completed a short pass to Kim Thompson. He threw a lateral to Eric Peterman, who scored to make it 14-all at halftime.

Purdue forced four turnovers in the first half, but only scored off of one. The Boilermakers committed seven penalties for 65 yards in the first 30 minutes.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)