2004 – November 20
1 2 3 4 T
IND 3 7 7 7 24
PUR 21 21 7 14 63
WEST
LAFAYTTE, Ind. (AP) - Purdue's Kyle Orton played just as he had envisioned.
The completions, first downs and touchdown passes came almost too easily.
He shredded Indiana's defense for 522 yards and six
touchdowns and led the Boilermakers' record-breaking offense to a 63-24 rout of
Indiana in the annual Old Oaken Bucket game.
"I actually went to bed last night thinking it
would be nice to get our offense going again like we had earlier in the
year," Orton said. "It was a great ending."
The Boilermakers (7-4, 4-4) set a Big Ten record
for total yards in a game, finishing with 763, and scored their most points
since 1912.
Orton reverted to the form that made him a Heisman
Trophy candidate earlier this year before a four-game losing streak and an injury
knocked him out of the race. He made the right reads, spread the ball around
and took advantage of continual mismatches. By halftime, Orton already had thrown
for 401 yards and five touchdowns while Purdue piled up 512 yards in total
offense.
Orton's teammates did their part, too. Three
receivers – Taylor Stubblefield, Kyle Ingraham and Dorien Bryant -- all topped
100 yards in the first half.
Indiana (3-8, 1-7) was simply overmatched. The
Hoosiers finished their season with three straight losses, but losing the
Bucket for the seventh time in eight years stung nearly as bad as the fact they
were never close.
"This was just about the worst day we've had
as a team," Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said. "It was an ugly day,
but the world is not going to cave in, even though it felt like it a few times
out there."
Orton played the biggest part in picking apart the
Hoosiers. He tied Drew Brees' records for yards passing and touchdowns in a
game, and finished with 530 yards in total offense. Brees also held that
previous mark (524), which he set in October 1998 against Minnesota.
Taylor Stubblefield, Orton's favorite target, also
had a record-breaking day. He caught 14 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns
to set the NCAA's all-time reception record. He finished the day with 309
catches, passing Louisville's Arnold Jackson (300). Marshall's Josh Davis
entered the day tied with Stubblefield at 295, but his six receptions against
Western Michigan weren't enough to catch up. Stubblefield also set a new school
record of 15 TD receptions in a season. The old record was 13.
Despite the record-setting day, Purdue's bowl plans
remain uncertain. "We will just have to go home tonight and see what
happens," Orton said. "Obviously, we want to go to the best bowl we
can, have fun and just try to win one more game."
Orton's numbers could have been even more impressive
if not for a couple drops, but the rare mistakes didn't matter. Orton led the
Boilermakers to touchdowns on their first three possessions, throwing TD passes
of 52 yards to Ingraham and 23 yards to Stubblefield. Brandon Jones added a
4-yard TD run.
Indiana closed to 21-10 when Victor Adeyanju sacked
Orton, forcing a fumble, and Will Lumpkin returned it 74 yards for a TD early
in the second quarter. It was Lumpkin's second TD of the season and extended
the Hoosiers school record to five defensive touchdowns in a season.
For Purdue, it was merely a speed bump. Orton threw
three more touchdowns in the second quarter -- a
21-yarder to Bryant, a 17-yarder to Stubblefield
and a 26-yarder to Ingraham to make it 42-10 at halftime.
Orton then connected with Stubblefield on a 12-yard
TD early in the third quarter. "Getting pressure on Orton was a little bit
of a problem early, but we had matchup problems everywhere," DiNardo said.
"Where we were soft, Purdue took advantage."
After Purdue pulled Orton early in the fourth
quarter, Bryant scored on a 62-yard run and backup quarterback Brandon Kirsch a
61-yard TD to Charles Davis.
