Rocky start to 2000 Rose Bowl season challenged Purdue after self-inflicting errors

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Editor's note: This story is the fourth in a series related to Purdue's 2000 football season.

Joe Tiller was big on goal setting and each spring in individual meetings with every member of the Purdue football team, Tiller would tell his players he needed a tangible goal and another intangible goal.

The responses often varied, but there were some unified checklist items entering the Boilermakers 2000 season.

A Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl trip were common.

For Kelly Kitchel, a reserve offensive lineman in 2000, his intangible goal always remained the same: Go undefeated and win a national championship.

"I never wanted to go into a game feeling like we could be beat," Kitchel said. "That may have been the year I truly believed it. When I told him we were going to go undefeated, I truly believed it in my heart because of the guys we had in the room and the staff we had."

There was no question Purdue had the offense, with freshman receiver John Standeford a nice surprise to add into the mix with unquestionably one of the nation's top offensive lines, tight end and quarterback, and a speedy playmaker in Vinny Sutherland.

Entering the season, defensive coordinator Brock Spack was hopeful his side of the ball could hold up its end.

"I was really nervous going into the year because we had an inexperienced defense," Spack said. "Offensively, we had Drew (Brees) and a really experienced offensive line that was really good. We ran the ball really well. Everybody knew we threw it, but we ran the ball well. Going into the season, I had anxiety about how young we were (on defense). I think we started five true freshmen and I think seven of them played pretty good roles as rotational guys."

Spack would worry a lot less about his defense after the season opener.

Purdue football opens 2000 season with shutout

Central Michigan totaled just 215 yards at Ross-Ade Stadium on Sept. 2, 2000. Purdue's defense forced four fumbles and recovered three. Matt Mitrione blocked a 33-yard field goal and the Boilermakers posted their first shutout since beating Northwestern 35-0 on Oct. 17, 1981, with a 48-0 thumping of the Chippewas.

Said linebacker Landon Johnson: "It was a good start to the season. The first time at a new level you always have nervousness to begin with. Once the game starts, you realize it’s just football. Being a young defense, we had a lot of stuff to learn with all our inexperience. But really, the offense we had at that time helped us a lot defensively being able to grow faster. We took our lumps in practice a lot, but it helped us get better a lot faster."

By halftime, Steve Ennis had three 1-yard touchdown runs and Travis Dorsch booted two field goals for a 27-0 lead. In the third quarter, a third generation Boilermaker got his moment. Pete Lougheed's grandfather played in the 1940s and his father was the punter in the late 1960s and early '70s. Lougheed was a reserve tight end who'd transition to offensive line the following season, a switch that would eventually take him to the NFL.

Purdue was in a fourth-and-short and despite being near the 30-yard line, the Boilermakers lined up in a goal-line package.

"This kind of speaks to Drew's special ability," Lougheed said. "Normally, coming off the goal line, there's not much space. You're just kind of hitting the end zone. Drew said, 'Just keep on going. Don't stop.' I think he knew that play would be successful. I just kept going and he threw a long touchdown, just like he envisioned it."

Brees would also throw touchdowns to Tim Stratton and John Standeford, who had a big debut with Sutherland serving a one-game suspension.

"John Standeford came to camp as a basketball guy but he’s 6-foot-4 and long," receivers coach Kevin Sumlin said. "When he ran, we made him run three times because I didn’t believe he was that fast. We put him in a short area quickness drill and it’s pop, pop, pop. Coach (Jim) Chaney was like, 'Wow, who is recruiting this guy?' Nobody is recruiting him. Coach Chaney is like, 'Let’s take him.' The kid was raw, but, man, what a good player."

Central Michigan threatened the shutout in the final moments, but one of Purdue's freshman standouts saved the day. On third-and-goal from the 1, Gilbert Gardner hit Robbie Mixon in the backfield, popping the ball loose. Tom Vaughan, who was from Lafayette and grew up selling Cokes on game days inside Ross-Ade Stadium, dove on the fumble to preserve the shutout.

"I was getting ready to run in there and make a play and the next thing you know, the ball is right in front of me," Vaughan said. "I’m either going to jump on it or Brady Doe is going to jump on it. I didn’t have time to think there was all this green in front of me, I could pick it up and run for a touchdown. I saved myself a lot of oxygen by just jumping on it."

Drew Brees makes Purdue football history

It was more of the same in Purdue's second game, a 45-10 win over Kent State when Sutherland was welcomed back with two receiving touchdowns and another on the ground. Brees rushed for two touchdowns and completed 32 of 46 passes for 415 yards, passing Mark Herrmann to become Purdue's career leader in total offense and completions.

"The mentality was to take care of business early and get out of it injury free because we knew what the next week was," Sutherland said. "You don’t look past anybody. But we knew what we needed to do and we needed to do it early."

Unlucky against the Irish

Notre Dame was playing its third of four straight ranked opponents to open the 2000 season. The Irish were coming off an overtime loss at No. 1 Nebraska. The Boilermakers dug a hole, having an early punt blocked inside the 10 that set up a touchdown. Shane Walton's 60-yard interception return put the Irish up 14-0 in the first quarter.

Montrell Lowe's TD got Purdue on the scoreboard and Brees connected with Sutherland for two touchdowns, the second putting Purdue in front 21-20 with 3:39 to go at Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame’s Nick Setta kicked a game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired. The Fighting Irish won 23-21. They say you remember the losses more than the wins; 25 years later, there may be some truth to that.

Said fullback Jacob Rowe: "We mopped the field with Notre Dame. I can’t believe we lost that game. Every stat. I remember thinking, they’re coming back but who cares. We'd been mopping the field with them all day. We just had a couple bonehead plays and lost the game."

Said right guard Ian Allen: "There were three plays I can recall letting my boy Lance Legree, who was a teammate of mine with the (New York) Giants. I let him come through the backfield and make a tackle for loss. I was tentative in my steps. Personally, those were three killed drives I could improve on. I actually got benched for two weeks after that. Rob Turner took over and I came back and took the spot back."

Said defensive tackle Rocco Foggio: "We were better than that Notre Dame team. And, you know, that's a game where I missed three sacks that could have changed the outcome of the game. And then we had a snafu on the punt because of the noise, so we didn't lose because we're outmatched, we lost because we beat ourselves."

Said safety Ben Smith: "You can go feel sorry for yourself or you can get back and go to work. That is what we did. We had these high expectations for the year. We went back and went to work."

Said linebacker Akin Ayodele: "It was self-inflicting errors. When we went back and watched it, the difference was making a play. It came down to a couple of plays where we needed to stop Notre Dame’s offense and we didn’t. When we watched the film, it was a matter of 'What if?' We may have had another victory. Guys were able to self reflect and pivot and allow themselves to become better because they were open to feedback."

Purdue starts Big Ten 1-0 against Minnesota

After the disappointing loss, Purdue had to redirect its attention with conference play beginning. The Boilermakers needed a strong start and got it in all facets.

"Losing to a terrible Notre Dame team (Notre Dame finished 9-3, losing to Oregon State in the Fiesta Bowl) didn’t set us off in the right direction, so we needed a bounce-back win and we needed it bad," Sutherland said.

Purdue's offensive line paved the way and Brees picked apart the Gophers with early touchdowns to Sutherland and AT Simpson.

"It was a second-level throw, and Drew threaded the deal," Simpson said. "I just remember like, 'Man, this guy is really good, really accurate.' And I think that was a pretty explosive game if my memory serves me correct. I think we put up some pretty big numbers on the scoreboard."

Simpson's memory is a fair portrayal of that game on Sept. 23, 2000.

Brees threw for 409 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for 88 and scoring another on the ground in a 38-24 win in which Purdue built a 31-3 lead. Ennis punched in two short-yard TDs. Tim Stratton had 105 yards, the tight end's second 100-yard game of the season.

Freshman free safety Stuart Schweigert had an interception for the second straight game, long before he left as Purdue's career record holder for interceptions. Doe, Ayodele, Johnson and Joe Odom had sacks, while Mitrione and Ashante Woodyard each had two tackles for loss.

The Boilermakers were back on track. Briefly.

Purdue is 3-2? Emotional Penn State pulls off stunning upset

Penn State cornerback Adam Taliaferro suffered a career-ending spinal cord injury seven days before the Boilermakers traveled to Happy Valley on Sept. 30, 2000.

It was a tough day for Dorsch, who botched a pair of punts that set up short Nittany Lion touchdowns, and missed a 46-yard field goal with 2:32 to go, the final heartbreaker in a 22-20 loss.

"It was very unusual (that) I punted from out of our own end zone in my career — these might have been the only two," Dorsch said. "I remember watching the film the day after the game when we got back to West Lafayette and seeing, the first time I think it was LaVar Arrington and the second time it was another longtime NFL player. One time they jumped over our center and the other time they went right through and knocked two guys over. You have an internal clock. As a kicker and a punter, we know that you have to get the field goal off in 1.3 (seconds) and you have to get the punt off in 1.9. Otherwise it’s getting blocked. I remember both of those catching the ball and feeling like I was already in a pocket. I already had to make a fast decision when I caught the ball. The first one I pulled the ball down because I was like, 'This is going to be a touchdown, they’re going to block it.' Worst case I want to try to get some yards and give our defense a shot to hold them to a field goal. That’s stupid; I am a punter. I was able to dodge and weave and get close to back to the line of scrimmage. Ultimately, that’s a failure. That is not what we’re looking for out of our punt team. Not ideal. That deflates your defense because you’re putting them in a huge hole they aren’t going to have success in."

In a role reversal, Sutherland threw a touchdown pass to Brees early in the second half to give Purdue a 13-6 lead. But thanks to the two punt team miscues, Penn State scored 16 points in a span of 6:23.

"At the point where there's no turning back. We can't lose these next critical games," safety Tim Upshur said. "So it's either now or never, and it's like you guys are going to squander the potential and the momentum that you've built over the last three years if you are not successful at this point"

"When we lost to Notre Dame and Penn State early in the season, it was the day after Penn State, we got chewed out by offensive coordinator Jim Chaney. We went full pads. Coach Tiller was in a pissed off mood," receiver Seth Morales said. "We should have beat Notre Dame on the road and we were the better team against Penn State. They had the kid who got injured and it was a freak accident the game before. The kid was paralyzed and they had a white out rally cry and played good enough to beat us. We were 3-2 and it’s like, 'What is this season going to turn into? Is this a 7-5 season or are we going to make a run at the championship and the Rose Bowl?' We needed those two losses to go through a low point and come out and make that season special."

That full pads practice came on the first day of October. It may have been the turning point of Purdue's season.

The Boilermakers were about to buckle up for a wild four Saturdays in October.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue football Rose Bowl season had errors in loss vs Notre Dame, Penn State

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