Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/167574
Game Preview: Purdue seconds left for a 20-17 victory. Then on Oct. 21, Purdue led 22-14 at Ohio State, and the Buckeyes had to travel 61 yards with 47 seconds left — plus add a two-point conversion — just to get the game into overtime. OSU scored the touchdown and twopointer with three seconds left (this too was directed by a backup quarterback) before prevailing 29-22 in overtime. That is why Purdue is sometimes better known as the "Spoilermakers," although the Big Ten squad couldn't quite spoil the perfect regular-season marks last season of the Fighting Irish and Buckeyes (it did upset OSU in both 2009 and 2011). In 2009 alone, Purdue defeated Ohio State and later Michigan on the road, and barely lost to Oregon (38-36) and Notre Dame (24-21) on a last-second fourth-down pass from Jimmy Clausen to tight end Kyle Rudolph. Yet the Boilermakers still finished only 5-7, including home losses to Northern Illinois and Northwestern, plus a defeat at Minnesota. Similar to Boston College or Pitt, you can generally expect Purdue to play one of its two or three strongest games of the year against Notre Dame. Here are Purdue's five greatest "where did that come from?" upsets of the Irish. 1974: Purdue 31, Notre Dame 20 — Defending national champ Notre Dame was a fourtouchdown favorite at home against a 0-1-1 Purdue team that had just tied Miami (Ohio). The Boilermakers took a stunning 24-0 lead in the first quarter. The next week they would lose to Duke and finish 4-6-1. Notre Dame went on to win the Orange Bowl against 11-0 Alabama. 1954: Purdue 27, Notre Dame 14 — This was the lone defeat of Notre Dame's 9-1 season in head coach Terry Brennan's debut season with the Irish, and it came at home in the second week after winning against No. 4 Texas (21-0). Purdue finished 5-3-1 with quarterback Len Dawson. 1950: Purdue 28, Notre Dame 14 — A 39-game unbeaten streak by Notre Dame came to an end with this home loss, but it was a major rebuilding year under head coach Frank Leahy that ended with a 4-4-1 mark. Still, Purdue finished only 2-7 that season. 1984: Purdue 23, Notre Dame 21 — A year earlier the Fighting Irish crushed the Boilermakers 52-6, the most points scored by an opponent in Ross-Ade Stadium. The next year on the opening kickoff in the first game of the season, Notre Dame freshman Tim Brown lost a fumble that Purdue converted into a score, helping lead to the upset. The Boilermakers defeated Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan, but still ended up only 7-5. The Irish took a page from Purdue's book by winning at SEC champ LSU, at Pac-10 champ USC, and also won at Michigan State and Missouri, plus crushed Penn State (44-7), yet also finished 7-5. 1997: Purdue 28, Notre Dame 17 — Under first-year head coach Bob Davie, Notre Dame's 11-game winning streak against the Boilermakers came to an end. A week earlier, first-year head coach Joe