November 22, 1996
The Joe Tiller Era at Purdue begins as Tiller is named the school's 33rd football coach.
September 13, 1997
After losing at Toledo 33-26 in their season opener the previous week, the Boilermakers stun the football world with a 28-17 victory over No. 12 Notre Dame. The win at Ross-Ade Stadium snaps an 11-game losing streak to the Fighting Irish.
October 11, 1997
The Boilermakers outslug Minnesota 59-43 in Minneapolis. The 59 points are the most scored by a Purdue team since a 62-7 victory over Boston University in 1947.
October 19, 1997
Purdue is ranked No. 22 in the Associated Press poll (No. 23 by ESPN/USA Today), its first ranking since the final 1980 poll.
October 25, 1997
Purdue beats Illinois 48-3 in Champaign to clinch its first winning season since 1984. (Purdue was 5-4-2 in 1995 by virtue of a forfeit win). The victory is the Boilermakers' sixth in a row, their longest streak since 1980. Tiller's 6-1 start is the best by a Purdue coach since Noble Kizer in 1930.
November 8, 1997
Trailing Michigan State 21-10 with 2:13 remaining, the Boilermakers pull off one the greatest comebacks in school history to win 22-21 at Ross-Ade Stadium. Rosevelt Colvin returns a blocked field goal attempt 62 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-16, then Purdue recovers an onside kick at its own 45-yard line and scores on a 3-yard run by Edwin Watson with 40 seconds remaining.
December 30, 1997
The Boilermakers defeat No. 24 Oklahoma State 33-20 at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio, Texas. It is Purdue's first bowl appearance since 1984.
October 3, 1998
In a 56-21 win over visiting Minnesota, the Boilermakers establish school records for passing yards (604) and total offense (692).
October 10, 1998
Purdue loses 31-24 to No. 10 Wisconsin in Madison. In the defeat, Drew Brees sets the NCAA Division I record for passing attempts (83) and ties the mark for completions (55).
November 14, 1998
For the second straight season, the Boilermakers rally from an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to stun Michigan State. This time it is 25-24 in East Lansing. Purdue is down 24-13 with less than seven minutes to go when Todd Stelma blocks a punt to set up a touchdown that makes it 24-19 with 5:07 left. After a defensive stop, the Boilermakers get the ball back and pull out the victory on a 6-yard pass from Brees to Isaac Jones.
December 29, 1998
Playing in the Alamo Bowl for the second straight year, the Boilermakers upset No. 4 Kansas State 37-34 when Brees and Jones hook up on a 24-yard touchdown strike with 30 seconds remaining. Purdue's final drive covers 80 yards on six plays and takes 54 seconds after Kansas State had taken a 34-30 lead.
October 16, 1999
After losing back-to-back road games at No. 4 Michigan and No. 21 Ohio State, the Boilermakers bounce back with a resounding 52-28 victory over No. 5 Michigan State at Ross-Ade Stadium. Chris Daniels sets Big Ten Conference records with 21 receptions for 301 yards.
October 7, 2000
Trailing No. 6 Michigan 28-10 at halftime, the Boilermakers rebound to post a 32-31 victory at Ross-Ade Stadium. Travis Dorsch kicks a game-winning 33-yard field goal with four seconds left. The 18-point come-from-behind win is the largest of the Tiller era.
October 28, 2000
Purdue keeps its Rose Bowl hopes alive with a 31-27 win over No. 12 Ohio State at Ross-Ade Stadium. Drew Brees connects with Seth Morales for a 64-yard touchdown pass with 1:55 remaining for the winning margin.
November 18, 2000
The Boilermakers end a 33-year Big Ten championship drought and a 34-year Rose Bowl dry spell with a 41-13 win over Indiana at Ross-Ade Stadium.
January 1, 2001
Purdue makes its first Rose Bowl appearance since 1967. No. 4 Washington downs the Boilermakers 34-24.
September 29, 2001
Trailing Minnesota 28-25 with 19 seconds remaining in regulation and no timeouts, Purdue has the ball at its own 3-yard line. After completions of 27 and 39 yards, Travis Dorsch kicks a 48-yard field goal as time expires to send the game into overtime. In the extra session, the Boilermakers score on their first possession and then seal the victory when Stuart Schweigert intercepts a Golden Gopher pass in the end zone.
November 16, 2002
Trailing 42-37 with just over three minutes to play and forcing fourth-and-8 from the Michigan State 40-yard line, Brandon Kirsch has the wind knocked out of him and is forced to the sideline. Enter Kyle Orton, supplanted as Purdue's starting quarterback three games earlier, who has been standing on the sideline for nearly 3 1/2 hours with the temperature barely above 30 degrees. Orton gets the play, audibles at the line of scrimmage and calmly throws a perfect pass to John Standeford, who catches it inside the 5-yard line and falls into the end zone. Following a two-point conversion and a defensive stand, the Boilermakers have pulled off a 45-42 victory.
December 31, 2002
The 2002 Boilermakers needed to win their final two games to extend their streak of consecutive bowl games to six under Tiller. They accomplish the feat and earn a return trip to the Sun Bowl to square off against Washington. Purdue falls behind 17-0 in the first quarter, then scores 34 uninterrupted points and goes on to a 34-24 victory.
October 2, 2004
Behind Kyle Orton and Taylor Stubblefield, the Boilermakers roll over Notre Dame 41-16 for their first win in South Bend since Sept. 28, 1974. Orton completes 21 of 31 passes for 385 yards and four touchdowns, while Stubblefield has seven receptions for 181 yards and two scores. Purdue breaks a 3-3 tie when Jerome Brooks returns a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown, the first by the Boilermakers since 1995. On Purdue's first drive of the second half, Orton connects with Stubblefield on a 97-yard touchdown pass -- the second-longest in school history -- on third-and-10.
October 10, 2004
The Boilermakers are ranked No. 5 in The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today national polls, their high-water mark since being No. 5 the week of Sept. 10, 1979.
November 20, 2004
The Boilermakers put an exclamation point on the 2004 regular season with a 63-24 win over Indiana at Ross-Ade Stadium. The 63 points are the most by a Purdue team since a 91-0 win over Rose Poly on Nov. 17, 1912. Purdue establishes a Big Ten record with 763 yards of total offense. Taylor Stubblefield becomes the NCAA career receptions leader with his 301st catch, a 7-yarder from Kyle Orton late in the first quarter. The Boilermakers improve to 7-1 in Old Oaken Bucket battles under Joe Tiller.
December 26, 2007
Chris Summers kicks a 40-yard field goal as time expires to give Purdue an exhilarating 51-48 victory over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl. Curtis Painter sets school records with 546 passing yards and 540 yards of total offense. Both rank fourth in bowl game history. Three Boilermakers amass 100-yard receiving yards: Dustin Keller (150), Greg Orton (136) and Jake Standeford (112).
September 20, 2008
Joe Tiller becomes the winningest coach in 121 years of Purdue football with the Boilermakers' thrilling last-minute 32-25 victory over Central Michigan at Ross-Ade Stadium. Trailing 25-24 with just over one minute to play, Kory Sheets scores on a 46-yard run for the 43rd touchdown of his career, a school record.
November 1, 2008
A perfectly executed hook-and-lateral play, named "Tiller" in the Purdue playbook, gives the Boilermakers an exhilarating 48-42 win over Michigan at Ross-Ade Stadium. On second-and-7 from the Michigan 32-yard line with 32 seconds left, Justin Siller throws a 4-yard pass to Greg Orton, who deftly pitches the football to Desmond Tardy, who races the remaining 28 yards down the sideline for the deciding touchdown.
November 22, 2008
The Joe Tiller Era of Purdue football comes to an end in resounding fashion as the Boilermakers reclaim the Old Oaken Bucket with a 62-10 victory over Indiana before a sellout-plus crowd of 63,107 fans at Ross-Ade Stadium. Purdue scores on its first 10 possessions (eight touchdowns and two field goals) before running out the clock to end the game The 52-point margin of victory matches the largest in school history, and it is the most-lopsided win over Indiana since 1893. Tiller finishes his 12-year run as head coach of the Boilermakers with an 87-62 record, including 53-43 in the Big Ten and 10-2 against the Hoosiers.
Purdue Football 2009: One Heartbeat
