Aug. 30, 2010
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Purdue Football Game Notes 
SOME GAME THEMES
The Boilermakers tee it up for the first in 2010 ... Danny Hope and the Boilers look to build off a strong finish to the 2009 season (4-2) ... New quarterbacks for both sides move under center ... One of Purdue's three traveling trophies (Shillelagh) is on the line ... It's the Boilers and the Irish - Enough said.
Purdue vs. Notre Dame Series Information
Series record: Notre Dame leads 53-26-2 (First meeting: 1896 / Last meeting: 2009)
Purdue points: 1,321
Notre Dame points: 1,950
Series record in West Lafayette: Notre Dame leads 25-14-2
In Ross-Ade Stadium: Notre Dame leads 20-12
Series record in South Bend: Notre Dame leads 28-11
In Notre Dame Stadium: Notre Dame leads 24-10
Series record at neutral site: Purdue leads 1-0 (Hoosier Dome in 1984)
Games decided by 3 points or less: Notre Dame leads 8-3
Games decided by 7 points or less: Notre Dame leads 10-9
Longest Purdue win streak: 3 (1958-1960; 1967-1969)
Longest Notre Dame win streak: 11 (1986-1996)
Current streak: Notre Dame has won the last two meetings.
Largest Purdue victory: 36-0 in 1904
Largest Notre Dame victory: 48-0 in 1970; 1992
Last Purdue home victory: 2007
Last Purdue road victory: 2004
Last Notre Dame home victory: 2008
Last Notre Dame road victory: 2009
THIS DATE IN BOILERMAKER FOOTBALL HISTORY
Purdue has played on Sept. 4 just twice prior to this season ... Including the trip to South Bend this year, all of Purdue's games on the date will have been road contests ... The Boilers are 1-1 on the date, dropping a 20-7 decision at No. 24 North Carolina State in 1993 and defeating Central Florida 47-13 in Orlando in 1999.
SEASON OPENERS
Purdue is 72-44-6 (.615) overall in its first game of the season dating back to 1887 ... The Boilers have won six straight season openers dating back to 2004 and have outscored the opposition 306-124 during those six games ... Purdue has not opened a season against Notre Dame since 1984 (W, 23-21 in the Hoosier Dome) and not in South Bend since 1980 (L, 31-10) ... The Boilers will be opening the year on the road for just the third time in the last 10 years. Purdue is 2-0 when starting the season away from Ross-Ade Stadium since 2001, winning 19-14 at Cincinnati in 2001 and 52-24 at Toledo in 2007.
PURDUE VS. NOTRE DAME -- THE LAST TIME OUT
The Boilers and Irish met for 81st time last season where Notre Dame pulled of a last-minute, 24-21 victory in Ross-Ade Stadium ... On fourth down, departed quarterback Jimmy Clausen connected with current tight end Kyle Rudolph on a two-yard TD pass with just 25 seconds left in the game ... Trailing 17-7 at halftime, Purdue rallied for a pair of fourth quarter scores - a three-yard throw and catch by Joey Elliott to Keith Smith and a 38-yard reception by Jaycen Taylor from Elliott - to take the ill-fated four-point lead ... The stat sheet was as close as the final score, with Notre Dame outgaining Purdue in total offense by just 20 yards (383 to 363) ... Elliott wrapped up his only start against the Irish 22 for 38 for 289 yards and three scores ... Smith hauled in 11 passes for 136 yards and the score ... Clausen had the least productive game of his junior season, finishing just 15 of 26 for 171 yards and tossing his first interception of the year.
HAULING THEM IN
After moving from quarterback to safety and then to wide receiver, fifth-year senior Keith Smith has finally found a home. The Big Ten's leading pass catcher in 2009 (91-1,100 yards, 6 TDs) has had at least one reception in all 24 games he has lined up at receiver. The streak places him among the national leaders in the category. Smith recorded six 100-yard games in 2009, including tying the school record with four consecutive games over the century mark, and his seven career 100-yard contests places him in a tie with Vinny Sutherland for the sixth most at Purdue.
Current National Leaders - Consecutive Games With a Catch
Scotty McKnight (Colorado, Sr.) - 37
Dwayne Harris (East Carolina, Sr.) - 31
Jock Sanders (West Virginia, Sr.) - 28
Tyson Carrier (Houston, Jr.) - 27
Greg Salas (Hawaii, Sr.) - 27
Damaris Johnson (Tulsa, Jr.) - 26
Ryan Broyles (Oklahoma, Jr.) - 25
Keith Smith (Purdue, Sr.) - 24
Kris Adams (UTEP, Sr.) - 24
Doug Beaumont (Louisville, Sr.) - 24
Stanley Morrison (Utah State, Jr.) - 24
Kito Poblah (Central Michigan, Sr.) - 24
Kendall Wright (Baylor, Jr.) - 24
NFL GENES
Three current Boilermakers have fathers that had long professional careers in the National Football League. Senior running back Dan Dierking's father Scott played running back for eight seasons with the New York Jets and Tampa Bay, junior quarterback Robert Marve's father Eugene played linebacker for 11 seasons in the NFL for Buffalo, Tampa Bay and San Diego and redshirt freshman defensive tackle Brandon Taylor is the son of NFL Hall of Famer and 13-year New York Football Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor.
THEY'RE WATCHING YOU
Ryan Kerrigan might want to make sure he's not being followed. The senior defensive end was listed on five separate watch lists and nominated for a sixth national award during the preseason. Kerrigan is on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, Chuck Bednarik Award, Rotary Lombardi Award, Lott Trophy and Ted Hendricks Award. He has also been nominated for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award. The Muncie, Ind., native led the Big Ten in sacks last season (13) and enters the 2010 season tied for fifth on the Purdue career sacks list (21.0). Last year he led the nation in fumbles forced per game (.58).
THEY'RE WATCHING YOU, TOO
Junior guard Ken Plue is on the watch list for the Outland Trophy and fifth-year wide out Keith Smith is on the watch list for the Biletnikoff Award.
A BOILERMAKER RARITY
It's not often that Purdue has a different starting signal caller under center in three consecutive season openers, but that's the case at present. Curtis Painter (2008) and Joey Elliott (2009) had their shots and now it's redshirt junior Robert Marve's turn at the helm for the Boilers. If there are any concerns about the Tampa product opening his Boilermaker career in South Bend in historic Notre Dame Stadium one only needs to see that his first overall collegiate start came at the Swamp against Florida in 2008.
GOING FOR THE RECORD
Spend any time around head coach Danny Hope and at some point you're going to hear about setting a world record. Hope made the rounds during the offseason touting the leg of kicker Carson Wiggs and his ability to boot long field goals. Wiggs, already the school-record holder with a 59-yarder against Toledo last season (pictured), hit a number of 60-plus field goals in training camp, including a 67-yarder. Hope has gone on a record that he'll allow the junior try one from 70 if the conditions are right. The NCAA Division I record for a made field goal is 67 yards set by Russell Erxleben (Texas, 1977) and matched by Steve Little (Arkansas, 1977) and Joe Williams (Wichita State, 1978). All three of the record holders were allowed to use a two-inch tee, something that Wiggs will not be able to benefit from. Michigan State's Morten Anderson booted the longest field goal in Big Ten history, 63 yards, against Ohio State in 1981.
Longest Field Goals In NCAA History (Source: NCAA Division I Football Records Book
67 yards - Russell Erxleben, Texas (vs. Rice) in 1977 - 2-inch tee
67 yards - Steve Little, Arkansas (vs. Texas) in 1977 - 2-inch tee
67 yards - Joe Williams, Wichita State (vs. Southern Illinois) in 1978 - 2-inch tee
65 yards - Martin Gramatica, Kansas State (vs. Northern Illinois) in 1998 - No tee
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Coming out of spring practice, the Boilermaker players voted on their six captains for the 2010 season. Tight end Kyle Adams, running back Dan Dierking and wide receiver Keith Smith will represent the offense, while defensive ends Gerald Gooden and Ryan Kerrigan, along with linebacker Jason Werner will represent the defense.
ANOTHER OLD TIMER
For a second consecutive season a Purdue player has felt the compassion of the NCAA. Due to a laundry list of medical issues early in his career, linebacker Jason Werner was granted a sixth year of eligibility by the governing body of collegiate athletics. Werner follows in the footsteps of safety Torri Williams who got a sixth year to play from the NCAA last season.
LOOKING BACK
Under the direction of first-year head coach Danny Hope, the Boilermakers finished the 2009 season 5-7 overall and 4-4 in the Big Ten ... The Boilers got off to tough start, going just 1-5 in the first six games, but four of the five losses came by a combined total of 18 points ... Started by a 26-18 victory over No. 7 Ohio State (the Buckeyes only Big Ten loss), Purdue went 4-2 over its final six games ... Included in the hot finish was a victory over Michigan in Ann Arbor, the first for Purdue at the Big House since 1966 ... The Boilers defeated Ohio State and Michigan in the same season for just the third time in school history (also 1984 and 2000) ... Upon the conclusion of the season Purdue players were feted with a number of accolades, including first team All-Big Ten honors to wide receiver Keith Smith and defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, second team All-America honors to Kerrigan and Freshman All-America recognition to defensive tackle Kawann Short.
ON THE AIR
Starting Friday, Sept. 3, head coach Danny Hope's television show will air at 4 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. Each week coach Hope go over highlights from the previous game, host one of the Boilermaker student-athletes, discuss coaching techniques with a taped segment from the Purdue assistant coaches and look forward to the next opponent ... Coach Hope will also host a weekly radio show in West Lafayette at Puccini's restaurant. Local fans are encouraged to stop by in person to see the show live. The radio show can be heard on the Purdue Sports Network and over the Internet at purduesports.com.
