Sept. 1, 2008
2008 Purdue Schedule
2008 Ticket Information
Purdue Events Showing On The Big Ten Network
Complete Release in PDF Format 
SOME GAME THEMES
The Boilermakers open the final season of the Joe Tiller era ... Tiller looks to tie Jack Mollenkopf as the winningest coach in school history with 84 victories at Purdue ... With at least five new starters on each side of the ball a bunch of new faces will have opportunities to help out and secure playing time ... Northern Colorado head coach Scott Downing and defensive coordinator Codi Deti return to West Lafayette after having previously served on Tiller's Purdue coaching staff ... Purdue is looking to extend its winning streak over non-conference opposition to six straight games after going 5-0 last season outside of the Big Ten ... Senior QB Curtis Painter continues his quest to become the all-time top passer in Big Ten history ... Who's going to step up and be the pass catching threats for the Boilers?
A LOOK AT THE BOILERMAKERS
The Purdue football team, under 12th-year head coach Joe Tiller, raises the curtain on its 121st season against Northern Colorado on Saturday, Sept. 6 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. This year marks the seventh time that the Boilermakers under Tiller have opened the season at home and the first against the Bears. The Boilermakers enter the year with 13 starters back from last season's 8-5 Motor City Bowl championship squad (six offense, six defense, one specialist), including their leading passer and rusher from 2007.
THIS DATE IN BOILERMAKER HISTORY
The Boilermakers are 0-3 in games played on Sept. 6. Purdue fell to Bowling Green 27-26 in 2003, 36-22 at Toledo in 1997 - Joe Tiller's first game as head coach - and 31-10 at Notre Dame in 1980.
HEY JOE, WHATTA YA KNOW?
Considered the Godfather of the spread offense in the Big Ten, Purdue head coach Joe Tiller knows quite a bit actually. The Boilers' 12th-year head man enters his final season at the helm of the program with an 83-54 overall record at Purdue- the second-most wins in school history - and a 51-37 mark in Big Ten games - fourth-most wins for any league team during his tenure. He has guided Purdue to 10 bowl games in 11 seasons, including the Boilers' first Rose Bowl berth since 1967 and two others on New Year's Day. He has collected at least seven wins in eight of his previous 11 seasons at Purdue and has tallied three nine-win campaigns. Additionally, he has delighted Ross-Ade Stadium fans with a .743 winning percentage (52-18) at home to boot. Not too shabby for a coach that inherited a program that had just one winning season in the 12 years prior to his arrival and had not appeared in a single bowl game since 1984. In January this year Tiller was awarded the Order of the Griffin, one of Purdue's highest honors that is presented to individuals whose commitment to the University goes well beyond on the call of duty, and whose strength and vision have greatly benefited the institution.
SUCCESSFUL SEPTEMBERS
The Boilermakers have come out firing on all cylinders under Joe Tiller. Under the 12th-year head man Purdue is a very impressive 35-10 (.778) overall and an outstanding 27-2 (.931) at home in Ross-Ade Stadium in August and September. Including a perfect 5-0 mark last year, Purdue has gone undefeated during August/September four times under Tiller's guide and never posted a losing record.
NOT YOUR AVERAGE JOES
After Purdue's second victory in 2008 head coach Joe Tiller will take over the mantle as the winningest coach in school history. When the Boilers' chief achieves his milestone win he will join Penn State's Joe Paterno as the only two Big Ten Conference coaches to lead their respective schools in coaching victories.
SEASON OPENERS
Purdue is 70-44-6 (.608) all-time in its first contest of the season ... Head coach Joe Tiller is 8-3 in season openers at Purdue and has won the last five straight such games ... When Purdue opens the season at home the Boilermakers are 5-1 under Tiller.
POLLING PLACE
Although not ranked to enter the season, Purdue has been among the Associated Press' Top 25 80 weeks (out of 185 possible) in the 11-plus seasons under Joe Tiller. That figure is tied for the most by any Purdue coach. Jack Mollenkopf also was on the sidelines for 80 ranked teams from 1956 to 1969, including five weeks at No. 1 in the 1968 season. The Boilermakers have been ranked 238 weeks in their history.
BOILER-BEAR TIES
Northern Colorado head coach Scott Downing's name will probably ring a bell or two with the Boiler faithful. The Bears' leader spent 12 seasons on Joe Tiller's staff at Wyoming (1991-96) and Purdue (1997-2002) as an assistant coach. His six seasons at Purdue he was the assistant head coach with his primary coaching duties falling with the running backs and as the special teams coordinator. He left Purdue after the 2002 season to become the recruiting coordinator at Nebraska. He is entering his third season as Northern Colorado's head coach.
Joining Downing on the coaching staff is former Boilermaker graduate assistant Cody Deti. The Bears' current defensive coordinator worked on Tiller's staff from 1997-99 while studying his way towards a master's degree in history and philosophy of sport which he earned from Purdue in 1999. Deti played cornerback for Tiller for two seasons at Wyoming (1992-93) and was a student volunteer coach for three years with Tiller and Downing on the Cowboys' staff.
BRONCHO-TO-HOOSIER-TO-BEAR
Another name that might be familiar with folks from the Lafayette area is Northern Colorado TE Mike Vlahogeorge. The former Lafayette Jefferson Broncho is the Bears' leading returning passer, but was moved from quarterback to tight end for his final collegiate season. Vlahogeorge spent two seasons on the roster at Indiana (2004-05) before transferring to Northern Colorado in 2006 ... Valhogeorge's younger brother, Matt, has walked on to the Purdue squad as a running back this season. The younger sibling spent last season at Northern Colorado before transferring to Mesa Community College in Arizona and moving back to Purdue this year.
PLAYING CATCH UP
Purdue is the lone Big Ten program to open its 2008 season the first Saturday in September (the other 10 schools played the final weekend of August).
Late Bloomers - Bowl Subdivision Schools Getting Started a Week Late
Florida State (9/6 vs. Western Carolina)
New Mexico State (9/4 vs. Nicholls St.)
Notre Dame (9/6 vs. San Diego St.)
Purdue (9/6 vs. Northern Colorado)
Toledo (9/6 at Arizona)
Tulane (9/6 at Alabama)
IRON MEN
As noted above Purdue will get a late start to the year, but once the ball gets rolling the Boilers have proven to be the Cal Ripken of college football. Purdue will play 12 straight Saturdays beginning against Northern Colorado on September 6 right on through the Bucket Game against Indiana on November 22. After being the only school in the Bowl Subdivision (nee Division I-A) to play 13 and 12 straight regular season games without an open week in 2006 and `07, respectively, New Mexico will join the Boilermakers with such `distinction' this year.
TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS
The Boilermakers are 71-20 (.780) in 91 games against unranked opponents under Joe Tiller.
NO NON-SENSE
Under Joe Tiller the Boilermakers have taken care of business outside of the Big Ten, compiling a 32-17 (.653) record in 49 games - including bowls - against non-conference foes.
NOT SO OUT OF OUR LEAGUE
The Boilermakers went 4-0 in games outside of the Big Ten Conference last year, defeating Toledo, Eastern Illinois, Central Michigan and Notre Dame in the regular season. The unblemished record out of conference marked the third time under Joe Tiller that Purdue ran the non-conference table during the regular year (1999 and 2004), but the first that included a bowl victory. Last season the Boilers defeated Central Michigan for a second time in the Motor City Bowl, while the 1999 team fell to Georgia in the Outback Bowl and the 2004 club lost to Arizona State in the Sun Bowl.
FIRST TIMERS
When the Boilermakers host Northern Colorado on opening weekend it will mark the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Purdue has been pretty unkind to others when playing for the first time, posting a 78-28-3 record (.724) in the initial meeting against 107 different opponents.
30 SOMETHING
Over the course of the last 11 seasons (1997-2007) the Boilermakers have scored 30 or more points in a game an impressive 64 times in 137 tries (47%) and have posted a dominating 59-5 record (.923) when doing so. To put those numbers in perspective, Purdue scored 30 or more points just 21 times in the 121 games over the 11 seasons from 1986-96 (17%) and went 17-3-1 (.833) when doing so.
NOT ENOUGH?
If 30 points in a game doesn't do it for you, will 40 work? The Boilers have scored 40 or more points in a contest 33 times during Tiller's tenure, including five times last year, and have yet to meet defeat when doing so.
OH CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
For his 12th season at Purdue head coach Joe Tiller took a different route when it came time to name team captains. Previously chosen after fall camp ended, Tiller had the players vote during the summer and the squad picked out four fifth-year seniors - DTs Ryan Baker and Jermaine Guynn, QB Curtis Painter and WR Joe Whitest - to serve for the 2008 season. It is the first time Baker, Guynn and Whitest will take on the role as the team's leaders, while Painter will assume a captain slot in successive seasons to join him with former Boilermakers Rosevelt Colvin, Akin Ayodele, Drew Brees, Gene Mruczkowski and Landon Johnson as two-time team captains under Tiller.
AN ARTFUL CAREER
Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter enters his final season at the helm of the Boilermakers' offense in reach of a number of school and Big Ten passing and offensive production marks. Should he at least duplicate his numbers from last season (356-569-11/3,846 yards/29 TDs/3,826 total offensive yards) Painter will establish new high water marks at both Purdue and the Big Ten in attempts, completions, passing yards and total offense, while breaking into the top 10 in conference history in TD passes.
ELITE COMPANY
Fifth-year senior Curtis Painter is one of six quarterbacks to have started a game for the Boilermakers under Joe Tiller's watch, and he is currently tied for second in career wins with Kyle Orton (19). Painter needs to guide the Boilers to six more victories this season to supplant Drew Brees for the most wins by a starting QB in the 12 years under Tiller (24).
SUMMERS NOT OVER
As the fall season rapidly approaches, one Purdue player is making sure that the summertime feeling sticks around. Boilermaker place kicker Chris Summers enters his junior season with his school-record streak of 97 consecutive PAT attempts successfully converted intact. The Fishers, Ind., native was good on all 56 attempts last year, a single-season Purdue record, and converted the final 41 straight attempts his freshman season of 2006. Purdue's leading scorer from last year (110 points), Summers went 18 for 22 on field goal tries last season, placing him second all-time for a single-season at Purdue for field goal percentage (.818) and in a tie for third for makes with Travis Dorsch.
SHEETS' MUSIC
Fifth-year running back Kory Sheets is approaching rarefied territory. The fourth-year starter enters the 2008 season six overall TDs and eight rushing scores away from the top spots in Purdue history. The Manchester, Conn., native scored 11 TDs his freshman season (10 rushing/1 special teams on a blocked punt), and 13 in both his sophomore and junior campaigns (11 rushing, 2 receiving each time), to raise his three-year career total to 37 (32 rushing/4 receiving/1 special teams).
A BAD THING FOR A GOOD GUY
Senior Jaycen Taylor, who rushed for 560 yards and four TDs in just nine games played in 2007, was lost for the year when he suffered a season-ending knee injury one week into fall camp. Taylor, a two-year letterwinner after transferring from LA Harbor Community College in 2006, was expected to play a significant role in the Boilermakers' plans this year, but will instead utilize a redshirt season and become one of the main offensive components in Danny Hope's first year as Purdue's head coach in 2009.
TILLER MOVES SILLER
In an effort to get the athletic Justin Siller on the field (not to mention provide some relief after the loss of senior Jaycen Taylor), head coach Joe Tiller asked the talented sophomore to move from quarterback to running back after the first week of fall camp. The position change was met with zero hesitation on Siller's part and was more than welcomed by running backs coach Joel Thomas. Siller, who was ranked as the No. 14 dual threat QB by Rivals.com coming out of high school, did not play running back during his prep career yet still rushed for a combined 625 yards and 15 touchdowns as a junior and senior at St. Mary's High School in Detroit.
SS CONSECUTIVE STARTS
No it's not an old, old wooden ship, but rather a noteworthy string of starts put together by offensive tackle Sean Sester. The fifth-year lineman has started every single game he has suited up in a Purdue uniform in his first three season - 38 games to be exact.
Stringing Them Together
Purdue's Curtis Painter is one of seven QBs nationally to enter the year as a potential four-year starter. The Boilermakers' fifth-year signal caller started the final five games his freshman season of 2005, all 14 games as a sophomore in 2006 and each of 13 games last season as a junior to give him 32 consecutive game starts - tops among the seven four-year guys.
Bowl Subdivision Four-Year Starters at QB
Curtis Painter, Purdue / 32 Consecutive Starts
Rudy Carpenter, Arizona State / 32 Consecutive Starts
Mike Teel, Rutgers / 30 Consecutive Starts
Willie Tuitama, Arizona / 17 Consecutive Starts
Pat White, West Virginia / 15 Consecutive Starts
Drew Willy, Buffalo / 13 Consecutive Starts
Drew Weatherford, Florida State / 6 Consecutive Starts
MR. BOILER-BAKER
One would be hard pressed to find a more dedicated teammate than fifth-year defensive tackle Ryan Baker. Regularly the last player off the practice field every day, Baker spent this past summer traveling almost daily between his internship in Indianapolis and Purdue's off season workouts in West Lafayette. Baker's dedication to his team earned the senior one of four captain positions as voted on by his teammates.
ALL HANDS ON DECK
The Boilermakers are looking for a few good hands in the receiving game. With the departure of four of Purdue's top five pass catchers from last year and nearly 63 percent of the total receptions, senior Greg Orton enters the year as the incumbent go-to guy in the passing game - 67 receptions for 752 yards and 3 TDs in 2007. After Orton, the Boilers will call on a number of talented but unproven guys. Among the wide receivers that QB Curtis Painter will be looking for appears to be JC transfers Aaron Valentin and Arsenio Curry, as well as returners Roberto McBean, Keith Smith, Desmond Tardy, Joe Whitest and Brandon Whittington. Looking to replace first round draft pick Dustin Keller at the tight end position will be Kyle Adams, Jeff Lindsay and Jerry Wasikowski.
BURGEINING BIG TEN POWER
Since 1997, Joe Tiller's first season, only Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin have won more Big Ten games than Purdue. The Wolverines are 71-17, the Buckeyes 66-22 and the Badgers 55-33. Purdue is 51-37.
FILING FOR AN EXTENSION
The Boilermakers are one of just 13 teams nationally to have extended their season with a bowl berth in 10 of the last 11 seasons ... Six schools are 11 for 11 ... The Big Ten Conference leads the way with four schools on the list.
10 or 11 Bowl Games in the Last 11 Years
Florida - 11
Florida State - 11
Georgia - 11
Georgia Tech - 11
Michigan - 11
Ohio State - 11
Oregon - 10
Purdue - 10
Southern Miss - 10
Tennessee - 10
Texas - 10
Virginia Tech - 11
Wisconsin - 10
HEY, HE'S GOOD
Fifth-year linebacker Anthony Heygood enters his final season in the Old Gold and Black as the leading returning tackler from last year. The converted fullback finished the 2007 season with 94 total tackles, including 59 solo stops, and routinely found himself in the opposition's backfield to help him rack up a team-best 15 tackles for loss.
GOOD GOING KID
Per his custom, Purdue head football coach Joe Tiller has awarded deserving walkons with scholarships as training camp closed out. This year, Tiller chose fifth-year safety Frank Duong and senior offensive tackle Zach Jones. Tiller now has awarded 41 scholarships to walkons at Purdue.
WATCH THIS
Headlined by fifth-year quarterback Curtis Painter, a number of Boilermakers have made their way on to national watch lists for post season honors.
Curtis Painter Maxwell Award (Outstanding player)
Curtis Painter Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award (Outstanding senior quarterback)
Curtis Painter Davey O'Brien Award (National quarterback)
Kory Sheets Doak Walker Award (National running back)
Sean Sester Outland Trophy (Outstanding interior lineman)
Anthony Heygood Dick Butkus Award (Outstanding linebacker)
GOOD COMPANY
Purdue is one three schools to have two QBs among the projected starters for Sunday's NFL opener. Drew Brees will be under center for the New Orleans Saints and Kyle Orton has been named the starter for the Chicago Bears. Boston College (Matt Ryan/Atlanta and Matt Hasselback/Seattle) and Cal (Kyle Boller/Baltimore and Aaron Rodgers/Green Bay) are the other schools with two projected NFL starters.
LOOKING BACK
An exciting 51-48 win over Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit, Mich., capped off Joe Tiller's sixth season of eight or more wins in West Lafayette and Purdue's 10th bowl trip in 11 seasons under his guide. The Boilers' year got off to a quick start, defeating Toledo (52-24), Eastern Illinois (52-6), eventual bowl foe Central Michigan (45-22), Minnesota (45-31) and Notre Dame (33-19). The initial success led to Purdue opening a season 5-0 for the second time under Tiller's leadership (2004), but only just the sixth such instance in school history. BCS champion runner-up Ohio State ended Purdue's unblemished record with a 23-7 win at Ross-Ade Stadium and a 48-21 defeat to Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., dropped the Boilermakers to 5-2. Undeterred, Purdue blasted Iowa, 31-6, and Northwestern, 35-17, at home for its sixth and seventh wins to become bowl eligible. Attempting to improve its postseason stock, Purdue saw its rally at Penn State come up short in a 26-19 loss at Beaver Stadium, ran into 31-point first half and a 48-31 defeat against Michigan State and watched Indiana's Austin Starr boot a 49-yard field goal with 30 second remaining to quash the Boilers' fourth quarter rally in a 27-24 loss in Bloomington. Despite the three-game skid to end the year, Purdue was invited for a rematch against Central Michigan in its first-ever appearance at the Motor City Bowl. The Boilers put the losing streak to bed and ended the season on a high note as Chris Summers' 40-yard field goal attempt as time expired sailed good through the uprights to conclude a wild game against the Chippewas. After falling behind 34-13 lead at halftime, CMU scored 28 points to Purdue's seven in the third quarter to tie the game at 41-41 and matched the Boilers' fourth quarter TD with one of its own with 1:09 left on the clock. With just the 69 seconds remaining, the Boilers drove the ball from their own 39 yard line to CMU's 22 to pave the way for Summers' game-winning kick.
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Ayodele & Brees On Campus Growth
