It wasn’t prime time, but a national television audience got a good look at Purdue stars Kyle Orton and Taylor Stubblefield on Sunday at Ross-Ade Stadium.
It took them a little while, but quarterback Orton and receiver Stubblefield showed they were worthy of all the preseason attention they received in a 51-0 rout of Syracuse.
Orton completed 16 of 30 passes for 287 yards and a career-high four touchdowns, and his favorite target caught five passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns.
“I think we played a smart game,” Orton said. “When you come out in the first game and have one penalty, no turnovers and four touchdown passes and score 51 points, that’s about as good a first game as you can play.”
Orton missed on five of his first seven passes and Stubblefield had just one catch until a spectacular juggling grab of an Orton pass for a 33-yard touchdown late in the second quarter. Once the two found their stride, Syracuse was in for a rough afternoon
“Kyle Orton knows the game, and he knows the system he’s in,” Syracuse coach Paul Pasqualoni said. “He played a spectacular game. He’s a great thrower, and that got us back on our heels. He made it tough defensively for us.”
Stubblefield, who has caught passes in each of his 36 games at Purdue, moved to No. 3 in career Big Ten receptions with 241 (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text). He caught just one of the first five passes thrown his way before warming up. His second touchdown catch was a 67-yarder in which Syracuse chose to cover him with one defender. He made the Orange pay.
“It was definitely a good feeling getting into the end zone,” said Stubblefield, who has caught only five touchdown passes in his career. “You couldn’t ask for too much more.”
The Purdue defense wasn’t expected to stifle an Orange offense that featured senior tailback Walter Reyes, a Heisman Trophy candidate with back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons and a school-record 38 touchdowns. With just three returning defensive starters off a unit that had seven players in NFL camps this summer, this was supposed to be a rebuilding project.
“Our defense did a good job penetrating,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. “I think our starters are definitely better run defenders anyway.”
Reyes gained just 31 yards on 12 carries. The Orange totaled only 197 yards, while Purdue had 571.
“We played really good,” said Purdue safety Bernard Pollard, who had five tackles, an interception and forced a fumble.
“We wore this team down. We knew there was a question mark on defense. We just wanted to come out and play a game, and we got a shutout. We needed this.”
Purdue took a 20-0 halftime lead. Syracuse’s only real threat ended on a botched snap on a 25-yard field-goal attempt late in the second quarter. Orange holder Jared Jones scrambled before passing into the end zone, where Pollard made his interception.
St. Viator graduate Brian Hare, a junior college transfer, made a big impact with his first collegiate catch. Hare, who caught passes in high school from Northwestern-bound Brett Basanez, beat Syracuse’s Anthony Smith to catch a 75-yard touchdown pass from Orton late in the first quarter to put Purdue up 14-0.
“I was nervous,” Hare said. “This was my first college football game. I’d never played before [such] a big crowd and [on TV] and everything. That was a perfect pass, and I caught it.”
