Menu

Purdue football history

A Third Straight Bowl Win For 1980 Purdue Football

, , , , , ,

Jim Young produced a nice three-year run in his tenure at West Lafayette. The 1980 Purdue football team was the last in that cycle. Just like in 1978 and 1979, the ’80 Boilermakers finished in the Top 20 and won a bowl game.

READ ABOUT THE LOU HOLTZ ERA AT NOTRE DAME

And just like those earlier teams, the 1980 edition of Purdue football was led by Mark Herrmann at quarterback. Herrmann had an outstanding senior season. A 66 percent completion rate was off the charts outstanding in this era, especially when coupled with 8.7 yards-per-attempt. Herrmann’s 17 interceptions were high, but not unthinkable in this time period and he threw 23 touchdown passes.

When all was said and done, Herrmann was a first-team All-American and he finished fourth in the Heisman Trophy voting.

Herrmann’s favorite target was Dave Young, another first-team All-American. The tight end caught 70 balls for 959 yards. Bart Burrell was a 1,000 yard wide receiver and Steve Bryant racked up nearly 900 yards himself. Both Burrell and Young could stretch the field.

For the running game, Purdue used a three-headed attack with Jimmy Smith, John Macon and Ben McCall. They were good enough to keep defenses off balance and the Boilermaker offense collectively finished 18th in the country in points scored.

The defense was more of a problem. Individually, there was an All-Conference performer at each level of the defense—Calvin Clark up front, James Looney at linebacker and Bill Kay in the secondary. Defensive back Robert Williams intercepted five passes. But Purdue still finished 64th national in points allowed.

After a Top 10 finish in 1979, Purdue opened the 1980 season ranked ninth in the country. They were tested right out of the gate, going to #11 Notre Dame for an anticipated matchup on the first Saturday of September. The Boilermakers did not play well and lost 31-10.

The Big Ten opener at what was then a subpar Wisconsin program resulted in an uninspiring 12-6 win. Then UCLA came to West Lafayette and handed Purdue a 23-14 loss.

The season was off to a poor start. True, Notre Dame was on its way to a strong year where they stayed in the national title hunt all season. And UCLA went 9-2, even though probation kept them from a bowl game. But this wasn’t the Boilermaker team anyone anticipated.

Miami-Ohio came in for the final non-conference game and Purdue got on track with a 28-3 win. They knocked off mediocre Minnesota 21-7. Then the Herrmann-led offense kicked into gear. The Boilermakers hung 45 points on a bad Illinois team. They rolled up 36 in beating another bad team in Michigan State.  A road trip to woeful Northwestern saw 52 points go on the board.  And when subpar Iowa came to West Lafayette, Purdue exploded for 58 points.

None of the opponents were impressive, but the wins were needed and got Purdue back into the rankings at #17. And with both losses having come in non-conference play, the Boilermakers controlled their own destiny for the Rose Bowl with two weeks to play.

Michigan’s season had followed a similar path—two non-conference losses, including one to Notre Dame, followed by ripping through the Big Ten schedule. The Boilermakers and Wolverines met in Ann Arbor on November 15. Ohio State was also undefeated in league play, but Purdue would win a tiebreaker with the Buckeyes based on not having been to Pasadena for a longer stretch of time.

It didn’t end up mattering. Michigan was peaking and this team would not only go to the Rose Bowl, but become the first Bo Schembechler team to win it. Their defense manhandled Purdue 26-0.

There was still the matter of the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game with Indiana. The Hoosiers were pretty good, coached by Lee Corso and coming in 6-4. They had a 1,000-yard rusher in Lonnie Johnson. The 71,000 people that showed up in West Lafayette was the largest football crowd in the history of the state.

Those 71,000 saw a heckuva football game. Purdue led 24-17 before IU scored a touchdown with 0:17 left. In this era before overtime existed, Corso had to decide whether to play it safe and take a tie or let it all hang out on a two-point conversion. He went for the win. Boilermaker linebacker Mike Marks batted down the pass in the end zone.

It turned out the game wasn’t quite over. Indiana recovered the onside kick and got a chance for a desperation 59-yard field goal attempt. Marks batted that down too. The Bucket belonged to the Boilermakers.

A Liberty Bowl bid was waiting and Missouri was the opponent. The Tigers were 8-3 and had future NFL running back James Wilder in their backfield. But they didn’t have Herrmann. The Boilermaker quarterback came out firing, hitting both Burrell and Bryant for first-quarter touchdowns.

Mizzou answered by returning a kickoff for a touchdown. But they missed the extra point. Then, after a Wilder TD, they chased the points and missed a two-point conversion. Purdue still led 14-12. Herrmann threw another touchdown pass to Young and it was 21-12 at the half.

Herrmann would finish 22/28 for 289 yards. He had a fourth touchdown pass in him, another to Burrell that stretched the lead to 28-12 in the third quarter. Missouri tried to rally, but Purdue won 28-23.

The Boilermakers finished #17 in the country. They had clearly established themselves as the third-best team in the Big Ten and were certainly closer to Michigan and Ohio State, then they were to the rest of the league.

But it wouldn’t last. After a 5-6 season in 1981, Young took the Army job. Purdue struggled for a long time to find a good replacement. The Boilermaker program only made one more bowl game between now and 1997 when Joe Tiller arrived and produced another run of success

A Top 10 Season For 1979 Purdue Football

, , , , , ,

Jim Young enjoyed a breakthrough season in 1978, his second year as the Purdue football coach. The Boilermakers posted their best season in a decade, contended for the Big Ten title, won a bowl game and finished ranked in the Top 20. 1979 Purdue football made incremental progress—they stayed in the hunt for the Rose Bowl until November, won a bowl game and finished in the Top 10.

READ ABOUT THE LOU HOLTZ ERA AT NOTRE DAME

Mark Herrmann continued his growth at quarterback and the junior posted numbers of 58 percent completion rate, 6.8 yards-per-attempt and threw 16 touchdown passes. The completion percentage in particular, was good for this era. Where Herrmann had problems was that he was still too mistake-prone. Throwing 19 interceptions wasn’t as unthinkable then as it was today, but it was still too high.

Herrmann’s favorite target was Dave Young, one of the nation’s best tight ends. Young caught 58 balls for nearly 600 yards. On the outside, Burt Burrell  and Ray Smith were the wide receivers.

The running game was led by Wally Jones. A versatile back who caught 27 balls out of the backfield, Jones rushed for over 750 yards. John Macon and Ben McCall were good change-of-pace backs who combined for over 900 yards themselves. Fullback Mike Augustyniak picked up tough yardage inside behind an offensive line led by second-team All-American Steve McKenzie.

Purdue’s defense was led by three good players up front. Ken Loushin was another second-team All-American. Keena Turner, who went on to play with the San Francisco 49ers, was All-Conference, as was Calvin Clark. But the Boilermaker defense wasn’t as good in the back seven. While defensive back Bill Kay intercepted seven passes, there were no All-Big Ten players beyond the front four. The result was the Purdue defense would rank 63rd in the country, compared to 36th for the offense.

Expectations were high in West Lafayette after the strong ’78 season and Purdue was ranked #6 in the preseason polls. They hosted what was then a subpar Wisconsin program to open the season and coasted to a 41-20 win. But a visit to UCLA punctured some of the early optimism.

The Bruins were a traditionally good program in this timeframe, but the 1979 edition would only go 5-6. That makes the 31-21 road loss disappointing in retrospect. Even in the moment, it dropped Purdue all the way to #17 in the polls. And the schedule wasn’t going to get easier.

Notre Dame came to town. The Irish were only two years removed from a national title and had finished in the Top 10 in 1978. Even with Joe Montana departed for the NFL, Notre Dame was still ranked #5 coming into West Lafayette.

For the better part of three quarters, Purdue still looked in a funk. They allowed one touchdown off a fake field goal and another on a flea-flicker play. The Boilermakers trailed 20-7 when they got things turned around.

Herrmann passed for 110 of his 158 yards in the second half. Jones and Macon each rushed for 80-plus yards. With the Boilermaker offense clicking, they rallied and won 28-22. The win moved them back to #10 nationally.

Purdue closed out the non-conference schedule with a pedestrian 13-7 home win over mediocre Oregon. That ho-hum performance led to a worse one in Minnesota a week later. Gopher quarterback Mark Carlson was the only one in the league who threw as much as Herrmann did and Carlson carved up the Boilers for a 31-14 win.

This season of optimism was slipping away. The good news was that a soft schedule run was coming up. Illinois and Northwestern were both terrible teams that would come to West Lafayette. Michigan State and Iowa were road trips, but both were mediocre. The Boilermakers didn’t dominate this stretch. The 28-14 win over Illinois wasn’t noteworthy and the three other wins were all by a touchdown or less. But they were all wins. And Purdue was in contention for the Big Ten crown with two weeks left.

Ohio State and Michigan were, as per usual for this era, setting the tone, with 6-0 league records. Purdue was 5-1. Archrival Indiana was having one of its best seasons and was 4-2 in conference play. The Boilermakers wouldn’t play the Buckeyes this season, but they had a path to Pasadena—beat Michigan, beat Indiana and hope the Wolverines turned around and knocked off Ohio State in Ann Arbor.

One could be forgiven if they weren’t taking the prospect of beating #10 Michigan very seriously. But Purdue stepped up with their best game of the season. Kay intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble. McCall ran for two touchdowns. And the Boilermakers gave the home fans a 24-21 win. They were still alive.

The battle for the Old Oaken Bucket was in Bloomington and Purdue fans surely had one eye on the scoreboard, with Michigan-Ohio State going on simultaneously. After a scoreless first quarter, Augustyniak ran for a couple short touchdowns. The Boilermakers led 21-7 at the half.

Indiana rallied and closed to 27-21 going into the fourth quarter. In the meantime, Michigan was carrying a three-point lead into the fourth quarter further north. Purdue finished their business—another short TD run from Augustyniak and a field goal led to a 37-21 win. Michigan couldn’t finish theirs—a blocked punt gave Ohio State the winning touchdown and the Rose Bowl bid.

Purdue got a bid to the Bluebonnet Bowl, played down in Houston. In the more trimmed-down bowl schedule of the time, this was a nice spot, prime-time on New Year’s Eve. The opponent was Tennessee, a 7-4 team who came in unranked.

For three quarters, the Boilermakers put on a show for the national audience. Herrmann threw a TD pass to Young and Purdue led 21-0. Then everything came apart, the Vols rallied and took a 22-21 lead with just under four minutes to play.

Enter Herrmann. He calmly led a drive into the red zone, then went to Young one more time—a 17-yard touchdown pass with 1:30 left. This time the lead stood up. Purdue won 27-22.

When the final polls came out, the Boilermakers were ranked #10. It was their best season in what was a nice three-year run under Young before he took the Army job. And the 1979 team is the last edition of Purdue football to deliver a Top 10 finish.

1978 Purdue Football: A Breakout For Jim Young & Mark Herrmann

, , ,

Jim Young was in his second year as the Purdue head coach, taking over a program that had fallen off the radar and producing very good teams from 1966-69, including a Rose Bowl entrant in ’66. The 1978 Purdue football team would have a breakout year and start a short run of success for the program.  

READ ABOUT THE LOU HOLTZ YEARS AT NOTRE DAME

Young’s quarterback was Matt Herrmann, who ranked in the top three of the Big Ten in all the key passing categories—yards, completion percentage, yards-per-attempt. Herrmann was backed up a good running game. John Macon ran for 913 yards, second in the run-heavy Big Ten. Russell Pope was a quality second option in the backfield and his 35 catches led the team.

Herrmann effectively spread the ball around, to wide receivers Mike Harris and Bart Burrell. Freshman tight end Dave Young would eventually become a second-round NFL draft pick and he quickly became a part of the offense this season.

Purdue was unranked to start the season and had a difficult test right out of the gate. They would play Michigan State, who had the Big Ten’s best receiver in Kirk Gibson, a man who would go on to considerable notoriety in his baseball pursuits. Spartan quarterback Ed Smith was the only passer more prolific than Herrmann in the conference. Michigan State jumped out to a 14-0 lead.

But the Boilermakers, playing at home came back and tied the game. Then a 33-yard touchdown run from Macon won it 21-14 and gave the first indication this season could be a good one.

Purdue followed it up with a shutout of Ohio University and even a tough 10-6 loss at Notre Dame wasn’t bad—the Irish were the defending national champions, had Joe Montana at quarterback and would win the Cotton Bowl this season. A shaky 14-7 home win over a horrible Wake Forest team closed the non-conference schedule.

Ohio State came to West Lafayette for the first Big Ten game of the season. The Boilermakers trailed 7-3 at the half, but Herrmann played well and finished 22/34 for 210 yards. Purdue led 20-16 in the fourth quarter when they got a turnover deep in Buckeye territory and scored the touchdown that sealed the 27-16 win. This wasn’t a vintage Ohio State team and 1978 would be the final year for the legendary Woody Hayes, but it was still big and Purdue got themselves into the national polls for the first time at #19.

Victories over Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern, all terrible teams, lifted the Boilermakers to #12 in the rankings and more important was that they were in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with three weeks to go. Purdue was 5-0 in the league, with Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State all a game back. And the Boilermakers had already beaten two of those teams.

But a visit to mediocre Wisconsin was disappointing. Purdue led 24-16 with 1:33 left in the game, when the Boilermakers allowed a blocked punt deep in their own end. The Badgers got the touchdown and two-point conversion. Overtime in college football didn’t exist until 1996, so this game ended in a 24-all tie.

The tie didn’t cost Purdue control of first place,  but what happened the following week in Ann Arbor did—the Boilermakers were manhandled by Bo Schembechler’s Michigan, 24-6. Purdue, at 5-1-1 in Big Ten play, trailed all three rivals by a half-game and with Michigan and Ohio State going head-to-head in the finale, the Rose Bowl dream was out of reach for the Boilermakers.

Purdue still accepted a bid to the Peach Bowl and still had their rivalry game with Lee Corso’s Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket ahead of them. Despite losing Macon and Pope early in the IU game with injuries, the Boilermakers got 100-plus yards on the ground from both Mike Augustyniak and Wally Jones. They won 20-7 and headed to Atlanta ranked #17 in the country.

The Peach Bowl was a de facto road game against Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets had a terrific NFL-bound running back Eddie Lee Ivery. Georgia Tech, like Purdue, had played Notre Dame tough in a losing effort. By rights, this Christmas Day game should have been a good one.

It wasn’t and that suited the Boilermakers just fine. They were ready to play and the Yellow Jackets were not. Jones, who would emerge as the program’s featured back in 1979, gave fans a taste of what was to come with a couple early touchdown runs. Herrmann then threw for one touchdown pass and ran for another. All this went down by early in the second quarter and it was 28-0.

Herrmann later threw a touchdown pass to Burrell and the lead grew to 41-7 late in the fourth quarter. Georgia Tech got a couple of touchdowns in the final two minutes, but even the 41-21 final does not indicate how thoroughly Purdue dominated. The Boilermakers finished #13 in the final polls and Jim Young had two more good years ahead of him in West Lafayette.

The Rose Bowl Run Of 2000 Purdue Football

, , , , , , ,

When Joe Tiller arrived in West Lafayette to take over the Purdue Boilermakers in 1997, the football program was on hard times. They hadn’t enjoyed a winning season since 1984. No consecutive bowl appearances since 1978-80. The last piece of a Big Ten title had been in 1967 and the last Rose Bowl trip was 1966. Tiller immediately turned the team around and went to three consecutive bowls. The 2000 Purdue football team was the pinnacle of his rebuilding—the Boilermakers made the long-awaited return to the Rose Bowl.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

Purdue has produced some good quarterbacks in its history—Bob Griese and Len Dawson were great in college and won Super Bowls in the NFL. The man at the helm in 2000 might still be the best of all. Drew Brees was behind center for the Boilermakers.

Tiller put his wide-open offense into Brees’ hands. Purdue passed 40 percent more often than anyone else in the Big Ten. Brees would blow away the conference in passing yardage (3,668) and touchdown passes (26), but it’s important to note that he also performed well in two stats that don’t necessarily benefit from high volume—his 60% completion rate was tied for the league’s best and getting 7.2 yards-per-attempt was fourth in the conference.

Brees didn’t have a single big-play option, but he could spread the ball among a balanced group of receivers. Vinny Sutherland and John Standeford combined to catch 145 passes and were second and third in the league respectively, for receptions. Seth Morales caught 35 balls and tight end Tim Stratton was the best in the conference, catching 58 passes for 605 yards.

The offensive line was anchored by future New England Patriots’ mainstay Matt Light and the running game would still be critical in the most important Big Ten games. Light’s line paved the way for Montrell Lowe to rush for nearly 1,000 yards.

Purdue wasn’t known or remembered for defense, but this unit wasn’t bad. They finished 41st in the country in points allowed, not far behind the #23-ranked offense. Freshman defensive back Stuart Schweigert picked off five passes. Up front, the Boilermakers relied on defensive tackle Matt Mitrione and edge rusher Akin Ayodele. Both were voted second-team All-Big Ten at the end of the year.

The schedule opened with the two worst teams in the MAC, Central Michigan and Kent State. Brees threw for a combined 723 yards and Purdue won 48-0 and 45-10 respectively. They were ranked #13 in the country and headed to South Bend for the season’s first real test.

For much of the game, it went well. Brees went 13/22 for 221 yards, connecting with Sutherland four times for 112 of those yards. Purdue led 21-20 late in the game. Then Brees made a critical mistake and threw an interception that set up the game-winning field goal for Notre Dame. This would prove to be a pretty good Irish team, one that reached the Fiesta Bowl, but that wasn’t apparent at the time and the loss was a discouraging one.

Purdue went into Big Ten play and beat a bowl-bound Minnesota team 38-24 at home. Brees opened up with 409 yards passing and the defense clamped down and allowed the Gophers just 55 yards rushing. But that same rush defense failed a week later at mediocre Penn State, allowing 221 yards on the ground. Brees was erratic and another tough road loss was the result. The 22-20 defeat sent Purdue out of the national rankings.

October would be the month that defined the season. It was bookended by home games with Michigan and Ohio State. Sandwiched in between were road trips to contending Northwestern and to Wisconsin, which had won the two previous Rose Bowls. What followed would be arguably the most memorable four-week run in the history of Purdue football.

It didn’t start off very memorable. Purdue dug a 28-10 halftime deficit against Michigan and it looked like another year where a rebellion against the league powers would be doomed. But Tiller didn’t abandon the run, and Lowe rushed for 126 yards, keying a Boilermaker edge on the ground. Brees went 32-for-44 for 286 yards and hooked up with Sutherland eleven times. Brees brought his team all the way back and with four seconds left they got a 33-yard field goal from Travis Dorsch to pull out a 32-31 win.

Lowe didn’t stop running the next week in Evanston, rolling up 174 yards and Purdue outrushed Northwestern 222-83 in a solid 41-28 win. The Boilermakers went up to Madison and held even with the potent Badger rushing attack. Lowe had 77 yards and he got help from Brees, who also made plays with his legs, running for 74 yards. The Purdue defense controlled the line of scrimmage and got seven sacks. The game went to overtime and the Boilermakers ultimately won 30-24 on a blocked field goal return.

There was one more game left in October and Purdue had a chance to take control of the Big Ten as Ohio State arrived. Both offenses started slowly. It was scoreless after the first quarter and the Boilermakers led 7-3 at the half. The Buckeyes took over the third quarter and moved out to a 24-10 lead .

Lowe wasn’t running well in this game, so it all fell on Brees. He put the ball up 65 times and completed 39. Sutherland and Stratton were each in double-digits for catches and went over 100 yards receiving. But the throw of the season wasn’t to either one of them.

With 1:55 left, Purdue trailed 27-24. They had the ball on their own 36-yard line with the raucous crowd imploring Brees to at least get to field goal range. Morales ran down the seam and was left completely uncovered. Brees threw a perfect strike that hit him in stride. Touchdown. “Holy Toledo!” was what ABC’s Brent Musberger said. Purdue had a 31-27 and they had control of the Big Ten race. When the polls came out, Purdue was in the Top 10 at #9.

The Boilermakers had a 5-1 conference record. Michigan and Northwestern were both 4-1, but Purdue had the head-to-head tiebreaker. Ohio State was now a game back in the loss column at 3-2. The Boilers took a deserved week off on November 4. Northwestern beat Michigan in a wild overtime game. Purdue returned on November 11 in East Lansing with a chance to lock up the trip to Pasadena.

It couldn’t have gone worse. The Spartans, in their first year post-Nick Saban, needed this game to keep bowl hopes alive. Brees threw three interceptions. There were was no running game. And the result was a 30-10 rout. With a single bad performance, the dream season looked in jeopardy.

But Northwestern lost that same day to a woeful Iowa team in their first year under Kirk Ferentz. The four Big Ten contenders were all tied again at 5-2—and Purdue was the one who had swept them all head-to-head.

There was no chance at the program’s first outright Big Ten championship since 1929, as Michigan and Ohio State would play each other and the winner would finish in a tie with someone. Michigan won, and Northwestern also beat Illinois. Purdue’s season-ending rivalry game with Indiana would be for a third of the conference crown, but more importantly, for a Rose Bowl bid.

Indiana had the versatile Antwaan Randle-El at quarterback and he eventually became a good NFL receiver with the Pittsburgh Steelers. But that was all the Hoosiers had. Lowe pounded them on the ground for 208 yards. Brees was efficient, 20-for-29 and 216 passing yards. Purdue rolled up an easy 41-13 win and was finally going to Pasadena.

The Boilermakers put up a good fight against Washington in the Rose Bowl. The Huskies were ranked 4th in the nation and when they jumped out to a 14-0 lead it looked like another long afternoon for a Big Ten team out west. But Brees rallied Purdue into a 17-17 tie in the third quarter before Washington finally pulled away one more time and won 34-24. The Boilermakers finished the season #13 in the final polls .

It had been an amazing ride for the 2000 Purdue football team. The aggravating losses in East Lansing and State College are a bit of a what-might-have-been. There was the heartbreak in South Bend. But that was more than made up for by an amazing four-week run through October, as they beat every conference contender and earned a Rose Bowl trip.

The Road To The 1978 Peach Bowl: Purdue & Georgia Tech

, , , , , , , ,

Christmas Day of 1978 offered an interesting bowl game for those looking for a diversion at their holiday gathering. Purdue and Georgia Tech were both teams returning to the bowl party after a brief absence and a good quarterback and record-setting running back were on display. Here’s a look back at the paths the Boilermakers and Yellow Jackets to reach the 1978 Peach Bowl at Atlanta Fulton County-Stadium.

GREAT 1980s SPORTS MOMENTS
Start reading today. 

PURDUE

Jim Young was in his second year as the Purdue head coach, taking over a program that had fallen off the radar and producing very good teams from 1966-69, including a Rose Bowl entrant in ’66. Young’s quarterback was Matt Herrmann, who ranked in the top three of the Big Ten in all the key passing categories—yards, completion percentage, yards-per-attempt.

Herrmann was backed up a good running game. John Macon ran for 913 yards, second in the run-heavy Big Ten. Russell Pope was a quality second option in the backfield and his 35 catches led the team. Herrmann effectively spread the ball around, to wide receivers Mike Harris and Bart Burrell. Freshman tight end Dave Young would eventually become a second-round NFL draft pick and he quickly became a part of the offense this season.

Purdue was unranked to start the season and had a difficult test right out of the gate. They would play Michigan State, who had the Big Ten’s best receiver in Kirk Gibson, a man who would go on to considerable notoriety in his baseball pursuits. Spartan quarterback Ed Smith was the only passer more prolific than Herrmann in the conference.

But the Boilermakers, playing at home, won 21-14 and gave the first indication this season could be a good one. They followed it up with a shutout of Ohio University and even a tough 10-6 loss at Notre Dame wasn’t bad—the Irish were the defending national champions, had Joe Montana at quarterback and would win the Cotton Bowl this season.

A shaky 14-7 home win over a horrible Wake Forest team closed the non-conference schedule, but Purdue immediately came back with its biggest win yet—they knocked off Ohio State 27-16. It wasn’t a vintage Buckeye team and this would be the final year for the legendary Woody Hayes, but it was still big and Purdue got themselves into the national polls for the first time at #19.

Victories over Illinois, Iowa and Northwestern, all terrible teams, lifted the Boilermakers to #12 in the rankings and more important was that they were in sole possession of first place in the Big Ten with three weeks to go. Purdue was 5-0 in the league, with Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State all a game back. And the Boilermakers had already beaten two of those teams.

A visit to mediocre Wisconsin was disappointing, a 24-24 tie, and though it didn’t cost Purdue control of first place, what happened the following week in Ann Arbor did—the Boilermakers were manhandled by Bo Schembecler’s Michigan, 24-6. Purdue, at 5-1-1 in Big Ten play, trailed all three rivals by a half-game and with Michigan and Ohio State going head-to-head in the finale, the Rose Bowl dream was out of reach for the Boilermakers.

Purdue closed the regular season on an up note, beating Lee Corso’s Indiana 20-7 in the rivalry game for the Old Oaken Bucket. They were still ranked #17 and went to the Peach Bowl with an 8-2-1 record.

GEORGIA TECH

Georgia Tech had also made its last really big splash in 1966, when they went to the Orange Bowl. The Yellow Jackets had their ups and downs in the ensuing years and mostly averaged out to mediocrity. Pepper Rodgers was looking to make his first bowl appearance since taking over the program in 1974.

Rodgers built his offense around running back Eddie Lee Ivery, who rolled up over 1,500 yards, finished eighth in the Heisman Trophy voting and would become a first-round draft pick of the Green Bay Packers.

Wide receiver Drew Hill was another future NFL player, making two Pro Bowls with the Los Angeles Rams, although Hill was held back by the mediocre quarterback play that characterized a lot of college programs in this era. Mike Kelly completed 49 percent of his passes and threw for a little less than 1,500 yards. Those pedestrian numbers weren’t unusual in the college football world of 1978.

Georgia Tech had a good safety in Don Bessilleu, who got some All-American mention. Bessilleu would be the only one at this year’s Peach Bowl to get All-American votes in 1978.

The Yellow Jackets were also unranked to start the year and they didn’t do anything to disprove that in the early going. Georgia Tech, then an independent, lost decisively to subpar Duke and to mediocre Cal, the latter at home. A 27-17 win over Tulane was hardly inspiring, nor was a 28-0 win over the Citadel.

But the wins at least built some momentum and now Georgia Tech ripped through a portion of the schedule against teams that were, if not powerhouses, at least ones that would finish .500 or better. The Yellow Jackets won a defensive battle with South Carolina 6-3, edged Miami 24-19 and then went to Auburn and got a 24-10 win, the most impressive victory of the season.

The winning continued with a 17-13 triumph against Florida, then a weak program, and a 42-21 win thumping of Air Force made history. Ivery ran for 356 yards, then a single-game NCAA record. The achievement is even more noteworthy when you consider he played with the flu and threw up on the sidelines between possessions. Ivery has his own version of “The Flu Game”, a la Michael Jordan, as a part of his legacy.

Georgia Tech’s seven-game winning streak finally got the attention of the pollsters who put them at #20. With a home game against Notre Dame, and a road date with 11th-ranked Georgia to close the year, the Yellow Jackets had the chance to rise much higher.

Of course that kind of schedule means you also have the chance to lose and that’s what happened, although both games were competitive. The loss to Notre Dame was 28-21, though the GT fans did not distinguish themselves when they threw whiskey bottles and mackerel at the Irish players. The mackerel was a dig at the Catholic Church, with all of Notre Dame’s players presumably eating fish every Friday.

If the loss at Notre Dame was disappointing and the behavior of the fans embarrassing, the loss at Georgia was simply heartbreaking. Tech led 20-0 and even after blowing the lead and falling behind 21-20, Hill returned a kickoff for a touchdown. The two-point conversion made it 28-21. The Bulldogs drove down the field, but faced a fourth down. The Yellow Jackets allowed a fourth-down touchdown pass, a two-point conversion and lost 29-28. They fell out of the polls for the Peach Bowl.

1978 PEACH BOWL

By rights, the recent history and strong rise of each team should have made for a fairly even game. The one common opponent was Notre Dame and both Purdue and Georgia Tech had played the Irish tough in a losing effort. But the Boilermakers were ready to play and the Yellow Jackets were not.

Purdue’s #3 running back Wally Jones, who would emerge as the program’s featured back in 1979, gave fans a taste of what was to come with a couple early touchdown runs. Herrmann then threw for one touchdown pass and ran for another. All this went down by early in the second quarter and it was 28-0.

Herrmann later threw a touchdown pass to Burrell and the lead grew to 41-7 late in the fourth quarter. Georgia Tech got a couple of touchdowns in the final two minutes that make the score marginally tolerable at 41-21.

Purdue finished the season ranked #13 and Young would have two more strong seasons before stepping down from coaching for a year, then resurfacing at Army. Rodgers went 4-6-1 the following season and was fired. Though he spent his life in football, the Georgia Tech gig was his last head coaching job in college football.