Senior Kicker Makes First Field Goal Of Career

By Leroy Bridges
Sports Editor

East Lansing, Mich. – With 4:49 left in the game and his team down by one, senior kicker Casey Welch attempted – and made – the first field goal of his career.
The 18-yarder gave Purdue an eventual 17-15 win and Welch an indescribable feeling.
"Something you've been waiting your entire life for (is) to go out there and kick," Welch said after the Boilers' win over Michigan State (4-6, 1-5 Big Ten). "To have this be my one kick, it's unbelievable."
Welch got his opportunity after freshman Chris Summers missed two field goals earlier in the game. Coach Joe Tiller said he made the switch because Summers, who is 8-for-18 this season, is less accurate on shorter attempts.
"Maybe we're going to have a short field goal kicker and a long field goal kicker," Tiller said. "I told (special teams coach Mark Hagen) to get Casey warming up because if we are kicking, Casey's going to do it."
Welch said he didn't know whether or not he was going to be kicking until just after a timeout was called. Fortunately for Welch, who transferred from West Virginia four years ago with hopes of winning the starting job, he had been warming up.
"I try to stay warm all game, so I was loose enough for it," Welch said. "I was just like 'Let's go out there and kick it.' I just kicked it."
The kick, which was a "no doubter" according to holder Curtis Painter, was Welch's first game-situation field goal since high school five years ago.
"It's a story-book ending to my career here," Welch said. "It's been five years since I've done that and to go out there and help my team get closer to a bowl is awesome."
Hagen said it was no surprise to him that Welch made the kick. In fact, there was no doubt in his mind Welch would come through in the high-pressure situation.
"Today his number was called and I knew he could do it," Hagen said. "It certainly was a crucial situation and he came through."
Welch said his emotion in the locker room following the game was overwhelming, especially since Purdue (6-4, 3-3) had lost four of its last five games.
"The emotions ran high and it me deep after the game," Welch said. "I'm a team guy and I am just happy to help us out anyway I can."
Welch's kick gives the Boilers their second win on the road this season and with one more win, they will be bowl eligible.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Nov. 6, 2006.

Basketball Transfer To Appear In Court

By Leroy Bridges
Sports Editor

A heralded men's basketball recruit will be in a court of a different kind on Monday morning.
Tarrance Crump, a former junior college guard who transferred to Purdue, is scheduled for an initial hearing at 8 a.m. Monday. Crump was charged on Sept. 25 for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of a crime and committing criminal recklessness.
According to Jerry Bean, the Tippecanoe County prosecutor, case documentation should be filed by 5 p.m. Friday, so the case can be ready for Monday's initial hearing.
"All of the information that is being gathered will be available for Monday's hearing," Bean said Tuesday.
On Monday, Crump and his representation are scheduled to hear the case against him. Crump will have the opportunity to plead guilty or not guilty and the case will move forward.
According to West Lafayette Police, Robert Brunner was struck by a vehicle operated by Crump just after midnight on Sept. 25. Brunner sustained a large laceration to the back of the head, a large contusion on the right side of his back and scrapes all over his body.
Police officers in the area were called to look for a car similar to Crump's Chevrolet Trailblazer, according to police.
Brunner said he was aware of the court date, but declined to comment.
Crump has been held out of official basketball practices that started Oct. 15. Coach Matt Painter is awaiting the legal process to take its course before reacting to the case. Neither Crump nor Painter has commented on the situation.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Oct. 26, 2005.

With Response Filed, Purdue Waits For NCAA

By Leroy Bridges
Editor in Chief

Within the next two weeks Purdue athletics will learn of the NCAA's verdict regarding sanctions facing the women's basketball program 15 months after potential violations were made public.
In February 2006, Purdue officials suspended guard Cherelle George and assistant coach Katrina Merriweather for possible NCAA violations. Almost two months later, George was declared permanently ineligible and Merriweather resigned. An internal investigation by Purdue found six possible violations - some of which could be major.
Since first notifying the NCAA of problems with NCAA rules in early 2006, Purdue has utilized the law firm of Stuart & Branigan to file a response to allegations. The law firm's report, filed April 27, 2007, was recently obtained by the Exponent as a result of a public document request. The 48-page summary report of Purdue's response was part of more than 400 pages of documents obtained through public documents related to the case.
It wasn't until Feb. 28, 2007 - more than a year from when wrongdoing was announced - that Purdue was given notice to respond to six possible violations. The University's attorney filed a response a month later and a hearing was held on that response on June 8.
The NCAA is reviewing Purdue documents and hearing information to determine what violations occurred and if penalties should be assessed. Six to eight weeks after the hearing institutions can expect reports detailing the decision. This is the sixth week since Purdue's hearing.
"We're waiting for the final verdict," assistant athletic director Tom Schott said Monday.
Purdue is hoping the self-imposed penalties that were enacted will avoid additional NCAA punishment. The University took away one scholarship for the 2006-07 season, suspended then assistant coach Merriweather, declared George permanently ineligible and had a presentation on ethical conduct with coaches and administrators.
"While Purdue University acknowledges that (Merriweather) was an employee of the athletics department and is taking full responsibility for her actions while our employee, it was determined through this investigation that she clearly acted outside the scope of her responsibilities as an assistant coach," a letter from Purdue athletic director Morgan Burke wrote on May 1 to the NCAA.
Purdue admitted in its April response that Merriweather assisted a student-athlete with writing a research paper, made impermissible contact during non-sanctioned recruiting periods and did various personal favors for players.
Upon being asked to comment on the documents the Exponent received, an athletic department official would not comment further until the NCAA is finished deliberating.
"In May of 2006, the Purdue Department of Intercollegiate Athletics transmitted to the NCAA and the Big Ten Conference the results of a 10-week inquiry involving our women's basketball program," a statement from Schott said. "In response to a public records request, the University's response to allegations to the NCAA has been released.
"While the response has been redacted to comply with the Indiana Access to Public Records Act and federal privacy law, it contains no new violations but does provide additional information uncovered in the University's review. This response is part of the NCAA judicial process, and the University participated in a hearing regarding these matters on June 8, 2007, before the Division I Committee on Infractions. The University will have no comment on the matter during the deliberations by the Committee."
Burke declined comment on the case and deferred to Schott.
The public documents do not contain any new violations, but it does provide additional information from Purdue's internal investigation.
The response says former coach Kristy Curry was aware of one of the violations - academic fraud. After two meetings with Merriweather in late 2005 and early 2006 - and denials from Merriweather regarding academic fraud - Curry did not pursue it. Curry, who's now the coach at Texas Tech, would have been reprimanded and "limited for summer recruiting" by Burke if she would have stayed at Purdue. Furthermore, it was learned that Curry made two of 49 impermissible contacts with recruits. Merriweather was implicated in the remaining 47 call violations - all of which were six minutes or less.
According to the response, "It is noted here that had the head coach remained at Purdue University, the assistant coach (Merriweather) would have been terminated." Merriweather, however, resigned more than a month before that conclusion had been reached.
Merriweather was at the heart of all six violations part of the NCAA investigation.
1. One incident of academic misconduct involving one assistant coach. No eligibility issues were involved.
2. Impermissible use of a coach's cell phone by four current student-athletes.
3. Impermissible storage of two current student-athletes' personal items for a period not longer than one month at the residence of an assistant coach.
4. Impermissible purchase of flowers for one prospective student-athlete by an assistant coach. The prospective student-athlete has already signed a letter of intent two months prior to the impermissible purchase.
5. Impermissible storage of one current student-athlete's automobile for a period not longer than two months at an assistant coach's residence.
6. Impermissible telephone contacts with two prospective student-athletes.
Other than the academic fraud being known, the other five violations came to light after former assistant coach Janon Lampley met with Purdue's compliance staff in February 2006, according to the public documents. Purdue then suspended both Merriweather and George and began an investigation.
The NCAA declined to comment because the investigation is still ongoing.
There were five other potential NCAA wrongdoing allegations that came forth through the investigation. However, none were confirmed through interviews conducted by Purdue's compliance staff.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on July 18, 2007.

Purdue vs. Indiana Football Rivalry

Georgia Tech 79, Purdue 61 - Men's Basketball In 2006 Maui Invitational

2007 Black & Gold Spring Game Video

Offense Stalls In 16-3 Loss To Ohio State

By Leroy Bridges
Executive Reporter

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Purdue's offense didn't take advantage of a stellar defensive performance and caused the Boilers to lose 16-3 Saturday.
Purdue didn't score a touchdown and failed to get inside No. 12 Ohio State's 30-yard line until the last minute of the game. But not once did coach Joe Tiller consider replacing senior quarterback Curtis Painter, which he did last week against Penn State when the offense failed to produce.
"He was into the game," Tiller said of Painter. "He had good feedback on the sideline. I didn't think he was flustered at all. Overall, I thought he played much better this week than last week."
Tiller said Painter's sideline interaction with offensive coordinator Ed Zaunbrecher was much more spirited this week. Rather than saying "yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah" when discussing on-field plays, Painter was well aware of why he chose to do certain things.
"He had the right answers on the sideline," Tiller said. "He was really into the game. So, I thought that he took last week and what happened to him as a challenge from studying the game point of view."
Painter finished the game 23-of-53 passing, totaling 228 yards with one interception and a fumble. He said he couldn't really point out any specific problems with the offense and didn't think he changed anything from last week to this week.
"I don't think anything was different," Painter said of his sideline manner. "I don't think I took any special initiative to be in it anymore."
Senior running back Kory Sheets said it is time for a change on offense. He didn't specify what kind of change but that one was needed.
"I honestly don't know (where we're at). But Obama said it best " it's time for change," Sheets said. "I think we've got to do something in the offense or change something to where we're moving the ball effectively and putting points on the board."
Sheets said he always has Painter's back and even saw a Painter of old.
"During the game today, I saw him come into his own and start playing like the old Curtis Painter," Sheets said. "He started checking the ball, and no matter what the play was he was somewhat doing his own thing. I told him, just keep playing like yourself. Now I'm starting to see the Curtis Painter I fell in love with."
The last time Purdue's offense failed to score an offensive touchdown was last year against Penn State. Last week against the Nittany Lions, the Boilers (2-4, 0-2) scored only six points and that came late in the fourth quarterback with backup QB Joey Elliott. Despite the lack of offensive production, defensive coordinator Brock Spack said there are no worries that his defense will start blaming the offense for its lack of production.
"You point a finger, you have three pointing back at you," Spack said. "We win as a team, we lose as a team. There are going to be times when we screw it up. These guys are good kids. They'll pick each other up."
Tiller's message after the game was very similar to Spack's comments.
"You've got to keep your heads up and stay positive," Tiller said. "Don't go around and stick your lower lip out and pout about it. There's still a lot of football left to be played. Our football team's getting better."
Purdue has now lost 17-straight games against ranked teams.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Oct. 15, 2008

Belief - Not Hope - Can End The Streak

By Leroy Bridges
Executive Reporter

Believing – not hoping – to be successful against No. 12 Ohio State is essential for Purdue Saturday.
Senior wide receiver Desmond Tardy isn’t one to hope. He’s a believer. And if the Boilers have any chance of ending two streaks – winless against ranked teams since 2003 and winless in Columbus, Ohio since 1988 – against the Buckeyes, they better believe they can win.
“We have to go up there with the mentality that we can win,” said Tardy, who’s never played at Ohio State (5-1). “Not hoping we can win, but believing we can win. There’s a big difference in that. You should know you can win.”
After talking with six players and two coaches this week, it appears Purdue (2-3) believes it can beat the Buckeyes. Coach Joe Tiller said his players were “saying the right things” and senior captain Ryan Baker said the team is angry.
“This team is motivated by anger right now,” Baker said. “We’re going to do everything it takes to win the game. It’s going to be a hostile crowd and a hostile team we’re playing and it’s going to fun.”
Tardy recognized how “crazy” college football plays out every year and thinks it might be time for Purdue’s big upset. So, playing carelessly and flawlessly will be imperative against a “great team.”
“Our backs are against the wall so we have to come out fighting,” Tardy said. “This is a chance to show how we are going to respond to what’s been going on with us. It’s time to go up there to believe and not hope.”
It’s the first time Purdue has played at Ohio State since losing 16-13 in overtime during the 2003 season. That was the first of 16-straight losses against ranked teams for Purdue.
“That was about as disappointed as I have been with a loss,” Tiller said about the 2003 game in Columbus, Ohio. “I was absolutely convinced we could win that game.”
Tiller may not be convinced about this Saturday’s game, but if he believes, Purdue just might get the win it’s been looking for the last five years.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Oct. 9, 2008

The Streak

By Leroy Bridges
Executive Reporter

No player on Purdue’s roster has beaten a ranked team as a Boiler.
It’s been four years, 10 months and 30 days since the Boilers last beat a ranked team.
For fans and media, it matters. Coaches and players, however, are insistent it’s not something they think about. Between two coaches and six players, all of them said the team’s mindset and preparation don’t change for a game against a ranked opponent.
“What we look for is try to improve as the season goes along regardless of the opponent, regardless if it’s a ranked team or not a ranked team,” said coach Joe Tiller, who is 12-36 against ranked teams in his more than 11 years at Purdue. “We don’t measure ourselves against our opponent, we measure ourselves against ourselves.
“If the media didn’t keep score like that, I wouldn’t know what the record against ranked opponents was.”

The loss that started it all
It was Nov. 15, 2003.
No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 11 Purdue, 16-13 in overtime in Columbus, Ohio.
A week after Purdue beat the highest ranked team it beat since No. 6 Michigan during the 2000 season; Purdue couldn’t supplant the Buckeyes who eventually won the Fiesta Bowl.
Purdue’s Bobby Iwuchukwu blocked a field goal at the end of regulation to force an overtime only to have Ben Jones miss a 37-yard field goal in the extra period. Looking back, Kyle Orton had his second-most famous fumble in the end zone, which immediately was jumped on for a TD with 11:23 left in the game. The TD made it 13-6 OSU. The win was Ohio State’s third of the season without scoring an offensive touchdown. Since then, Purdue has been outscored 456-257 in 15 games against ranked teams.

Senior captain Ryan Baker knows that to be the best, you have to beat the best. So, when he heard the 0-16 against-ranked-teams statistic his reaction wasn’t favorable.
“I was like ‘Wow, that’s not a good statistic. That’s a horrible statistic,” Baker said. “You have to beat good teams to do well. That is one way to measure it, yes. You have beat good teams. You have to. And that’s not a good statistic.”
Senior quarterback Curtis Painter said he doesn’t necessarily use the 0-16 record against ranked teams as a measuring stick. He did acknowledge that “great teams play well against other great teams.”
“We’re not going to go up there today and say we’re playing the X-rated team,” said Painter, whose 0-10 against ranked teams as the starting QB. “No matter what they’re ranked, we’re going to go in there and play the same. We don’t really pay much attention to that.”
Senior wide receiver Desmond Tardy has thought about it and even wondered why. The streak, Tardy said, doesn’t wear on the team, but it should motivate the Boilers.
“It means something. It means we should go out with more motivation,” Tardy said. “We want to change that tradition of losing to all the ranked teams.”

The last time it happened
It was Nov. 8, 2003.
No. 16 Purdue beat No. 10 Iowa, 27-14 in Ross-Ade Stadium.
Curtis Painter, still a senior at Vincennes High School, had verbally committed to attend Purdue University just a month earlier.
That Saturday in Ross-Ade was far from the normal Boiler win. It featured a potent rushing-attack that totaled 154 yards on 44 attempts. QB Kyle Orton threw the ball only 20 times. The result was a battered Hawkeye defense, which entered the game as the nation’s fourth-best run defense.
What many Purdue fans didn’t have in mind after leaving Ross-Ade that day was a 59-month skid against ranked teams.

Senior running back Kory Sheets proved he had no idea of the streak. When asked about it, he brought up Purdue beating the Buckeyes in 2004, his freshman season. Most wins against Ohio State would notch a victory against a top-25 team, but that season the Buckeyes finished 8-4.
Ohio State is ranked No. 12 heading into this weekend’s game, so the streak could go full-circle and end in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Oct. 9, 2008

Football Players Compete As Themselves In Video Game

By Leroy Bridges
Sports Editor

Just imagine playing a video game as yourself. Or playing on a football team that you on. Or playing the entire schedule for the upcoming season and winning every game.
This is what a lot of Purdue and Big Ten players have done over the past months, since the release of NCAA Football '06.
In fact, two Boilermakers, junior offensive guard Uche Nwaneri and junior wide receiver Andre Chattams, are rivals when it comes to the game. According to Nwaneri, this is because no one else on the team is as good as him except for "Dre Chat."
"We go at it in that game, man," Nwaneri said. "We get some real good competition going when we turn that game on. There is a rivalry between us now."
But who gets to play with Purdue?
"The first one to bring them up, gets them," Nwaneri said. "And, of course, the other person gets mad and has to pick another team."
But no matter the team, Nwaneri's playing style is logical: run the football. As an offensive lineman, that choice is obvious. Chattams likes to run the option with junior quarterback Brandon Kirsch and, of course, throw the ball.
"I love to air it out in that game," Chattams said. "It's so much fun. Especially, when the the throw is to yourself."
Other than playing the game as yourself, many players, including highly-touted Michigan wide receiver Steve Breaston, get the game just to check their player ratings.
"I got the game and starting looking at my speed, catching and awareness," Breaston said. "And I think I got some pretty good love in the game.
"I am an impact player, so I am happy."
Impact players are those that play at a higher level than others throughout the game.
Illinois middle linebacker Morris Virgil said that being an impact player for the Illini is fun because he can harass other guys on the team about it.
"It is fun to brag about it because EA Sports knows you are good," Virgil said. "I really get on some of the guys because Steve (Weatherford), our kicker, is an impact player.
"And he's a kicker."
Whether it is playing an entire season to see your team win the National Championship or just for the fun, the '06 version of NCAA Football has become a must have for many college football players.

Published in the Purdue Exponent on Aug. 25, 2005