Thursday, September 24, 2009

Purdue-UND Since 1997: An Actual Rivalry

Are you ready for this weekend? Are you concerned, as we are? Let's just remember how things can be.

Let's go back to 1997 first -- when Purdue had not beaten UND in more than a decade -- and Adrian Beasley's return.



Look at that sideline. Listen to that crowd. Voracious for a destruction of UND.

And the end of that game.... could the game be this great? Probably not quite this exciting...but it can mean nearly as much:



We move to 1999. I don't think we can expect this kind of horrendous coaching from the schematically-advantaged UND coaching staff. In all seriousness, this was a clusterf-ck:



After three straight close losses (23-21, 24-18 and 24-17), 2003 saw a return to form with a 23-10 home victory. Did any of us realize how lucky we were to have Kyle Orton when we had him?



The next year was 2004 -- the year that we wonder what might have been -- and a year in which the UND-Purdue game was legendary, at least from the Black and Old Gold side of the ball. If this isn't one of your favorite moments in this rivalry, then you must be a Golden Domer. Or wish you were.



And then, just the last time these two teams met in West Lafayette, during what turned out to be a very mediocre year for Purdue football, the Boilermakers won by two touchdowns.



These things all happened. The Boilermakers are 5-6 against Notre Dame since the start of the 1997 season. It's our house. Let's make that 6-6. It can happen.

6 comments:

Brad said...

I rushed the field in 1997. That was a very fun day :-)

It was pretty funny watching fans trying to bring the goalposts down, too... After we beat Michigan the previous year and tore them down, they reinforced those suckers!

Mr. Anonymous said...

Looks like Jason Werner's Dad was right after all, huh nitwits.

Scruffy_P said...

I loved the quote in the exponent today: “We were excited about playing the game,” Samuels said. “We weren’t nervous about it. We knew we had everything to gain and nothing to lose.” -Dale Samuels QB of the 1950 Purdue FB team.

I think Hope needs to post that in the locker room somewhere.

Oh, and they're testing the stadium lights as I'm writing this, they're bright as hell.

J Money said...

Night games at Ross-Ade are special... enjoy it.

boilerdowd said...

Mr. Anon- at whom is your comment directed?

boilerdowd said...

There are two things that I marvel at in the '04 clip- First- how easily Orton slings that pass. Second, that Stubby sheds that tackle.

One of my favorite plays, no doubt.