Indiana University Athletics
Great Games in IU-Purdue Series History - 1991
11/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 15, 2006
As Indiana prepares to battle Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket on Nov. 18 at 12 p.m. in West Lafayette, IUHOOSIERS.COM takes a look back at some great games in the series rivalry. Today's installment features IU's 24-22 victory over Purdue in 1991.
Indiana jumped out to a 24-6 first-half lead and held off a strong Purdue comeback to upend the Boilermakers, 24-22 on Nov. 23, 1991, at Memorial Stadium. IU finished the regular season 6-4-1 and went on to shut out Baylor, 24-0, in the Copper Bowl.
Purdue jumped on the scoreboard first, as running back Jeff Hill and wide receiver Ernest Calloway "collaborated" on a 58-yard touchdown run. The Boilermakers had the ball on their own 23-yard line, and Hill fumbled at the line of scrimmage. The ball popped forward, and in the scramble for possession, Calloway picked up the ball at the 42-yard line and scampered the remaining 58 yards for the score. The Boilermakers missed the extra point, but still led 6-0.
Later in the first quarter, Scott Bonnell responded with a 27-yard field goal to cut the Purdue advantage to 6-3. The Hoosiers proceeded to score three touchdowns before halftime. Vaughn Dunbar had a 15-yard touchdown run, Trent Green added scoring strikes to Thomas Lewis (34 yards) and Eddie Thomas (13 yards), and the Hoosiers had a comfortable 24-6 lead at intermission.
Green completed 14-of-21 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the first half and threw for 258 yards in the game.
IU opened the second half by moving to midfield, but Green's passes to Rod Coleman bounced off the tight end's hands and into the hands of Purdue nose tackle Jeff Zgonina. Joe O'Leary capped the Boilermaker drive with a 22-yard field goal to make the score, 24-9.
On the ensuing possession, Indiana drove to the Purdue 5-yard line, but Zgonina recovered Dunbar's fumble. Purdue quarterback Eric Hunter orchestrated a 96-yard drive that culminated in a 6-yard strike to tight end Ryan Grigson in the end zone. The two-point conversion failed, leaving the score 24-15 at the end of the third quarter.
Dunbar fumbled the subsequent kickoff that Purdue's Kevin Strickland recovered at the Hoosier 25. Purdue drove to the Indiana 5-yard line but had to settle for O'Leary's 22-yard field goal attempt, which he missed.
Indiana took over possession, but on the second play, Green was picked off by Strickland, who returned it to the IU 27. Hunter found Tedman Brown for a 15-yard score, and after O'Leary's extra point, and IU lead was down to 24-22.
The Hoosiers went three-and-out on the next possession, and the Boilers drove down to IU territory. However, O'Leary's 40-yard field goal attempt fell short.
The teams continued to trade punts until Purdue took over at the Indiana 48 with 2:54 left. Purdue drove down to the Hoosier 17-yard line, and with 28 seconds left, O'Leary came on to attempt a game-winning 34-yard field goal.
In an effort to "ice the kicker," Indiana coach Bill Mallory called consecutive timeouts. Mallory's stall tactics proved successful as O'Leary missed the field goal and the Hoosiers retained the Bucket for the second straight year.
