As the Ross-Ade Stadium scoreboard clock did a 40-yard dash toward zeroes, Purdue’s student section oozed toward the field like syrup down a tree trunk. Down the bleacher seats, over the black railing they came, arms raised, smiles of disbelief on their faces.
Dusk was settling in Saturday, as was the reality of Purdue’s 28-17 victory against late, great Notre Dame. County sheriff’s, Lafayette and campus police encircled one of the goal posts, but they couldn’t do much about the other one. In no time at all, the unprotected crossbar was decorated with a dozen living Boilermaker ornaments.
“Let’s get out of here,” said a nervous Notre Dame official as he edged toward the locker room. And then he was gone, much like the Irish’s hopes of an improbable national championship or even a nine-win season.
The only thing more ridiculous than Purdue’s upset of 12th-ranked Notre Dame was the stadium announcer pleading with fans to leave the field. By then, the Boilermaker band was mockingly playing the Irish victory march. Someone held up a bedsheet with a message in black spray paint: “It’s Tiller Time,” in honor of first-year Boilermaker coach Joe Tiller.
“We made a pact with the band to sing “Hail Purdue” in the end zone if we won,” Tiller said. “We couldn’t get to the end zone to do so.”
No such problems during the game. Tiller’s “Basketball on Grass” offense was good for 485 total yards, 352 passing yards and three touchdowns, including an 11-play, 99-yard scoring drive. Of course, had he publicly predicted any of this before the game, the offensive scheme would have been renamed, “Tiller on Grass.”
This wasn’t supposed to happen. Notre Dame was a 20-point favorite, not so much for last week’s four-point victory against Georgia Tech, but more because of Purdue’s stunning opening-game loss to Toledo. The Irish had beaten the Boilermakers 11 consecutive times, plus they had the supposedly important “Win One For Jim Colletto” factor on their side.
Colletto, the former Purdue coach who resigned late last season and eventually joined the Notre Dame staff as offensive coordinator, had asked the Irish to “make him proud.” What he got instead was a kick to the thorax.
“I feel real bad for Coach Colletto,” said quarterback Ron Powlus, who completed a career-high 31 passes for for 293 yards and one touchdown. “I feel we let him down a little bit.”
Colletto is the least of Notre Dame’s worries. For the second consecutive week, the Irish struggled to score points using Colletto’s offense. And for the second consecutive week, the Irish suffered the kind of defensive breakdowns that send coaches reaching for Grecian Formula.
“There’s some problem, and we need to get it fixed,” Powlus said.
Powlus’ white dress shirt was already half soaked in sweat. He dabbed his forehead with a towel, careful not to disturb the blood-soaked Band-Aid under his chin. He wore a blue Monogram Club blazer, as well as a look of embarrassment.
“It’s sad, it’s sad,” Powlus said. “We have very high expectations. Losing the second game hurts.”
The outer door to the visitors’ locker room was pulled open. You could still hear the Purdue band, still hear the murmuring of the crowd. The public address announcer tried again.
“Please leave the playing field,” said the voice. “We don’t want anyone injured on a special afternoon like this.”
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Inside the Notre Dame locker room . . . nothing but the hard hissing of shower water hitting a tile floor. Nobody had bothered to pull the duct taped sign off the wall, the one that read, “Play Like A Champion Today.”
At times, the Irish played as if they had been introduced to each other just minutes before kickoff. There were killer penalties, missed tackles, missed opportunities and at least three very questionable second-half coaching decisions.
Bob Davie was the guy who made at least two of them, beginning with a failed fourth and 5 from the Purdue 18, and ending with an extra point, rather than an attempted two-point conversion that, if successful, would have cut the Purdue lead to 21-18. There was also a strange series of time-consuming runs on the final Irish touchdown drive that produced exactly zero yards.
“No question right now we’re embarrassed as a coaching staff, we’re embarrassed as a football team,” said Davie, who briefly considered a Sunday practice for the Irish. “But it certainly was no fluke. Purdue deserved to win the football game.”
A few minutes later he was off the podium and back inside the Notre Dame locker room. It was so quiet you could hear the Irish’s ranking drop.