No. 10 Penn State Defeats Purdue, 31-14
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Purdue dug a hole early and couldn't get out as Penn State defeated the Boilermakers before the sixth-largest crowd (96,653) in Nittany Lions' history. The Nittany Lions' Curtis Enis opened the scoring with a nine-yard run midway through the first quarter. Penn State did the most damage in the second quarter. A 23-yard field goal, a three-yard TD run by Enis and a 59-yard punt return by Chris Campbell with just 1:02 remaining gave Penn State a 24-0 lead at the break. Purdue's John Reeves hit Willie Tillman with a 33-yard scoring strike with 6:54 remaining in the third. In the fourth, Enis scored his third TD of the day from two yards out and Rick Trefzger came in and tossed a 14-yard TD to Brian Alford. For the third time in six games, Purdue didn't commit a turnover. The Lions held slight edges in first downs (22-19), total yards (396-376) and time of possession (31:40 to 28:20). Derrick Brown led Purdue with 11 tackles.
GAME NOTES: Brian Alford tied his career-high with nine catches...Tillman's 33-yard TD catch from John Reeves ended Alford's TD streak. Previously, Alford had caught the last 13 TD passes for Purdue...Jamel Coleman had a career-high three interceptions (one short of school record)...Wayne Finchum made his first career start...Rick Trefzger's 14-yard TD pass to Alford in the fourth quarter gave him 4,000 career passing yards...Joe Hagins' 50-yard kickoff return in the second quarter was the Boilers' longest of the season and also the longest allowed by Penn State.
PENN STATE 31, PURDUE 14
Game 6, Oct. 12, 1996(Attendance -- 96,653)
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Purdue 0 0 7 7 -- 14
Penn State 7 17 0 7 -- 31
SCORING SUMMARY
First Quarter
PS: Enis 9-yard run (Conway kick), 6:57
Second Quarter
PS: Conway 23-yrad field goal, 9:13
PS: Enis 3-yard run (Conway kick), 2:18
PS: Campbell 59-yard punt return (Conway kick), 1:02
Third Quarter
PU: Tillman 33-yard pass from Reeves (Arnce kick), 6:54
Fourth Quarter
PS: Enis 2-yard run (Conway kick), 13:23
PU: Alford 14-yard pass from Trefzger (Arnce kick), 7:25
TEAM STATATISTICS PU PS
First Downs 19 22
Net Yards Rushing 41-160 46-237
Net Yards Passing 216 159
Passes (Att.-Comp.-Int.) 33-15-0 24-14-3
Total Net Yards 74-376 70-396
Possession Time 28:20 31:40
Punts 7-37.9 3-38.3
Penalties 4-32 4-43
Third Down Conversions 5-17 6-13
Total Turnovers 0 3
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Rushing--Purdue: Watson 18-73, Reeves 13-48, Trefzger 2-26, Matthews
7-20. Penn State: Harris 9-88, Enis 23-83, Eberly 4-48, Mitchell
2-17, Nixon 2-8, Fields 3-7, Cleary 1-2, McQueary 1-(-7), Richardson
1-(-9).
Passing--Purdue: Reeves 26-13-0 (1 TD), 182; Trefzger 7-2-0 (1 TD),
34. Penn State: Richardson 22-14-2 (0 TD), 159; McQueary 2-0-1 (0
TD), 0.
Receiving--Purdue: Alford 9-126, Tillman 3-63, Jones 2-21, Watson
1-6. Penn State: Enis 7-94, Nastasi 2-24, Sload 1-3, Stephenson 1-10,
Brown 1-7, Olsommer 1-11, Campbell 1-10.
Tackle Leaders--Purdue: Brown 11, Krick 7, Williams 6, Hagins 6,
Koeppen 6. Penn State: Nelson 14, Short 6, Tate 6, Herring 5, Snyder
5.