1997 Superlatives
Team Bests Rush Attempts -- 48 at Illinois Rushing Yards -- 279 at Illinois Pass Attempts -- 60 vs. Penn State Pass Completions --33 vs. Penn State Passing Yards -- 355 vs. Wisconsin Total Yards --559 vs. Wisconsin Punt Return Yards -- 35 twice, vs. Ball State & Minnesota Kickoff Return Yards --124 vs. Minnesota Purdue's Record When... Home 5-1 Road 3-2 Turf 4-1 Grass 5-2 Ahead at halftime 8-1 Behind at halftime 1-2 Ahead after the third quarter 8-0 Behind after the third quarter 1-3 Boilermakers score first 5-3 Opponent scores first 4-0 Largest halftime lead (34-3 at Illinois) 31 Largest halftime deficit (27-14 at Toledo) 13 Rush for 150 yards or more 6-1 Pass for 300 yards or more 4-2 Total 400 yards or more 8-2 Opponent has less than 200 yards rushing 7-2 Opponent has less than 200 yards passing 3-1 Opponent has less than 400 total yards 4-0 Less turnovers than opponent 5-1 More turnovers than opponent 0-2 Turnovers equal 4-0 Less penalty yardage than opponent 5-0 More penalty yardage than opponent 4-3 Leading in time of possession 3-0 Leading in first downs 4-1 Hold opponent to 20 points or less 6-0 Scoring 20 or more points 9-1 Games decided by 3 points or less 1-0 Games decided by 10 points or less 0-0 Games decided by 11-20 points 5-2 Games decided by 21 points or more 3-1Here's how Purdue fared in 1997 when they took the ball inside the opponent's 20-yard line (38-49 for .776%).
Opponent No. Scores TDs FGs Toledo 1 1 1 0 Notre Dame 4 3 3 0 Ball State 5 4 3 1 Northwestern 4 2 2 0 Minnesota 4 4 3 1 Wisconsin 5 5 4 1 Illinois 8 6 4 2 Iowa 2 2 1 1 Michigan State 3 2 1 1 Penn State 4 2 2 0 Indiana 4 4 4 0 Oklahoma State 5 3 3 0 Totals 49 38 31 7
Individual Bests
Rush Attempts -- 24 Edwin Watson vs. Michigan State
Rushing Yards -- 177 Kendall Matthews at Illinois
Pass Attempts -- 60 Billy Dicken vs. Penn State
Pass Completions -- 33 Billy Dicken vs. Penn State
Passing Yards -- 352 Billy Dicken vs. Notre Dame
Receptions -- 10 Brian Alford at Toledo; 10 Isaac Jones vs. Penn St
Receiving Yards -- 215 Brian Alford at Minnesota
Punt Return Yards -- 35 Vinny Sutherland vs. Ball State and Minnesota
Kickoff Return Yards -- 124 Chris Clopton vs. Minnesota
Solo Tackles -- 15 Willie Fells at Iowa
Total Tackles -- 20 Willie Fells at Iowa
Long Plays
Rush -- 75 Edwin Watson vs. Wisconsin
Pass -- 93 Billy Dicken to Brian Alford vs. Minnesota
Field Goal -- 44 Shane Ryan at Illinois
Punt -- 61 Brandon Kaser vs. Minnesota
Punt Return --21 Vinny Sutherland vs. Ball State & Minnesota
Kickoff Return -- 36 Chris Clopton vs. Michigan State
Interception Return -- 45 Mike Hawthorne vs. Minnesota
Fumble Return -- 45 Adrian Beasley vs. Notre Dame
Purdue in the Big Ten/NCAA (top 50)
Team Stats (Avg.) Big Ten NCAA
Total Offense (459.2) 1st 7th
Rushing Offense (174.0) 6th 35th
Pass Efficiency (125.2) 5th --
Passing Offense (285.2) 1st 13th
Scoring Offense (33.0) 2nd 22nd
Total Defense (401.3) 9th --
Rushing Defense (178.1) 7th --
Pass Defense Efficiency (117.1) 6th --
Pass Defense (223.3) 9th --
Scoring Defense (22.3) 6th 46th
Kickoff Returns (18.8) 10th --
Net Punting (36.0) 5th --
First Downs (256) 2nd --
3rd-Down Conversions (47.0) 1st --
Sacks By (35) T6th --
Punt Returns (8.7) 5th --
Turnover Margin (+14.0) 1st T9th
Purdue in the Big Ten (top 10)/NCAA (top 50)
Individual Stats (Avg.) Big Ten NCAA
Rushing, Watson (77.3) 7th --
Pass Eff./Rating, Dicken (128.9) 6th 44th
Passing Yards, Dicken (261.3) 1st --
Total Offense, Dicken (290.6) 1st 10th
Receptions, Alford (5.3) 3rd T29th
Receptions, Jones (3.7) 7th --
Receving Yards, Alford (102.3) 1st 8th
All-Purpose Yds., Watson (111.5) 9th --
All-Purpose Yds., Alford (103.3) 10th --
Scoring, Watson (6.7) 5th T38th
Kick Scoring, Ryan (6.0) T7th --
Punting, Kaser (44.7) 2nd --
Punt Returns, Sutherland (9.8) 6th --
Kickoff Returns, Clopton (21.1) 5th --
Field Goals, Ryan (9) 7th --
PAT Kicking, Ryan (.957) 6th --
Tackles, Fells (10.9) 3rd --
Tackles For Loss, Colvin (22) 4th --
Sacks, Colvin (12.5) T4th --
Interceptions, Rose (4) T6th T42nd
Interceptions, Conard (4) T6th T42nd