Purdue coach not thrilled with Illini's late play call
CHAMPAIGN -- Remember when Illinois won the mythical 1914 national title? No?
Well, then you're probably not going to recall how Bob Zuppke's Illini bashed Indiana by 51 points one Saturday and Ohio State by 37 the next during that glorious season.
Here's why we bring it up: With Illinois' 44-10 whupping of Purdue on Saturday before 50,371 at Memorial Stadium, the Illini achieved back-to-back Big Ten wins by 30 points or more for the first time since before World War I.
In the process, the Illini might have fired the first shot in a budding skirmish with the Boilermakers.
With Illinois leading 37-10 and blessed with the opportunity to run out the clock, Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase rolled out and hit Chris James for a 15-yard touchdown pass with 1:35 to go.
For Scheelhaase, it was his career-high fourth touchdown strike. For Purdue coach Danny Hope, it might have been a little much.
Shortly thereafter, Hope and Illinois coach Ron Zook conducted a casual postgame handshake at midfield. Then, as Zook walked happily toward the Illini locker room, Hope followed his progress with an intense glare.
“I probably would not have done that, but I'm not going to cry about it,” Hope said. “That's their choice, their call. I would not have done it.
“He's the coach. If it makes him feel better about him and his team, call it, chuck it and run it up.”
Considering how Illinois (5-3, 3-2) dominated virtually from the opening kickoff against short-handed Purdue (4-4, 2-2), it's hard to imagine the Illini needed their sundae with another cherry on top.
Through three quarters, the Boilers had just 100 total yards and 6 first downs as the Illini built a 37-0 lead.
The only time Purdue got inside Illinois' 30-yard line during that time, it promptly committed offensive pass interference and then got whacked for delay of game to fall out of field-goal range.
Purdue, which had to play true freshman Sean Robinson most of the way at quarterback, finally got on the board with a 37-yard field goal with 10:50 to go ruining Illinois' chance for its first Big Ten shutout since Iowa in 2000.
Starters Corey Liuget and Martez Wilson were among those begging defensive coordinator Vic Koenning for the chance to re-enter and preserve the zero.
“I kind of had to chill them out on the sidelines,” Koenning said. “‘We're going to win the game. Let's don't lose our cool.' That's good. That's a good thing. We have high expectations.”
“We just can't let down,” said Wilson, who recovered a fumble and posted 1 tackle for loss. “We have to finish playing the game completely.”
Meanwhile, Scheelhaase and a large cast of receivers made Purdue's defense pay for selling out to stop running back Mikel Leshoure.
The nation's No. 14 rusher produced just 23 yards and 2 touchdown plunges on 15 carries, but Scheelhaase went wild.
Scheelhaase repeatedly faked to Leshoure on the zone option to suck in the defensive ends, then took the ball around the corner for big yardage.
“I figured maybe they might change some things up at halftime, but they came out and did the same plan,” Leshoure said. “Their game plan was to stop me and they did a good job of that outside of the touchdowns.”
Scheelhaase posted career-highs for carries (21) and yards (118) while also completing 16 of 20 passes for 195 yards.
He spread his touchdowns to A.J. Jenkins, Leshoure, freshman Darius Millines and fifth-year senior James. For the latter two, it was the first scores of their careers.
Not long after James' score and the coaches' handshake, senior Eddie McGee and Liuget took turns hoisting the Purdue Cannon for all to see. The Illini hadn't beaten the Boilers since 2002.
“I'd never seen the Cannon,” Zook said. “It was new to me ... somebody set it in my office. It's a heavy sucker. It was pretty cool to see it.”
Judging by Hope's postgame reaction, it sounds like Purdue will pack another cannon for its next clash with the Illini. Or maybe not?
“Game's over,” Hope said. “It's his call. It's done. I'm not going to cry about it.”