Purdue Defeats Irish, 35-17, as Everett Passes for 368 Yards, 3 Scores

Purdue quarterback Jim Everett passed for 368 yards and three touchdowns Saturday, while the Boilermakers’ defense held Notre Dame in check for a 35-17 victory.

Everett completed 27 of 49 passes, and has thrown for 1,106 yards in three games for the Boilermakers (2-1).

“Everybody knows we can throw the ball,” Coach Leon Burtnett said. “We executed exceptionally well, especially on defense. If we can execute like that the rest of the way, we have a chance to win all the rest of our games.”

Notre Dame Coach Gerry Faust said: “I’ve got to give Everett a lot of credit. The son of a gun picked us apart. Two of his touchdowns came when we had blitzes. He’s an excellent quarterback, one of the top two we’ll face this year. Purdue’s offensive line did a good job of picking up blitzes and screens.”

Purdue shut down Irish running back Allen Pinkett, who had been averaging 102 rushing yards per game. He had just 45 yards in 21 carries.

“That was one of the defensive keys for our kids,” Burtnett said. “We knew we had to hold him down.”

Notre Dame (1-2) gained just 26 yards in the first quarter and only eight yards in the third. In addition, the Boilermakers sacked Steve Beuerlein and Terry Andrysiak six times. Together, the pressured Irish quarterbacks completed only 12 of 33 passes for 161 yards.

The Boilermakers led, 14-3, at halftime, holding the Irish scoreless until John Carney kicked a 48-yard field goal as time ran out in the second quarter.

The Boilermakers scored on the opening series of the second half, moving 80 yards in 12 plays to make it 21-3. Everett threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Steve Griffin with 5:33 gone.

Pinkett scored on a three-yard run with 8:53 to play, and Beuerlein’s two-point conversion pass to Pat Cusack cut the deficit to 21-11.

With 2:26 to play, Everett hit Ray Wallace on a 32-yard touchdown pass play, and on the next Irish scrimmage, Purdue safety Rod Woodson ran back an interception 30 yards for a touchdown that boosted Purdue’s lead to 35-11.

Tailback Hiawatha Francisco scored on a one-yard run with 1:23 remaining for the final Irish points.