Purdue Crushes Cal With Big First Half : Golden Bears: White held to 79 yards as Boilermakers capitalize on four turnovers, 41-14.

California tailback Russell White had the reputation. Purdue’s young defense had the determination.

Purdue came up with four turnovers, built a 38-3 halftime lead and held White to 79 yards Saturday as the Boilermakers cruised past No. 17 California, 41-14.

Purdue scored on its first six possessions in its season opener. California (1-1) outgained Purdue, 376-306, but suffered from three intercepted passes and one lost fumble.

Boilermaker fans, who have watched their team post only one winning season since 1980, mobbed the field and pulled down one of the goal posts after the game.

“I thought we were prepared,” White said. “They made it difficult for us to come back early.

“I’d rather lose a game like this early in the season, so we can learn from it. The score was a little embarrassing, but Purdue is a quality team.”

White gained 216 yards last week against San Jose State, but was held to 18 carries against Purdue as the Golden Bears were forced to go to the passing game in a futile attempt to catch up.

“It was a great feeling, stopping the offense, especially White,” said linebacker Eric Beatty, who had 13 solo tackles and set up Purdue’s first score by recovering Damien Semien’s fumble on the game’s second play. “We kept our poise the whole day, and it was a great job by the defense. They had some long drives and we got exhausted but we still stopped them.”

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto had said he was worried about having 24 underclassmen on his two-deep depth chart. “The first half was probably as perfect a half as I’ve ever seen in a long time,” Colletto said. “I didn’t really know how these guys were going to play.”

His worries were quickly set aside as three first-half turnovers were turned into touchdowns. Purdue mixed the precision passing of Matt Pike, who completed seven of eight passes for 106 yards in the first half, with the running of Jeff Hill and Arlee Conners, who scored two touchdowns apiece.

“I think having a look at our defense helped their offense,” Cal Coach Keith Gilbertson said. “They were really the aggressor in the first half. We played about the worst half of football I’ve ever seen in the first half.”

White, who had only 27 yards rushing in 11 carries in the first half, managed to break loose for 29-yard run in the third quarter and scored his team’s only touchdown on a four-yard run early in the fourth quarter.