Purdue Stuns Michigan; Northwestern Romps

Defense and emotion carried Purdue to its first victory over Michigan in 12 years.

Purdue forced five turnovers and defeated No. 9 Michigan, 9-3, Saturday at West Lafayette, Ind. in the first game since Boilermaker Coach Jim Colletto announced his resignation.

“It was not a fluke,” said Colletto, who will step down at the end of the season. “I tried to tell them the game is not for coaches. It’s for them. I wanted them to enjoy it. And they played lights out. The defense played phenomenal.”

Brian Alford scored the game’s only touchdown on a five-yard pass play from Rick Trefziger with 7:20 remaining.

Chris Koeppen recovered two fumbles, one costing Michigan, 7-2 overall and 4-2 in the Big Ten, a possible touchdown and the other setting up the Purdue touchdown. Interceptions by Derrick Brown and Jamel Coleman sealed the upset.

Fans poured from the stands and tore down the goalpost in the north end zone as the final gun ended an emotional week for Colletto and the Boilermakers (3-6, 2-4).

“This will erase some of the pain,” said Colletto, whose record is 21-40-3 in six seasons. “It could be a shot in the arm. This program has lost for so long it becomes inbred in the system. We’ve been fighting it and fighting it.”

No. 18 Northwestern 40, No. 23 Iowa 13--Darnell Autry ran for a career-high 240 yards and scored four touchdowns as the Wildcats won for the first time at Iowa City in 13 games.

Northwestern (8-2, 6-1), which beat Iowa last year to break a losing streak at 21 games to the Hawkeyes, kept its slim Rose Bowl hopes alive.

Autry ran for 173 yards and scored all of his touchdowns in Northwestern’s 26-point second half. For the game, Autry, a junior, eclipsed his previous best of 226 yards against Purdue last year.

Northwestern used a trick play to for its first touchdown. Quarterback Steve Schnur lateraled to wide receiver D’Wayne Bates, who tossed the ball over the middle to a wide-open Darren Drexler for a 23-yard score.

Wisconsin 45, Minnesota 28--Freshman Ron Dayne rushed 50 times for 297 yards and three touchdowns at Madison, Wis., as the Badgers (5-4, 2-4) handed the Golden Gophers (3-6, 0-6) their sixth straight defeat.

Dayne broke Billy Marek’s school record of 43 carries, set in 1974--also against Minnesota--but he fell short of Marek’s mark of 304 rushing yards in that game.

Dayne has rushed for 541 yards in his last two games.

Michigan St. 38, Indiana 15--Freshman Sedrick Irvin rushed for 158 yards and four touchdowns in 33 carries to lead the Spartans (6-4, 5-2) at East Lansing, Mich.

It was the second four-touchdown game this season for Irvin. His 18 touchdowns this season leaves him one short of Blake Ezor’s school record set in 1989.

Michigan State had 500 total yards, while Indiana (2-7, 0-6) had 131. The Hoosiers played without the Big Ten’s No. 2 rusher Alex Smith, who sat out with a bruised leg muscle.