 Purdue RB Kory Sheets Fumbles in 3rd Quarter/Photo: Jason Bowman
As his 40-yard game-winning field goal sailed through the uprights as time expired, Summers thrust his arms in the air and the Purdue Boilermakers (8-5) escaped with a last-second 51-48 victory over Central Michigan (8-6) in a wild, record-setting night in Detroit at the Motor City Bowl.
Led by quarterback Curtis Painter's three touchdowns and 546 yards passing, which set both a Purdue school record and a Motor City Bowl record, the Boilermakers downed Central Michigan in the highest-scoring contest in the eleven year history of the Motor City Bowl. Despite the big night from Painter, the Boilermakers nearly found themselves on the losing end however after storming out to a 21-point halftime lead.
 In a first half that looked eerily similar to the first half of the earlier season contest between the Chippewas and Boilermakers, when Purdue led 31-0 at halftime of their game in West Lafayette back on September 15, the Boilermakers appeared to be well on their way to an easy victory after posting a 34-13 halftime advantage on the strength of two long touchdown strikes from Painter, 62 yards to Dustin Keller and 29 yards to Greg Orton, and a pair touchdown runs by Kory Sheets. By halftime Painter had already passed for 339 yards and Purdue appeared to have the sputtering Chippewas' offense on the ropes.
The game however didn't start in the Boilermakers favor.
Central Michigan held its only lead of the game when they opened the scoring in the early going when Chippewas' freshman linebacker Nick Bellore picked off a Curtis Painter pass intended for Dorien Bryant and returned it to the Purdue nine-yard line. But the Chips had to settle for a 27-yard field goal, going up 3-0.
After being stopped on their next possession, Purdue scored a touchdown on each of its next three first quarter possessions and led 21-6 after one quarter.
The Boilermakers eventually built a 27-6 lead after a pair of Summers field goals before CMU recorded its first touchdown late in the first half when Chippewas quarterback Dan LeFevour connected with Bryan Anderson on a 49-yard touchdown. But in what was a bit of foreshadowing of the way things would end, the Boilermakers responded with a touchdown drive that culminated with Kory Sheets scoring from one yard out with sixteen seconds left in the half to give the Boilermakers their 21-point halftime edge.
Central Michigan quarterback Dan LeFevour struggled throughout the first half and by halftime the record-setting sophomore signal-caller had completed only 6-16 passes for 79 yards and was consistently overthrowing his receivers.
"Dan started slow in the first half and missed some open receivers," noted Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones. "I think it was probably just too much adrenaline."
But if any of the highly partisan, record-setting crowd of 60,624 at Ford Field thought the game was over at halftime, they were in for a surprise.
 The Chippewas stormed out of the gate in the second half, scoring less than one minute into the third quarter when Dan LeFevour connected with freshman wide receiver Antonio Brown on a short pass. Brown juked his way past several Purdue defenders and scampered 76-yards for a touchdown to cut the Purdue advantage to 34-20.
After Purdue came right back on Painter's third touchdown pass of the day, a 19-yard strike to Jake Standeford, the Chippewas responded again, and again, and again as the Chips put up 28 third quarter points thanks to Bryan Anderson's second TD reception of the game and a pair of Dan LeFevour touchdown runs of nine and four yards each as the teams entered the fourth quarter tied at 41-41.
The Chippewas also benefitted from a pair of Purdue turnovers in their third-quarter scoring surge as defensive back EJ McLaughlin picked off Painter to set up LeFevour's nine-yard touchdown run and later Nick Bellore came up with his second turnover, recovering a Kory Sheets fumble that set up the game-tying score, a four-yard run by LeFevour.
The Boilermakers would regain the lead midway through the fourth quarter on Jaycen Taylor's 13-yard touchdown run but the resilient Chippewas responded and with 1:09 remaining, sophomore Bryan Anderson hauled in his third touchdown of the game, a 19-yard pass from LeFevour that would tie the game again, this time at 48-48.
"We made an adjustment at halftime and created a matchup issue by placing Anderson on the perimeter," explained CMU's Jones. Anderson responded with two second half touchdowns to go with 129 yards in receptions. LeFevour also shook off his first-half cobwebs and finished with 292 yards passing and four touchdowns to go along with 114 yards rushing and two more touchdowns on the ground. But in the end the night would belong to Curtis Painter.
Getting the ball back with just over one minute remaining, Painter directed his team downfield with surgical precision, going 39 yards in six plays, setting up the game-winning field goal by Chris Summers as time expired.
"That was all Curtis Painter in that last drive," noted Purdue head coach Joe Tiller afterward. "We didn't signal any plays in from the sideline, those were all his calls."
"We run through the two-minute drill every Sunday and Thursday," said Painter afterward. "We knew we needed a field-goal and designed our plays for that. Our guys did a great job of being crisp and getting back to the line of scrimmage quickly. We have a small bank of plays that we use and it's on me to call the plays that will get us down there in good position."
Painter's play-calling set up placekicker Chris Summers for the winning kick with two seconds remaining and Summers was confident about kicking indoors.
"As soon as it (the kick) left my foot, I knew it was good. It's real easy to kick in a dome especially if you are playing in a place like West Lafayette. I just took advantage of the conditions that were perfect," said Summers.
The win snapped a three-game Purdue losing streak and also snapped the Boilermakers bowl losing streak at three, recording their first bowl win since defeating Washington in the 2002 Sun Bowl.
"We kept everybody in their seats for sixty minutes," quipped Tiller afterward. "This (the comeback) was not a total surprise, because of the way they (Central Michigan) played us earlier this year but I will tell you for a while I felt like I was back in the wacky WAC . I was back in the saddle," added Tiller who coached at Wyoming in the high-scoring, offensive-minded Western Athletic Conference before taking over at Purdue.
 Central Michigan head coach Butch Jones was in agreement with Tiller's assessment. "This is one of the best bowls I have been a part of and I am just proud of this team's character, which is second to none," stated Jones who begged off commenting on reports that he is scheduled to fly to West Virginia Thursday morning to meet with Mountaineers officials to discuss their head coaching vacancy. "I am the head coach of the Central Michigan Chippewas and our future here is very bright," said Jones in response to a reporter's question seeking confirmation about his reported meeting in West Virginia.
Jones was wide receivers coach at West Virginia prior to taking over as head coach at Central Michigan after Brian Kelly left Central Michigan before last season's Motor City Bowl appearance to take over at the University of Cincinnati.
Chippewas senior linebacker Red Keith summed up his feelings about ending his career on a losing note. "I'm very disappointed," Keith stated. "We came up short but I am really proud of the efforts of my teammates. They never quit but we came up short on the scoreboard. It comes down to making stops and we just did not make enough stops in the end."
Quarterback Dan LeFevour though will be back for at least one more season and LeFevour noted CMU's comeback was not something that should have been unexpected. "We've been there before," noted LeFevour. "We never stopped fighting. We left everything out on the field but in the end it just came down to who made more plays."
Among those making plays on this night were a trio of Purdue receivers as Greg Orton, Jake Standeford and Dustin Keller each finished with over 100 yards receiving. The Boilermakers were held to just 41 yards net rushing however.
 The two teams combined for 1,022 yards in offense in a game that had MAC Commissioner Rick Chryst beaming despite the loss by Central Michigan.
"This is one of those games that people will be talking about for a long time," said Chryst afterward. "This game shows people how the MAC can compete. We're not into moral victories though. This game showed Central's resolve in the way they came back and the way they have done that all year. The real story though tonight is about the success of the Motor City Bowl. To have over 60,000 in a bowl game in Detroit that is now entering its second decade is a big step in the right direction. It's hugely important to the perception of the conference around the nation."
The MAC has two more chances to make a lasting impression this bowl season as Ball State takes on Rutgers in the International Bowl on January 5 and Bowling Green faces Tulsa in the GMAC Bowl on January 6, both potential bellwether games for the conference.
All photos: Jason Bowman
Also see:
Jim Klapthor's Motor City Bowl Photo Gallery
Jason Bowman's Motor City Bowl Photo Gallery
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