The 2006 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team was coached by Joe Tiller and played its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium. Purdue played thirteen games in the 2006 season, finishing with an 8–6 record and a loss in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl to Maryland.
This was also the first season Purdue started games at the same local time with other teams in the Eastern Time Zone, as the State of Indiana began observing Daylight Saving Time earlier in the year.
Pre-season Purdue entered 2005 highly ranked and as a dark horse candidate to win the Big 10 before losing six straight and falling to 2–6 after a blowout loss to Penn State. While the Boilermakers finished the 2005 season 5–6, the team closed out the year on a three-game winning streak. Purdue's coaching staff experienced several changes in the off-season. Jim Chaney, the offensive coordinator, left for a position with the St. Louis Rams of the NFL. Bill Legg and Ed Zaunbrecher succeeded Chaney as dual offensive coordinators. The Boilermakers returned seven starters on offense and four on defense. The condition of Ross–Ade Stadium's turf became a major issue in the 2005 season. A permanent sod of Bermuda grass was laid down in the off-season to replace the old turf.
Schedule
Roster (as of 09/18/2006) Wide receivers 1 Selwyn Lymon – sophomore 6 Desmond Tardy – junior 9 Dorien Bryant – junior 18 Roberto McBean – junior 19 Brandon Whittington – junior 20 Andre Chattams – senior 21 Greg Orton – sophomore 82 Derek Benson – RS freshman 83 Joe Whitest – sophomore 84 Byron Williams – junior 86 Chase Lecklider – senior 87 Mario Swope – freshman 87 Kris Staats – freshman 88 Jake Standeford – junior 89 Kyle Ingraham(ineligible) – senior
Offensive line 50 Eric Hedstrom – RS freshman 51 Garrett Miller – sophomore 53 Nick Fincher – junior 56 Jonathan Patton – sophomore 57 Dan McGowen – senior 60 Zach Smith – sophomore 61 Chris Mattson – junior 62 Andy Huffman – RS freshman 64 Nick Raben – senior 65 Mike Otto – senior 66 Jordan Grimes – junior 67 Uche Nwaneri – junior 68 Robbie Powell – junior 69 Neal Tull – junior 72 Justin Pierce – freshman 73 Dan Zaleski – sophomore 74 Sean Sester – sophomore 75 Zach Reckman – RS freshman 76 Jason Kacinko – RS freshman 77 Ryan Prater – freshman 78 Cory Benton – sophomore
Tight ends 3 Garrett Bushong – junior 28 Dustin Keller – junior 46 Matthew Kern – sophomore 80 Jerry Wasikowski – sophomore 85 Kyle Adams – freshman 97 Alec Huber – RS freshman
Fullbacks 44 Frank Halliburton – RS freshman Quarterbacks 10 Jacob Swank – freshman 12 Curtis Painter – RS sophomore 14 Joey Elliott – RS freshman 16 Jeff Panfil – freshman 17 Chris Bennett – RS sophomore
Running backs 22 Dray Mason – RS freshman 23 Joe Williams – sophomore 24 Kory Sheets – sophomore 26 Chris Ayers – junior 31 Dario Camacho – junior 33 Jaycen Taylor – sophomore 42 Anthony Heygood – sophomore
Defensive line 45 Eugene Bright – junior 49 Anthony Spencer – senior 54 Jared Zwilling – RS freshman 58 Walt Higbee – freshman 70 Andrew Quintana – freshman 71 Alex Magee – sophomore 79 Jermaine Guynn – sophomore 87 Mike McDonald – junior 90 Ryan Baker – sophomore 91 Nick Cavallo – senior 92 Mike Neal – RS freshman 93 Jeff Benjamin – junior 94 Corey Chapman – freshman 95 Keyon Brown – RS freshman
Linebackers 17 Josh Ferguson – junior 22 Delos Bhatti – junior 27 Kevin Green – freshman 29 Jason Werner – sophomore 30 George Hall – senior 32 Cliff Avril – junior 36 Dan Bick – junior 39 John Humphrey – freshman 41 John Lampert – senior 46 Jeff Lindsay – freshman 47 Mike Durrett – junior 55 Andy Deeds – junior 59 Stanford Keglar – junior 81 Al Royal – senior Defensive backs 2 Torri Williams – sophomore 3 Frank Duong – RS junior 4 Fabian Martin – sophomore 5 Zach Logan – sophomore 7 Brandon King – sophomore 8 Keith Smith – freshman 10 Royce Adams – freshman 15 Brandon Blackmon – junior 16 Brandon Erwin – freshman 23 Justin Scott – junior 27 Jerad Grey – sophomore 26 Aaron Lane – junior 34 Terrell Vinson – junior 35 David Pender – freshman 37 Paul Dubler – RS senior 40 Jonte Lindsey – junior 43 Adam Wolf – RS freshman 48 Pat Kohtz – senior
Punters 11 Jared Armstrong – junior
Kickers 8 Casey Welch – senior 13 Chris Summers – freshman 8 Brody McKnight – freshman
Game summaries
Indiana State
Purdue opened up the 2006 campaign with a win over Division I-AA opponent Indiana State Purdue paid tribute to the 1966 Rose Bowl championship team by wearing throwback jerseys. The Boilermakers dominated the first quarter with touchdown runs by Kory Sheets and Curtis Painter and a safety sandwiched in between the running scores. The Sycamores of Indiana State then got on the board with a touchdown run by quarterback Reilly Murphy. Painter then completed a touchdown pass to Dorien Bryant to close out the first quarter scoring. Indiana St. took advantage of a special teams miscue by Purdue when they returned a punt for a touchdown. Purdue got a field goal from Chris Summers before the blocked punt in the second quarter. Indiana State also scored a rushing touchdown right before halftime. Painter and Sheets both scored rushing touchdowns in the third quarter, while Sycamores running back Tony West scored his second rushing touchdown of the day. Purdue blew open the game in the fourth quarter with three straight touchdowns. Kory Sheets scored his third rushing touchdown and Bryant caught two more TD passes from Painter. Indiana State capped off the scoring with two seconds left in the game when Murphy tossed a touchdown pass to receiver Brian Jackson.
Miami (OH)
Purdue took on the Redhawks in their second home game of the 2006 season. The first quarter ended with neither team scoring any points. Kory Sheets scored on a short touchdown run early in the second quarter. This was followed by a Nathan Parseghian field goal to get Miami on the board. Chris Summers connected from 43 yards out to give Purdue a 10–3 halftime lead. Mike Kokal threw two touchdown passes in the third quarter to Jake O'Connell and Dustin Woods for the Redhawks. Sheets added his second rushing touchdown of the game between the Miami scores, as the quarter ended in a 17–17 tie. Kokal threw two more touchdown passes, both to Ryne Robinson, the last coming with around 6 minutes remaining to tie the game at 31–31. Kory Sheets had opened the quarter with his third touchdown run. Curtis Painter tossed a touchdown pass Greg Orton before Robinson's second touchdown. Purdue had a chance to drive for the possible win in the fourth quarter but Painter was intercepted. Miami's last second field goal was blocked by Boilermaker defender Anthony Spencer. In overtime, Kory Sheets scored his fourth touchdown of the game and the Boilers' defense held for the 38–31 victory.
Ball State
In the third game of the season, Purdue took on the Cardinals from Ball State. Ball State opened up the scoring with a touchdown pass from Joey Lynch to Louis Johnson. The Boilermakers responded with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Curtis Painter to tight end Dustin Keller. The Cardinals took a 10–7 lead at the end of the first quarter after a field goal. The only second-quarter scoring came from Purdue as Painter ran for a short touchdown and connected with halfback Kory Sheets on a 3-yard touchdown pass. Purdue extended its lead to 31–13 after three quarters following a touchdown run by Kory Sheets and a Chris Summers field goal. Painter tossed a second TD pass to Sheets in the final quarter before Ball State added two late scores from Brad Salyer and Darius Hill.
Minnesota
The Boilermakers kicked off the Big Ten season against the Golden Gophers. Minnesota scored on its very first possession of the game with a 1-yard run from Justin Valentine. Purdue responded in kind with a 39-yard field goal from kicker Chris Summers. The Boilers took a 10–7 halftime lead when Curtis Painter found Dorien Bryant for a 27-yard touchdown pass. Purdue extended its lead to 20–7 in the third quarter with a touchdown run by halfback Jaycen Taylor and another Summers field goal. Minnesota closed the gap to 20–14 heading into the fourth quarter when quarterback Bryan Cupito found tight end Matt Spaeth for a 1-yard touchdown pass. Painter connected with Taylor for a touchdown in the final quarter before Cupito found Logan Payne for his second touchdown pass of the day. The Purdue defense held off the Gophers final drive to preserve the 27–21 victory and move to 4–0.
Notre Dame
Purdue traveled to Notre Dame, Indiana, for its first road game of the 2006 season to take on Notre Dame in their annual rivalry. The Irish went right down the field following the opening kickoff and scored on a short run by George West. Purdue answered later in the quarter to tie the game at 7–7 when Kory Sheets ran into the end zone from 7 yards out. Darius Walker put Notre Dame up 14–7 when he scored on a 14-yard run. Purdue fell behind 28–7 following Brady Quinn's 6-yard pass to Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzija's 5-yard touchdown run on a fake field goal. The Boilermakers responded right before halftime when Curtis Painter found Selwyn Lymon over the middle for an 88-yard touchdown pass. McKnight caught his second touchdown pass of the afternoon from Quinn for the only scoring in the third quarter. Lymon capped off his 238-yard receiving day with his second touchdown catch of the day midway through the final quarter. The Boilermakers were unable to further score and the Irish retained possession of the Shillelagh Trophy.
Iowa
The Iowa Hawkeyes welcomed Purdue to Kinnick Stadium one week after losing their much anticipated game against top-ranked Ohio State. Iowa jumped on Purdue early and often, opening up a 14–0 first quarter lead with a touchdown run by Damian Sims and a pass from quarterback Drew Tate to fullback Tom Busch. Kyle Schlicher added two field goals in the second quarter and the Hawkeyes lead 20–3 at halftime. Purdue's only first half scoring came on a 44-yard field goal by freshman Chris Summers. Sims scored again on Iowa's first possession of the second half before Greg Orton caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from Curtis Painter. Tate then hit tight end Scott Chandler for a touchdown and Purdue then responded with a Jaycen Taylor touchdown run. The Boilermakers could get no closer as they were shut out in the fourth quarter. Shonn Greenne scored on a short run and Adam Shada returned an interception of a Curtis Painter pass 98 yards for a touchdown.
Northwestern
Purdue broke its two-game losing streak with one of its best defensive efforts of the 2006 season. Brandon Roberson put the Northwestern Wildcats on the scoreboard first with a 7-yard touchdown run. Jaycen Taylor then added his own 7-yard run for a score for the Boilermakers. Curtis Painter connected with Dustin Keller on a 19-yard scoring strike in the opening seconds of the second quarter. Northwestern added a field goal before Purdue answered with an 18-yard kick by Chris Summers to give the Boilermakers a 17–10 halftime lead. Purdue shut out the Wildcats in the second half and held the Northwestern offense to 251 yards for the game. Jake Standeford, younger brother of former standout Purdue receiver John Standeford, caught a 1-yard pass from Painter to put Purdue up by two touchdowns by the end of the third quarter. Painter then scored on a 3-yard touchdown run in the final quarter to give Purdue the 31–10 victory.
Wisconsin