By this part of the prep for the Michigan game, you may be tired of reading of how Purdue hasn't won in The Big House since 1966. But there was a time, albeit brief, when every bounce went Purdue's way in Ann Arbor.

It was a very different time in terms of football, and it was over 40 years ago.

The Boilermakers under Coach Jack Mollenkopf made it look easy in Ann Arbor. Still, it is doubtful any of us will live long enough to see the Boilermakers accomplish what it did from 1962-66.

That accomplishment?

First, it would be Purdue beating Michigan five years in a row in football. Second, would be winning four-straight games in Michigan Stadium, something that the Boilermakers did from 1963-66.

Though Purdue has the worst winning percentage of all Big Ten teams in Ann Arbor, the four-game streak tied a Michigan opponent record. It matters little that the last three contests from 1964-66 were won by a combined four points, no less.

During that half-decade span, beating Michigan was pretty much written the Boilermakers' appointment book for the third Saturday in October. For on the weekend from 1962 to '66, it happened. The streak started out easy, but it ended up being as challenging and crazy as a football came could get.

The 1962 game in Ross-Ade Stadium was easy for Purdue with a 37-0 blowout (just when do you think Purdue will shutout a Michigan team again?). The '63 victory in Ann Arbor was a convincing 23-12 Purdue win, but the final three in the Big House took some sort of divine intervention for the Boilermakers to claim victory.

Purdue beat the No. 5-ranked Wolves 21-20 in '64 in a game that served as sophomore quarterback Bob Griese's arrival as a headlines-making quarterback. The following year, the Boilermakers doubled the victory margin by "blowing out" the Wolverines 17-15 on a last-minute field goal by quarterback and kicker Bob Griese.

The 35-yard game-winning three pointer was one of just three times in the last 40 years Purdue has won a game on a field goal in the last minute. The others? In 2000 versus Michigan and last week as kicker Ben Jones drove the nail in Wisconsin's coffin. Chris Summers' game-winner in the 2007 Motor City Bowl missed the last-minute deadline by nine seconds.

Griese's game winner came as a surprise to him. He was shocked that Mollenkopf ordered him to attempt the field goal. It turned out to be the longest of his eight career three-pointers.

Despite some minor miracles in '64 and '65, the 1966 contest may have taken the cake for strange happenings.

End Jim Beirne, who played at Michigan as a sophomore and a junior, remembered the wild games in Ann Arbor. He also recalled his team being pretty sure of itself.

"We were really confident in our abilities to win," recalled the All-American end when asked about the victory.. "I don't think college kids today worry about having to play at Michigan or at playing at a high school field. I know we didn't.

"We just wanted to win, We sure had an amazing string up there, and it would be great for this year's team to start another one."

Beirne admitted, there were plenty of uneasy moments in the '65 and '66 games at Michigan.

The Wolverines began the '66 campaign with two consecutive victories and jumped to eighth in the rankings. But consecutive losses to North Carolina and No. 1 Michigan State left the Wolverines determined heading into the Purdue game. The Boilermakers entered the contest No. 9 in the country with a 3-1 mark, and had shut out Iowa 35-0 the week before to open conference play.

The hosts might have been determined, but they were their own worst enemy.

Unlike Griese's game-winner the year before, this time it was a last-minute field goal that Michigan missed that was one of the several story lines in the game's final half. Trailing 22-21 and driving with under two minutes left in the game, Michigan and Coach Bump Elliott saw its drive stall at the Purdue 18. On fourth down, Elliott elected to have Dick Sygar attempt a 35-yard field goal instead of trying to get the one-yard necessary for a first down. The kick missed badly and the Boilers held on for the victory.

It wasn't Sygar's only blunder of the day.

A lot happened before the crucial field goal attempt. After a 14-14 standoff at halftime, Michigan grabbed a 21-14 lead. With two minutes left in the third quarter, Griese boomed a punt against the wind that was heading towards the end zone. For some reason, Sygar picked the ball up at the Michigan 1 and was thrust by John Charles and Bob Sebeck into the end zone for a safety.

The score was now 21-16 Michigan, but there were more special-teams woes to come for host team.

Griese, who had one of his poorest passing efforts of his senior year hitting just 7-of-17 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown, boomed another punt giving Michigan the ball at its 22. Standout running back Carl Ward was thrown for a 14-yard loss by Dennis Cirbes that ultimately forced the Wolverines to punt from their 10.

Purdue rushed 10 men and linebacker Frank Burke broke free. He stuffed the punt knocking it high into the air. Burke fell to the turf, yet he regained his footing in time to catch the ball and fall into the end zone. Though Michigan would threaten later in the quarter, Purdue had all the points it needed with 12:14 remaining in the game.

Burke was a story in himself. Back from service in the armed forces, he was 27 years old and a father of two. He moved into the starting rotation after an injury to Bob Yunaska.

After the Boilers took the lead, Michigan proceeded to blow a far greater scoring opportunity than Sygar's missed last-minute field goal. Michigan moved the ball from its 15 to the Purdue goal line in 10 plays thanks in part to a 38-yard pass play which defensive back George Catavolas made a touchdown-saving tackle on at the Purdue 2. Michigan got a yard on the next play, then quarterback Dick Vidmer fumbled but Ward picked up the loose ball. On the next play, however, Vidmer wasn't so lucky as he missed the handoff connection causing the fumble, picked up the loose ball, was cracked by Cirbes, fumbled again and Catavolas recovered it at the Purdue 9.

Yes, Purdue had some good fortune at Michigan in those days. It didn't hurt, however, that it also had some pretty talented players that had a tendency to make the big plays at the right time. The plays in the '66 win helped Purdue play another day ... and another and another all the way to Pasadena.

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