Gold and Black @ 30: Year 29--2018-19

Related links: Year 1: 1990-91 | Year 2: 1991-92 | Year 3: 1992-93 | Year 4: 1993-94 | Year 5: 1994-95 | Year 6: 1995-96 | Year 7: 1996-97 | Year 8: 1997-98 | Year 9: 1998-99 | Year 10: 1999-00 | Year 11: 2000-01 | Year 12: 2001-02 | Year 13: 2002-03 | Year 14: 2003-04 | Year 15: 2004-05 | Year 16: 2005-06 | Year 17: 2006-07 | Year 18: 2007-08 | Year 19: 2008-09 | Year 20: 2009-10 | Year 21: 2010-11 | Year 22: 2011-12 | Year 23: 2012-13 | Year 24: 2013-14 | Year 25: 2014-15 | Year 26: 2015-16 | Year 27: 2016-17 | Year 28: 2017-18

Gold and Black Illustrated is celebrating 30 years of publishing. Over the next last few months and for the next three weeks, we will continue our look at each publishing year, reflecting on some key moments.

Note: Captions describing each cover are not available on mobile platforms.

There was nothing quite like this year in our 30 years of publishing.

I suppose one could say that for every year. But in our three decades, this was the year unlike any other in one true sense: It was the year that Purdue athletics became a national brand.

And it happened in a series of moments. Fleeting moments.

Rondale Moore earned the attention of the college football world with his first-half performance in his college debut on a Thursday night season-opening loss to Northwestern. Moore set the Purdue record for all-purpose yards, nearly in the first half alone.

But 51 days later, he performed, in concert with his upstart teammates, to pull off one of the most stunning performances in Purdue football history. The Boilermakers' 49-20 upset of No. 2 Ohio State in a ESPN Saturday night prime-time game was only part of the story.

Moore was unbelievable. His "spin to win" 43-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter was not only an exclamation point on an improbable victory, but it is without a doubt on the Mt. Rushmore of the most momentous plays in Purdue football history.

But Moore's heroics and the play of his teammates took a back seat to the national drama that was Tyler Trent.

The story continues after the photo

By now, every Purdue person knows the Trent story. And so does much of the world.

I remember Tom Rinaldi's ESPN's piece on Trent reducing me to tears the morning of the game. It was a strange late October day with inordinately high winds, sort of a harbinger of the winter to come. I thought it improbable that Trent would make it to the game. We had contact with the family during the fall semester, as Trent was an intern with us, having left campus for home about three weeks earlier. It was grim.

There was no way he was going to make it to the game. No way.

But when I heard Trent had made it to the press box, it still didn't quite hit me that this might be a magical evening. I remember talking to Tyler in the suite, and him reminding me "heck yes, we are going to win tonight." and me thinking that the victory was in the fact he made it to the game.

Those were the last face-to-face words I ever had with the kid. And he was a kid who would be gone from this Earth just over two months later. But whatever magic Tyler was able to weave on his Boilermakers that night, it was enough to last a lifetime for the rest of us.

The story continues after the photo

A few months later, it was Carsen Edwards' turn to capture the imagination of the nation with his performance over a two weekend stretch in the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Edwards' electric performances against Villanova, Tennessee and Virginia did more for Purdue basketball than anything since the days of Glenn Robinson and Rick Mount. And what he did on the court exceeded the NCAA Tournament play of the other two legends, and that was hard to do.

But it was Edwards' swagger, as much as his jumper, that made him a national story. He was fearless, and relentless. During that three-game stretch, no shot was too deep to take, and there weren't many shots that didn't go in.

But for Purdue fans, there was even more to the story. Edwards had struggled a great deal during conference play. So much so that some fans wanted coach Matt Painter to bench him. And yet, Ryan Cline and Grady Eifert (and others) joined the (at-times) misfiring Edwards in leading Purdue to a share of the Big Ten title.

What resonates most with me was that the stars aligned for Purdue in the Tournament. None more so than in the win over Tennessee in the Sweet 16. Cline, who had battled personal challenges earlier in his Boilermaker career, put on a performance of his career, especially in the second half. Eifert had emerged as the glue of the team, not bad for a walk-on.

Yes, the Virginia loss in the Elite Eight will always sting the Purdue faithful. But the run to that point will never be forgotten.

What I remember most about our 29th publishing year?

Purdue was cool. Really cool. It was relevant, if not compelling on a national stage. And Moore, Trent and Edwards made it that way.

Membership Info: Sign up for GoldandBlack.com now | Why join? | Questions?

Follow GoldandBlack.com: Twitter | Facebook | YouTube

More: Gold and Black Illustrated/Gold and Black Express | Subscribe to our podcast

Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2020. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited.