Old National Presents: Night moves in Evanston
If Purdue first two night games in Evanston are any indicator, the Boilermakers might be in for a memorable experience under the lights of Ryan Field Saturday night.
Purdue pulled an upset in each, winning 75 years apart: 1935 in the first night game in Big Ten history, and 2010 in the Boilermakers' most-recent road victory against a nationally ranked foe (coaches poll).
The '35 game, the season-opener for both teams played on Oct. 5, was moved to a night contest in part because the Chicago Cubs' appearance in the 1935 World Series. Night games in the Fall Classic didn't commence for another 36 years.
Newspaper accounts mentioned the football game being played with the help of floodlights, as lighting technology has come a long way in the past 82 years. Heck, the first regular-season night game in major league history happened less than five months earlier when the homestanding Cincinnati Reds defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 on May 24, 1935.
And while the lighting might not have been the best, it was good enough for Purdue's Tommy McGannon to catch a punt and return it 58 yards for a touchdown for the game's only score. McGannon broke tackles at the Wildcat 20 and at the goal line to get the score. Coach Noble Kizer's Boilermakers held on for dear life as the teams played to a stalemate after that.
The highlight of the game was Purdue's Military Band, which made the trip from West Lafayette and put on a spectacular light show. Descriptions are a bit unclear of what exactly the light show was, but it was "spectacular" rest assured.
The Boilermaker victory was considered to be quite an upset because Northwestern was one of the early season league favorites. In the end, neither team was able to compete with eventual national champ Minnesota or Ohio State, which was ranked No. 5, in the conference race. Purdue finished just 4-4 that season, tied for third place in the conference. The Wildcats, under its famous coach of the time Pappy Waldorf, finished 4-3-1.
The story takes a tragic tune less than a year later, game hero McGannon was killed in a locker room fire during the Boilermakers' training camp at Ross Camp. Back in the day, athletic tape from ankles and knees was removed by gasoline, and unfortunately it ignited after a Sept. 12 practice, killing McGannon and teammate Carl Dahlback.
Seventy-five years later, the Boilermakers needed a 67-yard run from quarterback Rob Henry to ignite a rally and pull the upset over the Wildcats, who were an 8.5-point favorite and ranked No. 25 in the coaches poll. Henry was a third-string quarterback less than a month earlier, but had worked his way to backup and became the starter when Robert Marve blew out a knee the previous game against Toledo.
With a bye week to recover from an embarrassing loss to the Rockets, Coach Danny Hope's offensive coordinator, Gary Nord, installed an extensive option package for Henry, and the redshirt freshman responded. Henry rushed for 132 yards, still the second best rushing effort by a Purdue quarterback ever, and like it did 75 years earlier, the visitors held on barely for victory.
Henry's deft ball-handling, as pictured above, also helped Purdue score its game-winning touchdown. Senior back Dan Dierking utilized an excellent fake by Henry to score from 10-yards out with just over four minutes left in the game.
Purdue was also helped by a blocked field goal early in the game by future NFL star Kawann Short, and that block played a role in Northwestern kicker Stefan Damos rushing and missing a potential game-tying 43-yard kick in the closing seconds.
The victory was one of the high points of Hope's tenure at Purdue, but unfortunately the Boilermakers would only win one more game in the final seven contests of the 2010 season.
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