The following is rerun from our Top 50 in 50 series we did a while back. We caught up with Mike Phipps earlier this week and he put the game, played on Oct. 4, 1969, in perspective, 50 years later:
"This was a game 30 years ahead of its time. Nearly 800 yards in passing offense was unheard of then, but that is what happened on that day. I got a hot hand in the fourth quarter, and we were able to come back. It was an amazing game.
"And you couple that with the fact that the game wasn't televised, and how it still resonates today, and it is even more surprising. With the exception of crusing Ohio State my sophomore year (Purdue won 41-6 in Columbus) I never played in a game that I enjoyed more."
Purdue’s Mike Phipps versus Stanford’s Jim Plunkett. Never has Purdue and Ross-Ade Stadium had a bigger matchup of quarterbacks. Phipps was the 1969 Heisman Trophy runnerup to Oklahoma’s Steve Owens in one of the closest ballots ever while Plunkett would edge Notre Dame’s Joe Theismann for the 1970 award.
The two headline quarterbacks did not disappoint. Before the game was over, Phipps had broken school records for attempts (39), completions (28), yardage (429) and touchdowns (five). Plunkett tossed for a cool 355 yards and four touchdowns and gained 61 yards rushing.
All of these astronomical passing numbers were a little foreign to Hall of Fame Coach Jack Mollenkopf. He had never had a quarterback, including two-time All-American Bob Griese, pass for over 300 yards in a game.
In fact, this would be the only time Phipps would pass for over 300 yards in a contest in his collegiate career.Mollenkopf's 14th and final Purdue team had a different makeup than all the rest. Typically his teams, especially in the early years of his head coaching tenure, won with defense.
With only two returning offensive starters from the previous year, it was a little surprising the 1969 team won with offense. The defense had several returning starters and was expected to be the strength of the team.The '69 Boilers scored more points (354) and gave up more points (264) than any team to date in school history. In fact, they gave up more points in one season than Mollenkopf’s ’59, ’61 and ’62 teams combined. It took until the arrival of Joe Tiller in 1997 (when Purdue posted 397 points in 12 games) for the Boilermakers to light up the scoreboard more often.
With all the numbers and such, the game was a true classic in the year that college football was celebrating a century of competition. For most of the game on that beautiful October afternoon, the Boilers were swimming upstream. The visitors led 35-21 early in the fourth quarter.
That is when Phipps put together one of the greatest passing quarters in the first century of college football and in the entire history of the college game for that matter. In the fourth quarter alone, Phipps completed 13-straight passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns.Purdue’s two game-winning drives took just five plays covering 157 yards. The advantage was cut to 35-28 when Phipps hit junior Randy Cooper for 38 yards on a well-executed screen pass. He then found sophomore tight end Ashley Bell for 21 before connecting with John Bullock, who broke a couple of tackles to take it 21 yards for the score. Bell, a brilliant tight end as a sophomore led all Purdue receivers with nine catches for 145 yards and one touchdown.
The Boilers managed to get the ball back with 3:21 left at their own 23. Once again Phipps connected with Cooper, who raced 63 yards to the Stanford 14. Cooper, Purdue’s leading rusher in ’69, would be switched to defense his senior season in 1970 upon the arrival of Otis Armstrong. He caught six passes for 117 yards against Stanford.On the next play, Phipps, under significant pressure, found Stanley "The Human Airplane" Brown deep in the end zone for a 14-yard touchdown. Instead of going for the tie, Mollenkopf went for victory. This time Phipps found sophomore tight end Greg Fenner for the two-point conversion. Fenner was best known for this catch and his first career reception the year before in a dramatic comeback win over Indiana.
A couple of other items: Had this game been later in the season, Mike Phipps probably would have won the 1969 Heisman Trophy. Owens played on a mediocre Oklahoma team, and Phipps hurt his candidacy with a poor performance on national television late in the season at Ohio State.
Though not televised, the offensive fireworks of this game resonated throughout the world of college football. It helped Phipps become a consensus All-American over other great quarterbacks like Plunkett and Mississippi’s Archie Manning.
It also marked the last truly noteworthy victory of Jack Mollenkopf’s brilliant career at Purdue. His last five teams lost just two games per season during the greatest span of success in the modern era of Boilermaker football.
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