College Football Old School Game of the Week: Brees Leads Purdue Back From 18 Points Down to Upset Michigan

Drew Brees completed 32 of 44 passes for 286 yards and ran for 80 yards on 10 carries.

 By the time the 2000 college football season arrived, Drew Brees was already a Purdue football legend.

In his previous two seasons as the starting quarterback of the Boilermakers, Brees had thrown for over 8,000 yards and 64 touchdown passes.

But on October 7, 2000, Brees would put his stamp as probably the greatest player in Purdue history with his performance against the Michigan Wolverines.

The Boilermakers came into the Michigan game with a 3-2 record having suffered heartbreaking losses to Notre Dame and Penn State.

Purdue had entered the 2000 season with high expectations as Brees had returned for his senior season to direct fourth-year head coach Joe Tiller's "basketball on grass" spread offense that used the passing game to light up the scoreboard as the Boilermakers had played in three consectutive bowl games after only having played in five prior to Tiller's arrival in 1997.

Purdue fans were hoping Brees and Tiller could lead the Boilermakers to somewhere they hadn't been since the end of the 1966 season and that was to Pasadena and play in the Rose Bowl.

For any chance of that happening, the Boilermakers would have to knock off Michigan, who came into the game ranked #6 with a 4-1 record.

The Wolverines, led by head coach Lloyd Carr, had a pretty stout offense as well as it featured quarterback Drew Henson, running back Anthony Thomas, and wide receivers David Terell and Marquise Walker.

Michigan traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the Boilermakers, a team they had beaten in 25 of the previous 29 meetings and to a place where they had not lost since 1984.

Michigan got the ball to start the game as the Wolverines would drive 82 yards in 12 plays as Henson completed all six of his passes for 52 yards on the drive including a seven-yard touchdown pass to  Walker to give Michigan a 7-0 lead.

Purdue would begin its initial possession of the game at its 12-yard-line as Brees would go 6-of-9 for 58 yards on a 17-play, 81-yard drive which should have ended with a touchdown but A.T. Simpson dropped a pass in the back of the end zone on 3rd & goal, forcing the Boilermakers to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Travis Dorsch to cut the Michigan lead to 7-3 with 3:03 left in the first quarter.

The Wolverines would respond with a 15-play, 80-yard drive that took over seven minutes to complete and did not end until Henson connected with running back B.J. Askew for a four-yard touchdown pass to push Michigan's lead to 14-3 with 11:02 to go in the second quarter.

The Boilermakers would get the ball back at its 23-yard-line as Brees completed a 14-yard pass to Seth Morales to begin the drive, then ran for 21 yards on 3rd & 1 to give Purdue a 1st down at the Michigan 33-yard-line which was followed by a 16-yard run by Montrell Lowe for another Purdue 1st down at the Michigan 17-yard-line.

However on the next play from scrimmage, Brees would be picked off by Michigan cornerback Todd Howard on a pass intended for Morales in the end zone to give the ball back to the Wolverines who would take over at their 20-yard-line.

The Wolverines would pick up one 1st down before facing a 3rd & 2 situation at their 39-yard-line when Henson handed the ball off to Thomas who exploded for a 61-yard touchdown to increase the Michigan lead to 21-3 with 6:25 left in the second quarter.

Now behind by 18 points, Purdue would need Brees to get hot if they wanted to keep the game from getting out of hand.

After a six-yard run by Lowe to start the Boilermakers' ensuing possession, Brees would complete passes of 10 yards to Vinny Sutherland and 12 yards to tight end Tim Stratton to put Purdue at its 48-yard-line.

Then after two runs by Lowe for seven yards, Brees would find Sutherland for 15 yards and a 1st down at the Michigan 30-yard-line as two more runs by Lowe picked up five yards to set up 3rd & 5 when Brees connected with Sutherland again, this time for a 25-yard touchdown to bring Purdue to within 11 points at 21-10 with 1:50 left remaining in the first half.

That was plenty of time for Michigan to put some points on the board before halftime as the Wolverines would start their next possession at their 11-yard-line with a 36-yard pass from Henson to Askew for a 1st down at the Wolverines' 47-yard-line

Henson would then find Terrell for nine yards then after an incomplete pass on 2nd & 1 hit Terrell again for 13 yards and a Michigan 1st down at the Purdue 31-yard-line.

Henson would then Walker for 11 yards and Terrell for 13 yards to give Michigan a 1st & goal at the Purdue seven-yard-line as a couple of penalties would push the Wolverines back to the 15-yard-line when Henson connected with Terrell for a 15-yard touchdown to push the Michigan lead back to 18 points at 28-10 with 13 seconds left before halftime.

Michigan quarterback  Drew Henson threw for 256 yards and three touchdown passes.

Brees would take a knee to end the first half with his team down 28-10 after a 1st half which saw the Purdue defense allow 351 yards of total offense on four Michigan drives which all resulted in touchdowns.

Purdue would get the ball to start the second half as the Boilermakers would use the running game for their next possession as only 19 of the 75 yards on the 11-play drive came through the air as Lowe ran for 30 yards to put Purdue in Michigan territory which was followed by a 10-yard run by Sutherland on a reverse a few plays later.

The drive would end with an one-yard touchdown run by running back Steve Ennis to cut the deficit to 12 points at 28-16 as the Boilermakers would attempt a two-point conversion after the touchdown.

However, Brees' pass would fall incomplete to keep it the score 28-16 with 11:03 remaining in the third quarter.

Following the first punt of the game by the Wolverines, Purdue got the ball back at its 20-yard-line as Brees would complete six of his next seven passes for 40 yards plus ran three times for 15 yards on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that culminated with a 16-yard touchdown run by Lowe to bring the Boilermakers to within a touchdown at 28-23 with 4:12 left in the third quarter.

The Wolverines would hold the ball for the rest of the third quarter as they drove from their 20-yard-line to the Purdue 37-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Boilermakers who took over at their five-yard-line as the fourth quarter began.

The Michigan defense would force a three-and-out to get the ball back at the Purdue 24-yard-line after a 23-yard punt return by Rolland Bellamy to give the Wolverines an excellent chance to make it a two-score game again.

But the Purdue defense would not allow a 1st down and forced the Wolverines to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Jeff Del Verne to make it 31-23 in favor of Michigan with 11:55 left in the fourth quarter.

The Boilermakers would begin their next drive at their 20-yard-line as Brees would lead the Purdue offense on a 12-play, 80-yard drive that was capped off with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Brees to John Standeford to make it 31-29 with a potential game-tying two-point conversion coming up.

But once again the Boilermakers could not convert a two-point conversion as Stratton could not hang on to Brees' two-point pass to keep Michigan in the lead at 31-29 with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines would go three-and-out to give the ball back to the Boilermakers at the Michigan 48-yard-line with 4:52 left and a chance to drive for the go-ahead score.

After an incomplete pass to start the drive, Brees would run for 14 yards to pick up a 1st down at the Michigan 34-yard-line, then completed back-to-back passes for 16 yards to put the Boilermakers in the red zone at the Michigan 18-yard-line.

An eight-yard run by Lowe on 1st down would put Purdue at the Wolverines' 10-yard-line when the drive would stall as Lowe was stopped for no gain on 2nd down which was followed by a false start penalty and then an incomplete pass to bring up 4th down as Dorsch would come on to attempt a 32-yard field goal.

But Dorsch's kick would sail wide left and no good to keep it 31-29 in favor of Michigan with 2:11 and the Boilermakers left with two timeouts and needing one more defensive stop in order to give their offense another chance.

After two running plays went nowhere, Henson tried to connect with Walker for a potential game-winning 1st down only to have his pass fall incomplete to force a Michigan punt as the Boilermakers would get the ball back at their 41-yard-line with 1:41 left on the clock.

Travis Dorsch would make the game-winning field goal with four seconds left.

The drive would began with a 10-yard run by Brees to put Purdue in Michigan territory at the Wolverines 49-yard-line as Brees' pass for Morales fell incomplete to bring up 2nd down where Brees found Simpson for nine yards to set up 3rd & 1 at the Michigan 40-yard-line.

That is when Brees connected with Standeford for four yards and a 1st down at the Michigan 36-yard-line as Brees would hit Sutherland on back-to-back passes for 15 yards to put Purdue at the 21-yard-line.

After Michigan was called for too many men on the field which gave Purdue an extra five yards, the Boilermakers would go conservative as Lowe ran the ball for one yard on 1st & 5, which was followed by a knee by Brees and a spike to bring up 4th down at the Michigan 17-yard-line as Dorsch was called on to attempt a 33-yard field goal with eight seconds left.

Michigan called timeout in hopes of icing Dorsch but it did not work as Dorsch would make the kick to give Purdue their first lead of the game at 32-31 with four seconds left.

The Wolverines would not pull off a miracle on the ensuing kickoff as the game came to an end with the Boilermakers on top 32-31 as the Purdue fans would rush the field and tear down the goalposts following the victory.

The Wolverines would only lose one more game in the 2000 season, an epic 54-51 shootout loss to Northwestern(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2021/10/college-football-old-school-game-of_20.html) as Michigan would finish with a 9-3 record and a #10 ranking in the final coaches poll while finishing #11 in the final AP poll.

As for the Boilermakers, their win over Michigan would be the beginning of a magical four-game winning streak which saw Purdue knock off Northwestern, Wisconsin, and Ohio State to propel the Boilermakers to the Big 10 championship and their first trip to the Rose Bowl in 34 years.

Brees would finish the season as the Big 10's all-time leader in passing completions, passing attempts, passing yards, and touchdown passes as he would be nominated as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy as he would finish 3rd in the race behind quarterbacks Josh Heupel and eventual winner Chris Weinke.

Brees would go on to be selected by the San Diego Chargers with the 32nd overall pick of the 2001 NFL draft where he would play for five seasons before signing with the New Orleans Saints where he would play for 15 years as he set numerous NFL records and lead the Saints to a win over the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLIV.