West Lafayette 0000- Purdue's Kyle Orton played just like he envisioned.
The completions, first downs and touchdown passes came easily, almost too easily.
He shredded Indiana's defense for 522 yards and six touchdowns and led the Boilermakers' record-breaking offense to a 63-24 rout of Indiana in the annual Old Oaken Bucket game.
"I actually went to bed last night thinking it would be nice to get our offense going again like we had earlier in the year," Orton said. "It was a great ending."
The Boilermakers (7-4, 4-4) broke the Big Ten record for total yards, finishing with 763, and scored 60 points for the first time since 1913.
Orton reverted to the form that made him a Heisman Trophy candidate earlier this year before a four-game losing streak and an injury knocked him out of the race.
He made the right reads, spread the ball around and took advantage of continual mismatches. By halftime, Orton already had thrown for 401 yards and five touchdowns while Purdue (7-4, 4-4)
piled up 512 yards in total offense.
Orton's teammates did their part, too. Three receivers, Taylor Stubblefield, Kyle Ingraham and Dorien Bryant, all topped 100 yards in the first half, and Indiana (3-8, 1-7) was simply
overmatched.
The Hoosiers finished their season with three straight losses, but losing the Bucket for the seventh time in eight years stung nearly as bad as the fact they were never close.
"This was just about the worst day we've had as a team," Indiana coach Gerry DiNardo said. "It was an ugly day, but the world is not going to cave in, even though it felt like it a few times out there."
Orton played the biggest part in picking apart the Hoosiers.
He tied Drew Brees' records for yards passing and touchdowns in a game, and finished with 530 yards in total offense. Brees also held that previous mark (524), which he set in October 1998 against Minnesota.
Taylor Stubblefield, Orton's favorite target, also had a record-breaking day. He caught 14 passes for 138 yards and three touchdowns to set the NCAA's all-time reception record. He finished
the day with 309 catches, passing Louisville's Arnold Jackson (300), and now must wait to see if he keeps the record. Marshall's Josh Davis entered the day tied with Stubblefield at 295, but Davis
was playing Saturday night against Western Michigan.
Stubblefield also broke the school mark of 13 TD receptions in a season. He has 15.
It was that kind of game for the Boilermakers, whose bowl plans remain uncertain.
"We will just have to go home tonight and see what happens," Orton said. "Obviously, we want to go to the best bowl we can, have fun and just try to win one more game."
Orton's numbers could have been even more impressive if not for a couple drops, but the rare mistakes didn't matter.
Orton led the Boilermakers to touchdowns on their first three possessions, throwing TD passes of 52 yards to Ingraham and 23 yards to Stubblefield. Brandon Jones added a 4-yard TD run.
Indiana closed to 21-10 when Victor Adeyanju sacked Orton, forcing a fumble, and Will Lumpkin returned it 74 yards for a TD early in the second quarter. It was Lumpkin's second TD of the
season and extended the Hoosiers school record to five defensive touchdowns in a season.
For Purdue, it was merely a speed bump.
Orton threw three more touchdowns in the second quarter, a 21-yarder to Bryant, a 17-yarder to Stubblefield and a 26-yarder to Ingraham to make it 42-10 at halftime.
Orton then connected with Stubblefield on a 12-yard TD early in the third quarter.
"Getting pressure on Orton was a little bit of a problem early, but we had matchup problems everywhere," DiNardo said. "Where we were soft, Purdue took advantage."
After Purdue pulled Orton early in the fourth quarter, Bryant scored on a 62-yard run and backup quarterback Brandon Kirsch a 61-yard TD to Charles Davis.
Ingraham finished with 11 catches for 209 yards and Bryant had five receptions for 131 yards.
BenJarvus Green-Ellis led Indiana with 15 carries for 94 yards.
Matt LoVecchio was 21 of 34 for 239 yards with one touchdown in his final college game.
"This is something we can do when we are on," Stubblefield said. "We wanted to come out and win this game in the first quarter and take their emotion away."
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
