# 2000 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 2000 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 2000 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana and competed in the Big Ten Conference. In its fourth year under head coach Joe Tiller, Purdue compiled an 8–4 record, won the conference championship, but was defeated by Washington in the 2001 Rose Bowl.
Purdue's offense was led by quarterback and Heisman Trophy-finalist Drew Brees. Brees led the Big Ten in completions, attempts, passing yards and passing touchdowns, setting the Big Ten career record for career passing yards with 11,517 passing former Purdue player, Mark Herrmann who had set the mark with 9,946 in 1980. The team had neither a 1,000-yard rusher nor a 1,000-yard receiver. Vinny Sutherland was the leading receiver with 926 receiving yards, and Montrell Lowe led the team in rushing with 919 rushing yards. Drew Brees and offensive tackle Matt Light were the only players on the offensive unit selected as an All-American by Pro Football Weekly.
On defense, the 2000 Purdue team had true freshman safety Stuart Schweigert, who intercepted five passes and also led the team in tackles with 85. Other standouts on defense included defensive end Akin Ayodele with 9.0 quarterback sacks, and linebacker Landon Johnson with 71 tackles and two sacks, and safety Ralph Turner with 65 tackles, four sacks and an interception.
Ten members of the team were honored as All-Big Ten Conference selections, quarterback Drew Brees was named the Big Ten Offensive of the Year and the Chicago Tribune Silver Football, while safety Stuart Schweigert was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year. Nineteen members of the 2000 Boilermakers football team went on to play in the NFL. Prior to 2000, the Boilermakers had compiled three consecutive winning seasons and had not won a Big Ten Championship since the 1967 Purdue team.
The 2000 team, which boasted two future Super Bowl winners, was featured in the 2013 Big Ten Network documentary series Big Ten Elite and is still widely regarded by Purdue fans as one of the greatest Boilermakers football teams of all time. The Boilermakers have yet to win the Big Ten championship or reach the Rose Bowl since then.

## Season

The season was Drew Brees's final year with the Boilermakers. He left Purdue with Big Ten Conference records in passing yards (11,792), touchdown passes (90), total offensive yards (12,693), completions (1,026), and attempts (1,678). Brees won the Maxwell Award as the nation's outstanding player of 2000 and won the NCAA's Today's Top VIII Award as a member of the Class of 2001. Brees was third in balloting for the Heisman Trophy in 2000. The Boilermakers won all 8 of their games when they scored 30 points or more in 2000.

### Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 2 | 1:00 pm | Central Michigan* | No. 15 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 48–0 | 56,197 |
| September 9 | 1:00 pm | Kent State* | No. 14 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 45–10 | 62,181 |
| September 16 | 12:00 pm | at No. 21 Notre Dame* | No. 13 | Notre Dame StadiumNotre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy) | NBC | L 21–23 | 80,232 |
| September 23 | 11:00 am | Minnesota | No. 21 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ESPN | W 38–24 | 67,425 |
| September 30 | 2:30 pm | at Penn State | No. 22 | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | ABC | L 20–22 | 96,023 |
| October 7 | 11:00 am | No. 6 Michigan | | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ABC | W 32–31 | 68,340 |
| October 14 | 11:00 am | at No. 17 Northwestern | No. 21 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPN | W 41–28 | 41,053 |
| October 21 | 11:00 am | at Wisconsin | No. 17 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | ESPN | W 30–24 $^{OT}$ | 79,048 |
| October 28 | 2:30 pm | No. 12 Ohio State | No. 16 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ABC | W 31–27 | 68,666 |
| November 11 | 1:00 pm | at Michigan State | No. 9 | Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI | ABC | L 10–30 | 74,624 |
| November 18 | 3:30 pm | Indiana | No. 17 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket) | ABC | W 41–13 | 69,104 |
| January 1 | 5:00 pm | vs. No. 4 Washington | No. 14 | Rose BowlPasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | ABC | L 24–34 | 94,392 |
| *Non-conference gameRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Stuart Schweigert
* Brady Doe
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| Landon Johnson | Joe Odom | Gilbert Gardner |
| Alex Tone | Jason Loerzel | Patrick Schaub |
* SS
* Ralph Turner
* Tom Vaughan
* CB
* Chris Clopton
* Jacques Reeves
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Akin Ayodele | Craig Terrill | Matt Mitrione | Shaun Phillips |
| Brian Dinkins | Daemeon Grier | Brent Botts | Warren Moore |
* CB
* Ashante Woodyard
* R'Kes Starling
Offense :
* WR
* Vinny Sutherland
* Donald Winston
* WR
* John Standeford
* Andre Henderson
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Matt Light | Gene Mruczkowski | Chukky Okobi | Rob Turner | Brandon Gorin |
| Ian Allen | Kelly Kitchel | Nick Pilipaukis | Sean Rufolo | Kelly Butler |
* TE
* Tim Stratton
* Chris Randolph
* WR
* Seth Morales
* A. T. Simpson
* QB
* Drew Brees
* Brandon Hance
* Special teams
* PK Travis Dorsch
* P Scott Kurz
* P Travis Dorsch
* KR Vinny Sutherland
* PR Vinny Sutherland
* LS Tim Stratton
* H Ben Smith
* RB
* Montrell Lowe
* Sedrick Brown

## Game summaries
### Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan | 7 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 31 |
| • Purdue | 3 | 7 | 13 | 9 | 32 |

### At Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 7 | 7 | 20 | 7 | 41 |
| Northwestern | 14 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
* Montrell Lowe 26 Rush, 174 Yds

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| • Purdue | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 6 | 30 |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 14 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 24 |
Drew Brees becomes the career passing yardage leader in Big Ten history.

### Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ohio State | 0 | 3 | 17 | 7 | 27 |
| • Purdue | 0 | 7 | 3 | 21 | 31 |

### Vs. Washington (Rose Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 0 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| • Washington | 14 | 0 | 6 | 14 | 34 |

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 14 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 21 | 22 | — | 21 | 17 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| Coaches Poll | 13 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 21 | 19 | — | 21 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 17 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 15 | 10 | 10 | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Rivalries

* In the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket, Purdue beat Indiana.
* In the battle for the Shillelagh Trophy, Notre Dame beat Purdue.

## Awards and honors

* Drew Brees, Maxwell Award
* Drew Brees, Chicago Tribune Silver Football
* Tim Stratton, John Mackey Award

## Seniors drafted by the NFL

| Player | Position | Round | Pick | NFL Club |
| Drew Brees | Quarterback | 2 | 32 | San Diego Chargers |
| Matt Light | Tackle | 2 | 48 | New England Patriots |
| Vinny Sutherland | Wide Receiver | 5 | 136 | Atlanta Falcons |
| Chukky Okobi | Center | 5 | 146 | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Brandon Gorin | Tackle | 7 | 201 | San Diego Chargers |