Purdue jumps out to a 20-6 halftime lead

Oregon turned the ball over three times in the first half against Purdue and trailed at halftime 20-6.

The first quarter was highlighted with mistakes, missed tackles and missing Autzen Stadium. Oregon fell behind quickly in the first quarter when Purdue’s Kory Sheets broke off an 80-yard touchdown run to put the Boilermakers up 7-0 after the point after. Oregon came back on its own drive of 57 yards but could only muster a Matt Evensen field goal.

Kory Sheets leads all rushers with 109 yards net on 11 carries. Justin Roper is 15-for-34 for 155 yards and two interceptions. Curtis Painter is 6-for-16 for 39 yards. Jeremiah Johnson was the leading Oregon runner with 29 yards net on eight carries. Ed Dickson led all rceivers with five catches for 64 yards. Purdue answered with two field goals of its own and the Ducks thought they might have stemmed the tide only to have the kickoff die in the wind and the Boilermakers recovered the ensuing kick off. The first quarter ended with Purdue up 13-3 but on the first play of the second half Sheet walked into the endzone untouched and following the PAT were up with a commanding 20-3 lead.

Jairus Byrd recorded the first interception of the year for the Ducks in the final moments of the second quarter. The Ducks moved the ball to the 9 and called timeout with 13.3 left in the half. Roper took 2 attempts into the endzone and Purdue bailed Oregon out with a holding call with 6.3 seconds left and the ball spotted on the 4. With 2.1 seconds left Matt Evensen came in and converted a 21-yard field goal to end the half with Purdue leading 20-6.

Kory Sheets led all runners with 109 yards rushing on 11 carries. Justin Roper was 15-for-34 for 155 yards and two interceptions. Curtis Painter was 6-for-16 for 39 yards. Jeremiah Johnson was Oregon leading rusher with 29 yards on eight carries. Ed Dickson was the leading receiver with five catches for 64 yards.