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Friday, December 13, 2002
A hot opening-season win
By Tim Stratton
Special to BCSfootball.com
We opened our season last Saturday against Central Michigan, and it was an exciting game because it was the first time we opened at home in six years. The weather was insanely hot. I think I lost about seven pounds during the game. I really give credit to our fans that stayed for the whole game and stuck it out because I was dying out there and I'm sure they were hurting as well.
|  | | Purdue quarterback Drew Brees jumps into the arms of Tim Stratton after Stratton's 14-yard touchdown against Central Michigan |
CMU played a tough game against us, but I think our experience on offense played a key role in our 48-0 victory. The defense played great considering we played a lot of guys with no game experience. Travis Dorsch did a great job of handling both duties as the place-kicker and punter. I was happy for him because he got a lot of "heat" after last year's bowl game. The fans were great -- they cheered for him every time he went out there and I think that gave Travis his confidence back.
My MVP for the game would probably be John Standeford, one of our wide receivers. For a true freshman, he played great. He led the team with six receptions for 99 yards.
After the game, on the way to the locker room, I stopped by to see my good friend Drew Brees. Our sports information department puts Drew up on this box to do interviews after the game on the field. Being one of the jokesters on the team, I grabbed one of the reporter's microphones and acted like I was a reporter myself. Everyone cracked up, but they still got their work done, so I think it was pretty harmless.
This week's game is against Kent State and we're already focused on it. We won't have a full scouting report until Tuesday, but it looks to be another tough game in Ross-Ade. I hope the weather is not as hot as it was Saturday because I hate playing in hot weather. Let's pray for 80 degrees and cloudy, the less sun the better.
Until next week, everyone have a safe week. Take care.
Stratton's Purdue Statistics
| Year |
Rec. |
Yards |
Average |
TD |
Long |
| 2000 |
3 |
32 |
10.7 |
1 |
14 |
| 1999 |
49 |
593 |
12.1 |
4 |
34 |
| 1998 |
38 |
381 |
10.0 |
7 |
29 |
| Total |
90 |
1006 |
11.2 |
12 |
34 |
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