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WEST LAFAYETTE, Indiana (Ticker) -- No distance is too far for Drew Brees and Vinny Sutherland. Inches from yielding a safety that would have cost their team the lead, Brees and Sutherland hooked up on a 99-yard scoring pass to bail out No. 11 Purdue in a 31-23 victory over stubborn Northwestern in a Big Ten Conference matchup. Brees, a leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy, had another huge game, completing 32-of-50 passes for 405 yards and three scores as Purdue (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) got off to its first 4-0 start since 1967 -- the last time it went to the Rose Bowl. Brees has 1,315 passing yards in four games, an average of nearly 329 per contest, with 10 touchdowns and three interceptions. The Boilermakers nearly were caught looking ahead to a four-week stretch in which they play No. 4 Michigan, No. 10 Ohio State, No. 21 Michigan State and No. 2 Penn State. "We do have a big game next week, but this is the Big Ten," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "This is the best conference in the nation right now, so you're going to play a good team every weekend, and today was no exception." Northwestern (2-2, 0-1) stayed in the game thanks to the running of workhorse Damien Anderson, who carried 38 times for 150 yards. In four games, Anderson has run an astounding 131 times for 450 yards. After dropping three straight to the Wildcats, the Boilermakers have won the last three meetings between the schools to take a 43-23-1 lead in the all-time series. Brees' only mistake came with 4:13 left in the third quarter, when his pass into the right flat went into the chest of linebacker Kevin Bentley, who ran it back 40 yards for a touchdown. Tim Long's extra point try was blocked, leaving the Wildcats with a 23-17 lead. Brees rallied the Boilermakers to a 24-23 edge 2:29 later with a four-yard scoring pass to Tim Stratton, but the big play of the game was yet to come. Northwestern, thanks to a punt by J.J. Standring that went out of bounds inside the Purdue 2, backed up the Boilermakers into danger. Purdue ran a couple of dive plays into the line, nearly yielding the go-ahead safety on both, before Brees threw a rainbow down the middle of the field that Sutherland grabbed and took the distance to make it 31-23. "It was not the play that was called," Brees said. "We checked off at the line, and Vinny came open late. The offensive line bought a lot of time for me. Vinny turned the route upfield and took it to the end zone. It was awesome." "The play call wasn't for that," Sutherland confirmed. "I knew I was behind the secondary, and (Drew) let it fly. Then I put in the zone." Tiller explained they were looking for a short gain just to get out of trouble. "We just really wanted to get a first down," Tiller said. "We didn't want to punt from the end zone, especially with the wind blowing the way it was. Vinny did a good job of getting open." Tiller and roughly 15 players were under the weather, but he did not give that as an excuse for the sluggish performance. "Certainly if they felt anything I do, you don't want to run anywhere, except maybe the bathroom," Tiller said of the ailment. "But I certainly don't want to suggest that it had anything to do with us being flat today. We did not have a good week of preparation." Sutherland had 124 yards on four catches, Chris Daniels had 90 on nine and Stratton 81 on seven. Purdue gained 539 yards on offense and gave up 373, but Northwestern was able to stay in the game by holding the ball 10 minutes more than the Boilermakers. "We need to concentrate more and play the game we know how to play," said Purdue cornerback Michael Hawthorne, who left with a stinger in the second quarter but returned after negative X-rays. "I think we came out sluggish today." Purdue jumped to a 10-0 lead in the first 7:12 on a 47-yard field goal by Travis Dorsch and Brees' two-yard scoring pass to Sutherland. Nick Kreinbrink capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 25-yard scoring pass to Teddy Johnson 74 seconds into the second quarter and the Wildcats remained within 10-7 at the half. Kreinbrink was 17-of-38 for 241 yards and two touchdowns without an interception and hit Johnson seven times for 128 yards. Kreinbrink threw a three-yard TD pass to tight end John Cerasini with 6:04 left in the third quarter as Northwestern took the lead for the first time, 14-10. But it was short-lived, as J. Crabtree broke down the right sideline for a 47-yard scoring run three plays later. "We came in at halftime and talked about having to do a better job executing," said Crabtree, who gained 113 yards on 13 carries. "Brandon Gorin and Randall Lane did a good job blocking, and I cut right between them. With this offense, if we can run for 100 yards, it will keep the defense off-balance." Long's 24-yard field goal on Northwestern's ensuing drive forged the final tie. "Fortunately for us, we made some plays late in the game when we needed to," Tiller said. "The defense stepped up in the fourth quarter. Other than that, we had a rough day at the corral."
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