Orton is front-runner for Heisman
The season is only a month old, but Purdue’s senior quarterback Kyle Orton is already attempting to close the polls in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
The 6-4, 226-pound Orton completed 21 of 31 passes for 385 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions as the 15th-ranked Boilermakers (4-0) defeated and deflated the Irish, 41-16, on Saturday before a sellout crowd of 80,795 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind. The victory was historic for Purdue, which hadn’t won there in 30 years. This was a 3-hour and 52-minute infomercial for Orton, who had the same type of breakthrough performance against the Irish on national TV that USC quarterback Carson Palmer had two years ago, when he passed for 425 yards and four touchdowns in a 44-13 blowout that locked up his Heisman.
After helping Orton set a stadium record by catching a 97-yard touchdown pass to give the Boilermakers a 27-3 lead with 11:31 to go in the third quarter, senior wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield couldn’t resist doing some impromptu campaigning for his teammate. When TV cameras shifted to Stubblefield celebrating on the sidelines, he playfully jabbed Orton in the chest, as in he’s the guy, then struck the Heisman pose.
“I will definitely not be as humble as he is about the whole thing,” said Stubblefield. “I was kidding around with them, but anytime you have a quarterback lead his team to a victory in Notre Dame Stadium and he’s leading the country in pass efficiency, there is no choice but to say he’s the front-runner now.”
Orton was less willing to brag. “It feels the same now as when you were nobody,” said Orton, the small-town kid from Altoona, Iowa, who tried to dismiss Stubblefield’s theatrics. “That’s Taylor,” he said. “That’s his personality. Guys are having fun with it.”
“He was unstoppable,” Notre Dame defensive end Justin Tuck said. “A lot of people say he is the leading candidate for the Heisman Trophy. He got my vote.”
Division I-AA stars
New Hampshire’s Ricky Santos and David Ball had a day to remember.
Santos set school records by passing for 538 yards and six TDs, and Ball had 11 catches for three TDs and a school-record 284 yards in a 51-40 win over Villanova.
Blue-chip running backs
Cedric Benson moved into second place on the Texas career rushing chart in the No. 5 Longhorns’ 44-14 win over Baylor. Benson ran for 188 yards and three TDs, reaching 4,452 yards — nine more than the former Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell, who played from 1974-1977. Ricky Williams holds the school rushing record at 6,207.
• DeAngelo Williams rushed for a school-record 262 yards and became the Tigers’ career leading rusher with 2,866 yards as Memphis beat Houston 41-14. Williams scored four TDs while breaking the mark of 260 yards by Paul “Skeeter” Gowen against Tulsa in 1969 and the career mark by Dave Casinelli (2,636) from 1960-63. Williams’ rushing mark also eclipsed the record for yards by a Houston opponent.