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GoldanDBlack express • volume 25, express 3 • 13 "I wasn't always a big believer in that kind of stuff, but it really seemed to work for us," said Everett, who now lives in the Los Angeles area after a very productive 12-year NFL career. Make no mistake, the '84 team had pros on its roster as Burtnett was an excellent recruiter with his folksy, but not always correct, dic- tion. Future NFL Hall-of-Famer Rod Woodson was a sophomore starting safety. Defensive end Fred Strickland, who enjoyed a success- ful NFL career, was a true freshman. Running backs Bruce King, Rodney Carter and Ray Wallace enjoyed time in the League as did defen- sive backs Donnie Anderson and Cris Dishman. Kevin Sumlin was the Boilermakers' starting middle line- backer, after earning a spot on Play- boy's "Walk-On All-America" team the year before. But there was one "minor" de- tail still to be resolved. Who was the quarterback going to be? Everett, a junior who had start- ed a couple of games in 1983 before Scott Campbell won his job back, was locked into a battle with local product native Doug Downing, a redshirt freshman who was a high school All-American coming out of Jefferson High School. There are varying accounts of how close the battle really was, but Burtnett kept mum on his choice up to kickoff time. Whatever the case, Purdue's new mode of positive thinking showed fast results ... well, sort of. The first time he touched the ball as a collegian on the game's opening kickoff, Irish freshman Tim Brown fumbled. Brown, who would go on to win the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 1987, gave Everett great field position. In his first drive, however, the Boilermakers could not punch it in and had to settle for a 31-yard Mike Rendina field goal. The crowd of 60,672 at the Dedication Game of the Hoosier Dome, as the facility was called at the time, was a little uneasy. Be - cause the game was moved from South Bend to Indianapolis, it felt just like a Notre Dame game. Notre Dame bussed much of its student body down US 31 from South Bend to Indianapolis the morning of the game in one of the biggest cara- vans the state has ever seen. A comfort level returned to the Irish hopeful pretty quickly, how- ever, as the Irish scored a couple of first-quarter touchdowns to take a 14-3 lead. It was looking like Notre Dame was going to have little trou- ble covering the Vegas spread. After the first quarter, the Irish began to fall apart. Purdue got on the board as Everett began to get more comfortable. Jeff Price caught a seven-yard scoring pass to cut the lead to 14-10 at the 10:11 mark of the second quarter. In a dramatic turnaround to the game the year before, Purdue was getting the breaks. In Notre Dame's 52-6 win at Ross-Ade Stadium to open the 1983 season, the Boilermakers had seven turnovers to none for Notre Dame. This time, it was the Irish, under fourth-year coach Gerry Faust, who suffered from five miscues to just one for Purdue. Everett, who was named Sports Illustrated National Offensive Play - er-of-the-Week for his performance, completed 20-of-28 passes for 255 yards and two scores. His most important attribute for the game, however, was the sense he was in control. In the closing mo- ments of the first half, he deftly maneuvered the Boilers down field, allow- ing for a short Rendina field goal with no time on the clock. Though Purdue still trailed 14-13, it went into the locker room with something that had been missing from the team for a couple of years: Confidence. Rendina, in his first game af- ter transferring from Florida State, booted his third and final short field goal to give Purdue a 16-14 lead with 3:47 left in the third quarter. The Boilermakers got the ball back again, and this time Everett found Price on a perfect 14-yard pass in the corner of the end zone to give Purdue a 23-14 lead with 13:57 left. The Irish, and quarterback Steve Beuerlein, rallied to cut the margin to 23-21 with 4:21 left on a six-yard run by Pinkett. But Beuerlein committed what seemed like an unforced error with the Irish in possession and the game on the line in the closing minutes. On a screen pass, Purdue defensive end Don Baldwin stepped in front of the casually thrown aerial and in - tercepted it, sealing the Purdue win. After the game, it was determined that it was a miscommunication on the play call that led to the error. Either way, the Boilermakers were happy to take the win. "It was the greatest win I had ever been associated with as a coach," Burtnett said after the game. The Boilermakers pulled some other stunners in '84, becoming the first (and only) team in school histo- ry to defeat Notre Dame, Ohio State and Michigan in the same season. The Boilermakers went on to finish 7-5 that season. A late-sea- son loss at Wisconsin cost Purdue a shot at the Rose Bowl. Burtnett couldn't sustain the success, and after losing seasons in 1985 and '86, he was let go. So, Boilermaker fans 30 years later can take comfort knowing that miracles have happened for Purdue football in downtown Indianapolis. And the Old Gold and Black faithful can only hope that history repeats itself. j Purdue Rod Woodson was the standout in the 1984 defensive backfield that had three players go on to play in the NFL. The Boilermaker defense helped cause five Notre Dame turnovers in the upset.