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Gold and Black Illustrated, Vol 27, Digital 6

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GOLD AND BLACK ILLUSTRATED VOLUME 27, ISSUE 6 68 and the like, trying to win over the kids in Ohio and all. But Jack wouldn't do it. "Two years later, when the shoe was on the other foot, Woody didn't miss the opportunity to rub it in." The final was 41-6. Think about this: No Ohio State team has lost at home by a 35-point margin in the 50 years since. "I was sitting on the bench," recalled sophomore de- fensive back Don Webster, a Chicago native. "To show you how times have changed, pretty much all of the Ohio State people had left. All of a sudden, I felt some- body slap me on the back, and I looked to my right and it was my father saying, 'Congratulations. That was a hell of a game.' "The world was so different he was able to walk right out of the stands and sit next to me." In a rare bout of humility, Hayes credited Purdue af- ter the game. "Woody walked across the field and told Coach, 'This is the best football team that has ever been on this foot- ball field.' You think about that statement, you think about all the great Buckeye teams, plus all the oppo- nents that played against them, that was quite a compli- ment, to say the least," Phipps said. "I do not think he would have said that if he did not really mean it. "The next year, they hired a coach to specifically stop our offense. His name was Lou Holtz. And it worked, because they shut us out 13-10 in 1968 and won the national title." After the win in Columbus, Purdue jumped to No. 2 in the country and had a non-conference clash with Or- egon State, which was supposed to be a cakewalk since the Beavers had lost two straight. It turned into a disaster for Purdue. And even 50 years later, the one that got away still stings a bit. The Boilermakers committed six turnovers, botched an ill-advised and unplanned fake punt and couldn't stop Oregon State's running game, led by nimble quarterback Steve Preece and fullback Bill "Earthquake" Enyart. "I remember the feeling of (Enyart) running me over for the last touchdown 50 years later," Webster said. "He was an earth mover. "We just didn't take them seriously and paid for it." A dose of overconfidence, a key injury to tight end Marion Griffin that messed up the run blocking and just plain carelessness were all factors. This one hurt. It was a bleak Homecoming loss on a beautiful fall afternoon. "For the first time, we pointed fingers at each other a bit," Keyes said. "We were in awe of how big Earth- quake Enyart was and didn't handle ourselves well." Still, in the fourth quarter, Purdue had a 14-13 lead and a chance to put the game away. "It was on a toss pitch, and I pivoted too far and pitched the ball and hit our fullback in the tail, and we lost the ball," Phipps said. "That was on me, and that was the first of two plays I was involved in that doomed us that year." Oregon State went on to score to go ahead, but Pur- due still had a chance, down just 19-14. But on the en- suing kickoff, the Beavers kicked short and, for some unknown reason, the Boilermakers didn't field it, giving Oregon State the ball at the 28. The Beavers notched a late field goal to pull the 22-14 upset. Not surprisingly, it turned the Beavers' season No. 5 Purdue 41, Minnesota 12 Nov. 11, 1967 Ross-Ade Stadium Blowout win looked easy in rain over eventual tri-champ Gophers. No. 3 Purdue 21, Michigan State 7 Nov. 18, 1967 Ross-Ade Stadium Thanks to stellar defense, share of Big Ten title is clinched in win over two- time defending league champs. Indiana 19, No. 3 Purdue 14 Nov. 25, 1967 Memorial Stadium, Bloomington Mistakes doom Purdue helping send Indiana to its only trip to Rose Bowl trip. Note: There were only 10 teams listed in the weekly 1967 Associated Press poll. Bob Mitchell

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