Bryant’s kickoff return sets early tone

By Guy Cipriano

- gciprian@centredaily.com

UNIVERSITY PARK — On good days, Purdue convinces 65,000 fans to enter Ross Ade Stadium. So, naturally, coach Joe Tiller entered Saturday concerned whether his team could handle the rigors of playing before more than 108,000 at Beaver Stadium.

Most of the large gathering stayed until Penn State’s A.J. Wallace batted Curtis Painter’s final pass to the ground. The play preserved the Nittany Lions’ 26-19 victory.

Yet Purdue found an early way to control the crowd’s impact.

The Boilermakers stunned Penn State and its fans when Dorien Bryant returned the opening kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown was Purdue’s first against the Nittany Lions since 2005.

“Well, that’s exactly the way I scripted it,” Tiller said. “I think I have two more of those scripted this year.” Tiller, who displayed a sense of a humor after a difficult loss, then turned serious.

“That was a big boost,” he added. “Our guys came ready to play. This is a great environment, but I don’t think they were intimidated by it. When you have an opening kickoff like that, it takes something out of you. It helped us right from the get-go.”

The play didn’t take long to develop. Bryant, who entered Saturday averaging more than 20 yards per return, caught Kevin Kelly’s kickoff at the 2-yard line.

He then busted through a gaping hole and sprinted past Kelly and into the end zone. Bryant received some help as Desmond Tardy, Purdue’s other returner, plowed through Knowledge Timmons.

“The energy was high,” Purdue tight end Dustin Keller said. “When Dorien took that kickoff back for a touchdown, we had the momentum going and we were really confident.”

The return sparked memories for both teams. One of the critical plays during Penn State’s 27-20 loss at Illinois was Arrelious Benn’s 90-yard first-quarter kickoff return.

Purdue has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns this season. Tardy recorded a 95-yard touchdown during a victory at Minnesota and Bryant returned a kickoff 91 yards in a season-opening win at Toledo. Bryant’s return against Penn State is the longest play of his career.

“We kind of got riled up when Dorien took that back,” running back Jaycen Taylor said. “But that’s the start of the game. You can’t judge how the game is going to play out by one play.”

Strong special teams play helped Purdue keep Saturday’s game close. Kicker Chris Summers kicked four field goals, including a 50-yarder, punter Jared Armstrong averaged 50 yards per attempt and Bryant averaged 51.3 yards on three kickoff return.

“Our kicking game was the best part of our game,” Tiller said.