October 5, 2004
Burke urges Boilermaker fans to get out the online vote
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Boilermaker fans can go to ESPN's Web site to vote for Jerome Brooks' 100-yard kickoff return against Notre Dame as the top game-changing moment of the week.
Fans can cast their votes at Pontiac Game Changing Performance page. If Purdue wins the balloting, which ends Thursday (Oct. 7), the general scholarship fund will receive $5,000 and the play remains in the running for season honors and additional contributions to the scholarship fund.
Brooks broke a 3-3 tie with the kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter of Saturday's (Oct. 2) game, giving the Boilermakers a lead they would not relinquish in their 41-16 win. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown by a Purdue player since Lee Johnson had a 99-yarder vs. Ball State on Sept. 30, 1995, and the 13th in school history.
Morgan Burke, director of intercollegiate athletics, urged fans to take a moment to go online and vote.
"We have legions of Boilermakers out there who are online, and we're asking them to take a moment to place a vote for a true game-changing play," Burke said. "We were up against it, and the special teams and Jerome came through."
Burke remarked that other plays in the win over the Fighting Irish also were critical.
"The defense stopped Notre Dame inside the five and turned the field on them," he said. "To do that on the road, with 80,000 fans in your ear, was another great play."
Brooks tied the school record for longest return, joining Jack Brown vs. Indiana on Nov. 19, 1938; Stan Brown vs. Indiana on Nov. 21, 1970; and Jimmy Smith vs. Stanford on Sept. 12, 1981.
The Game Changing Performance program is one of the components of the partnership among Pontiac, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, CBS and ESPN.
Each week, fans can go online, view the nominated plays and vote for their favorite Game Changing Performance. The play selected by the fans will generate a $5,000 contribution from Pontiac to that school's general scholarship fund. Additionally, the play becomes eligible for inclusion in voting at the end of the season to determine the Pontiac Game Changing Performance of the Year. The play of the year, selected in fan voting during the month of December, will result in a $100,000 general scholarship fund contribution from Pontiac to the winning NCAA institution.
Nominations will be reviewed on ESPN each weekend by on air-talent such as Chris Fowler, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit, and nominated plays can be voted on Sunday morning through Wednesday. Each week's winning performance will be announced during the Pontiac High Performance Halftime Report on ESPN Thursday night games.
The Pontiac Game Changing Performance feature began on Sept. 4 and will conclude with selection of the Game Changing Performance of the Year during the halftime of a Bowl Championship Series game. That school's general scholarship fund will receive an additional $100,000.
Full program details can be reviewed online.
Sources: Jay Cooperider, Purdue assistant athletics director, (765) 494-3197, coop@purdue.edu
Rick Crooks, Pontiac media relations, (313) 667-4129, rick.a.crooks@gm.com
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