QB Painter leads potent Boilermaker offense

Central Michigan had the luxury of facing an inexperienced quarterback in the Mid-American Conference Championship Game, but won’t have that benefit Dec. 26 at Detroit’s Ford Field.

Senior Curtis Painter leads the Big Ten’s No. 2 scoring offense (32.9 points per game) and the No. 2 passing offense (287.2 yards per game) into the Motor City Bowl.

“(Curtis) Painter is an accurate quarterback with a strong arm, and he’s got great poise,” said senior linebacker Red Keith.

In the Sept. 15 matchup with CMU, Painter had 360 yards passing and three touchdowns. He was sacked only once.

Painter and Purdue’s offense scored the game’s first 38 points, but CMU held the Boilermakers to just seven points in the last 27 minutes of the game.

“The first half we weren’t playing like ourselves,” said senior linebacker Ike Brown. “The second half we came out and we just played the way we were supposed to play.”

Since his emergence on the Big Ten scene as a sophomore in 2005, Painter has been the catalyst for Purdue’s high-scoring offense. In his sophomore season, Painter threw for 932 yards and three touchdowns before taking off as a playmaking Big Ten quarterback his junior year.

Painter said his brief play during his sophomore year set himself up for his junior season.

“I think it really helped me a lot just as far as getting some experience – game time experience,” Painter said. “Played a few good teams on the road, which really got me a lot of experience with road games and big situations and I think that carried over really well to my next season.”

He started well during his junior season, throwing for 416 yards and three touchdowns in the team’s 38-28 win against Ball State to improve to 3-0. He followed up the performance four weeks later against Northwestern, with 431 yards and two touchdowns.

Painter passed for 3,985 yards and 22 touchdowns. He led the Big Ten in passing yards by more than 1,000 yards and finished fourth in the nation in passing yards.

“We were just real successful on offense, we did a great job of keeping things pretty balanced and did a good job throwing the ball,” Painter said.

Painter has continued to be one of the Big Ten’s most prolific passers his senior season, helped greatly by talented wide receiver Dorien Bryant and tight end Dustin Keller.

“They’ve got a lot of skill in the receiver position, especially No. 9, Dorien Bryant,” Keith said. “He’s a great receiver and their tight end is very athletic. He’s probably one of the best tight ends in the nation.”

Bryant has 871 yards receiving and nine touchdowns, while Keller has 731 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

“You can’t say enough about the job they’re doing,” Painter said.

Painter started his senior season by throwing at least two touchdowns in the team’s first five games, including three or more touchdowns in four of those games.

Painter finished the regular season with 3,300 yards passing and 26 touchdowns. He finished second in the Big Ten in passing yards and fifth in quarterback rating. His passer rating of 129.32 is 0.2 higher than last year, and he has thrown 10 fewer interceptions.

“That was the big emphasis coming into this year, definitely being able to cut down on the interceptions,” Painter said.

The Boilermakers have not won a bowl game since 2002, when they beat Washington 34-24 in the Sun Bowl. This is Painter’s and the seniors’ last chance.

“Hopefully, we can, in fact, send them off with a victory and end the season on a positive note,” Painter said.

sports@cm-life.com