The 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, the 15th edition of the game, was a post-season American

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

bowl game In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...

that was held on December 27,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

as part of the 2011–12 NCAA bowl season. The game, which was telecast at 4:30 pm ET on

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, featured the

Western Michigan Broncos The Western Michigan Broncos are a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I program representing Western Michigan University (WMU) in college athletics. They compete in the Mid-American Conference in men's baseball, basketball ...

from the

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

versus the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname is also used as colloquial designation ...

from the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

. The Purdue Boilermakers defeated the Western Michigan Broncos 37–32 for the victory.

Teams

The 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl was the third ever football meeting between the two universities. Purdue led the all-time series 2–0 coming into the game.

Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue make its first bowl appearance since

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, when they defeated

Central Michigan Central Michigan, also called Mid Michigan, is a region in the Lower Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. As its name implies, it is the middle area of the Lower Peninsula. Lower Michigan is said to resemble a mitten, and Mid Michigan cor ...

in the

2007 Motor City Bowl The 2007 Motor City Bowl, part of the 2007-08 NCAA football bowl games season, occurred on December 26, 2007 at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The Central Michigan Chippewas, who won their second straight Mid-American Conference ...

. In 2011, the Boilermakers finished sixth in the Big Ten Conference. They came into the game with a 6–6 overall record. They were led by an outstanding special teams (first in the Big Ten in kickoff return average and second in the nation) unit that helped them start with favorable field position. Purdue played the game without their leading rusher

Ralph Bolden Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf"). The most common forms ...

, who tore his ACL in final game of the season. Purdue's spread offense is led by Akeem Shavers in rushing (89 rushes, 370 yards, six TDs),

Caleb TerBush Caleb Stephen TerBush (born January 5, 1990) is a former American football quarterback. He played for the Purdue University Boilermakers and was briefly signed by the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League from May to August 2013. H ...

in passing (163–264, 1,804 yards, 12 TDs), and in receiving by both Justin Siller (45 catches, 430 yards, one touchdown) and Antavion Edison (43 catches, 561 yards, three TDs).

Western Michigan Broncos

Western Michigan enters the bowl with a 7–5 overall record. The Broncos are making their first bowl appearance since

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

when they lost to

Rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

in the

Texas Bowl The Texas Bowl is an annual postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game first held in 2006 in Houston, Texas. Each edition of the bowl has been played at NRG Stadium, previously known as Reliant Stadium. The bowl replaced ...

. It is the Broncos third bowl in the last five seasons. They are led by their passing offense (first in the MAC in passing yards and touchdowns and eighth in the nation). Three of the Broncos' losses are by four points or less. The Broncos are led in rushing by Tevin Drake (102 rushes, 570 yards, four TDs) and quarterback

Alex Carder Alex Carder (born October 22, 1989) is an American football quarterback for the West Michigan Ironmen of American Arena League. He was signed as a free agent by the Detroit Lions of the National Football League. He was formerly the starting quar ...

(114 rushes, 253 yards, four TDs); Carder in passing (299–445, 3,434 yards, 28 TDs); and Jordan White in receiving (127 catches, 1,646 yards, 16 TDs). White leads the NCAA FBS in receptions and receiving yards and is second in receiving touchdowns.NCAA Division I-A Player Receiving Statistics – 2011

. Retrieved December 27, 2011.

Game summary

Taking advantage of a Purdue fumble, the Broncos scored first on a 49-yard

flea flicker A flea flicker is an unorthodox play, often called a " trick play", in American football which is designed to fool the defensive team into thinking that a play is a run instead of a pass. It can be considered an extreme variant of the play actio ...

to go up 8–0 after making a two-point conversion. Purdue responded by with its own touchdown to cut the deficit to 8–7 at the end of the first quarter. The Boilermakers then recovered an

onside kick In gridiron football, an onside kick is a kickoff deliberately kicked short in an attempt by the kicking team to regain possession of the ball. This is in contrast with a typical kickoff, in which the kicking team intends to give the ball to the o ...

to keep the ball in their possession.Western Michigan Broncos vs. Purdue Boilermakers play-by-play

. Retrieved December 27, 2011. Purdue was unable to capitalize on the onside kick, fumbling the ball at WMU's 14-yard line. On the next drive, however, WMU threw an interception, which led to a Purdue field goal. On the next drive, WMU scored on a one-yard touchdown pass to Josh Schaffer to take the lead 15–10. On the ensuing kickoff, though, Purdue's

Raheem Mostert Dominique Raheem Mostert (born April 9, 1992) is an American football running back for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Purdue. Mostert attended New Smyrna Beach High School in New Smyrna B ...

returned the kickoff 99-yards for a touchdown, making it 17–15 Purdue. The Boilermakers then recovered their second onside kick of the game on the kickoff. This time, the Boilermakers were able to capitalize, going up 24–15 on a Reggie Pegram rushing touchdown. After the Broncos turned the ball over on downs, the Boilermakers added to their lead on a 19-yard

Carson Wiggs Carson Michael Wiggs (born February 20, 1990) is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2012. Wiggs played college football at Purdue. Early years Wiggs atte ...

field goal to make it 27–15 at the end of the first half. In the third quarter, the Broncos were able to cut the deficit 27–18 on a 21-yard John Potter field goal. Purdue then added to their lead on a 33-yard passing touchdown to make it 34–18. On the next Broncos drive, quarterback

's pass was intercepted by Purdue's Gerald Gooden at Purdue's six-yard line. However, Gooden fumbled the ball on the return, giving the ball back to the Broncos at the Purdue 29-yard line. Continuing the drive, the Broncos scored on a one-yard Tevin Drake rushing touchdown make it 34–25 going into the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers added to their lead on a 26-yard Carson Wiggs field goal to make it 37–25. On the next drive, WMU turned the ball over on an interception. The Broncos were able to get the ball back after forcing Purdue to punt. On the next Broncos drive on a fourth-and-10 play at Purdue's 12-yard line, Carder fumbled the ball after being sacked. Purdue's Ryan Russell recovered the ball but fumbled on the return, giving the ball back to the Broncos. Continuing the drive, the Broncos cut the lead 37–32 on a five-yard touchdown pass to Chleb Ravenell. After forcing Purdue to punt, the Broncos had one last chance to win the game. However, Carder fumbled the ball, giving the ball to the Boilermakers. The Boilermakers were then able to run the clock out to seal a victory. With the win, Purdue won its first bowl game since the

. With the loss, WMU fell 0–5 all time in bowl games.Purdue 37, W. Michigan 32

. December 27, 2011. Retrieved December 27, 2011.

Scoring summary

SourceWestern Michigan Broncos vs. Purdue Boilermakers Box Score

. Retrieved December 27, 2011.Western Michigan Broncs vs. Purdue Boilermakers – Drivechart

. Retrieved December 28, 2011.

Statistics

References

{{Western Michigan Broncos bowl game navbox

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl (known as the Motor City Bowl until 2009) was a post-season college football bowl game that was played annually from 1997 to 2013. The first five games (1997–2001) were played at the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, M ...

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl Purdue Boilermakers football bowl games Western Michigan Broncos football bowl games December 2011 sports events in the United States 2011 in sports in Michigan 2011 in Detroit