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Sims has career day as Iowa rolls past Purdue

Oct 7, 2006 - 7:43 PM IOWA CITY, Iowa (Ticker) -- Damian Sims made sure that Drew Tate did not have to deal with the pressure of making up for a miserable outing.

Sims rushed for a career-high 157 yards and two touchdowns as No. 19 Iowa bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 47-17 victory over Purdue in a Big Ten Conference contest.

The Hawkeyes (5-1, 2-1 Big Ten) rolled through their first four games of the season until last week's 38-17 loss here to top-ranked Ohio State.

Tate, second on the school's all-time list in career touchdown passes, struggled mightily against the Buckeyes, throwing three interceptions, including two in the fourth quarter. He completed only 19 of his 41 pass attempts.

Sims helped pick his star teammate Saturday, rushing 20 times as he started in place of top running back Albert Young, who was held out of the game with a sore knee.

"We don't have that feeling with many positions, that if one guy goes down you can put in a good football player, and it's nice to have," Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz said about the depth at running back.

Despite a fumble on the opening drive in Boilermaker territory, Sims quickly made up for that lapse by racking up 39 yards on four carries on the next possession, capping it with a one-yard TD plunge to open the scoring.

"This is the time to get our running game started," Sims said. "I'm glad that I've been able to do it. We've been saying we need to get a 100-yard game."

"He's a tough guy to defend, no question about it," Ferentz said about Sims. "He runs hard and has great vision."

Tate, who finished with 253 yards on 17-of-23 passing, added a seven-yard touchdown to fullback Tom Busch in the first quarter and Kyle Schlicher kicked a pair of field goals in the second as Iowa raced out to a 20-0 lead.

Purdue (4-1, 1-1) did not get on the scoreboard until Chris Summers' 44-yard field goal with two seconds left before the half.

Sims picked up where he left off in the third, rushing three times for 31 yards, including a TD from eight yards out for a 27-3 advantage.

The junior Sims, who entered the contest with 202 yards on 41 carries this season, fumbled again in the third. Despite having problems handling the ball, Sims has a career-high 357 yards rushing this season.

Shonn Greene added 88 yards on 11 carries for Iowa, which rolled up 286 yards on 40 rushes.

"I was not surprised they ran the ball, but the ease at which they ran the ball," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "That's an understatement."

True freshman Dominique Douglas caught four passes for 90 yards.

The Boilermakers did manage to reach the end zone twice in the third, as Curtis Painter threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Greg Orton and Jaycen Taylor rushed 16 yards for a score.

However, Hawkeyes cornerback Adam Shada sealed the win with a school-record 98-yard interception return for a score with 7:54 remaining in the fourth.

"Klink (Mike Klinkenborg) was actually outrunning me on the side," Shada said. "Everybody was working hard on the play, no one gave up."

Shada did not realize the importance of the play as he was having trouble collecting his breath after the long run. "I didn't think of it until I was out there trying to catch my breath and it was announced," he said. "It was pretty cool."

Iowa has won each of the last three meetings and four of the last five.

Painter threw for 249 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions for Purdue. Dorien Bryant had six catches for 96 yards and Selwyn Lymon added four for 60.

The Boilermakers have lost their last five matchups at Kinnick Stadium.