• Recap
• Bleachers

Painter, Bryant lead Purdue past Illinois

Nov 11, 2006 - 10:02 PM CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Curtis Painter and Dorien Bryant each scored a pair of touchdowns in the second half to lead Purdue to a 42-31 victory over Illinois in a Big Ten Conference matchup.

Jason Reda kicked three field goals in the first half to give Illinois (2-9, 1-6 Big Ten) a 16-14 lead at the break. The Fighting Illini extended the lead to 23-14 on an eight-yard TD run by Rashard Mendenhall with 11:31 left in the third quarter but then Painter and Bryant took over.

Painter, who completed 20-of-42 passes for 229 yards, ran for a 42-yard score with 4:08 left in the third quarter and connected with Bryant for a 20-yard TD just over two minutes later to give the Boilermakers (7-4, 4-3) a 28-23 lead.

An 18-yard scoring run by Painter was followed by a six-yard TD by Bryant 2 1/2 minutes later that gave Purdue a 42-23 advantage with 10:50 to play.

Bryant finished with nine catches for 120 yards and added 32 yards rushing on four carries. Painter ran for 54 yards on six attempts.

Freshman Juice Williams ran for a 20-yard TD five minutes into the game to give Illinois a 7-0 lead but otherwise had a miserable day. He completed 8-of-29 passes for 95 yards, was intercepted once and lost a fumble that was returned for a TD.