Purdue: 2017 Foster Farms Bowl Champions

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- When Elijah Sindelar took the field for Purdue's late comeback attempt in a bowl game he thought back on a failed opportunity in a similar situation in the season opener.

The difference from that interception he threw against Louisville to a bowl-game winning touchdown against Arizona sums up the progress the Boilermakers made in their first season under coach Jeff Brohm.

Sindelar threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Mahoungou with 1:44 remaining and Purdue capped its most successful season in years in dramatic style with a 38-35 victory over Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl on Wednesday night.

"I just did not want to do that again," Sindelar said about his interception in the opener. "I remembered that feeling, I was going to try to do everything I could to make sure we didn't have to experience that again."

The Boilermakers (7-6) had squandered a 17-point halftime lead when Khalil Tate threw his fifth TD pass with 3:21 remaining to give the Wildcats (7-6) the lead.

But Sindelar responded with a 75-yard drive that ended with the deep throw into the end zone to Mahoungou, giving the Boilermakers their first winning record since 2011 and first bowl win over a major conference team since beating Washington in the 2002 Sun Bowl. Purdue had won only nine games in the previous four seasons before Brohm arrived.

"That's a memory you'll cherish for the rest of your life," Brohm said "They definitely earned it because they put in the hard work, have gone through the adversity and continued to hang in there."

Sindelar threw for 396 yards and four touchdowns, with Mahoungou (118 yards) and Gregory Phillips (149) each topping the 100-yard mark and catching two TD passes.

Tate was just as good, showing he can win with his arm as well as he can with his legs that carried him to 1,353 yards rushing in the regular season. Tate threw for 302 yards and five touchdowns but his late interception to Jacob Thieneman ended the comeback attempt.

"They made one more play than we did at the end to win," coach Rich Rodriguez said. "It's pretty simple. Give them credit but I'm also pretty excited about the future."

Brohm pulled out all the stops, going for it three times on fourth down, calling a couple of flea-flickers and using an innovative trick play on a fake kneel down to set up a field goal at the end of the first half that made it 31-14.

THE TAKEAWAY

Purdue: The Boilermakers were dynamic in the 31-point first half, showing off offensive prowess that was rarely seen on a consistent basis during the regular season. The offense stalled mostly in the second half before the winning score. The most promising drive before that ended when Markell Jones got stopped just short of the first-down marker on a fourth-down pass.

Arizona: The Boilermakers managed to keep Tate's electric running in check, holding him to just 58 yards on 20 carries. But that opened up space for him to exploit them with downfield throws and he had career highs in touchdown passes and yards passing.

DISPUTED PLAY

Arizona was still steaming after the game about the fake kneel down at end of the first half on a play Purdue practiced all season.

The Boilermakers took over at their 32 with 56 seconds left after Tate lost a fumble. Purdue appeared to be taking a knee on the play to run out the clock, but running back D.J. Knox was crouching hidden behind a guard. Sindelar then handed the ball to Knox, who waited a second as the linemen stood and then ran around left end for a 30-yard gain that helped set up the field goal.

Rodriguez thought it should have been a dead play because he said the officials told his players not to rush.

"If the refs tells us it's a kneel it's really a dead play," linebacker Tony Fields II said. "We can't do anything as linebackers or DBs. They don't even want us to rush the quarterback because that's an injury prevention thing. They got us."

Brohm successfully ran a similar play in the Boca Raton Bowl last year at Western Kentucky.

THEY SAID IT


Mahoungou hurt his shoulder the play before his winning catch but wasn't going to leave the game. He drew on a saying from position coach JaMarcus Shephard.

"He says, `Don't tell me how rough the seas are, just bring me the damn ship," Mahoungou said. "So I just had to bring the damn ship."

UP NEXT

Purdue: The Boilermakers will try to build on Brohm's successful first season. They start with a tough conference test when they host Northwestern on Aug. 30.

Arizona: The Wildcats are excited to see what a full season with Tate at quarterback looks like. The 2018 campaign will start at home against BYU on Sept. 1.

Wait A Minute, This Isn't Azusa Community College!

Back in the day, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and the University of California at Davis flew the flag for college football in California at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division II level. Cal Poly did win a national championship at that level, back in 1980, so they have reached the pinnacle before. UC Davis came close, finishing runners-up with Ken O'Brien leading the way and in their last few years under Bob Biggs, they made the semifinals only to lose to Bloomsburg.

Nowadays, there are just two teams representing the great football-rich state of California at the Division II level. There's the old standby, the Lumberjacks of Humboldt State, the pride of Northern California. And then...there's Azusa Pacific University, the Cougars, under the tutelage of a former Hawaii Rainbow Warrior in Victor Santa Cruz, soon to be the winningest head coach at the school and the longest-tenured coach at the school, an inter-denominational Christian institution.

Before APU went D2, they were dominating the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the NAIA. They, along with now fellow-D2 side Simon Fraser, were the most complete athletics program at that level and they currently have the most Director's Cup at eight. That is a mark that will not be eclipsed for quite some time. The success of Azusa Pacific at the NAIA level meant that they needed to move up to be competitive and bring in better quality recruits. It was Santa Cruz that led the Cougar football program to Division II. Prior to Santa Cruz's arrival, Azusa Pacific won a national championship in 1998.

In the NAIA, due to their location, the Cougars punched above their weight for years, facing teams from the NCAA and NAIA and inflicting some impressive victories over powerhouse teams. Recently, they have stabilized in form as an affiliate emmber of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, or GNAC, winning conference titles in 2013 and 2014.

Azusa Pacific also won the NCCAA National Championship in 2013, called the Victory Bowl. The NCCAA stands for National Christian College Athletic Association. During that time, APU was ineligible to qualify for the postseason in spite of winning their conference due to their transition process. 2013 was the last year of APU's three-year transition period and they were completely out of place in that game because they were too good for the Panthers. It was men against boys. (As of this writing, Greenville are 2-6 this season.)

That goes back to my addressing of the talent level of this Azusa Pacific team. It's comparable to any solid junior college side. Think Mount San Antonio, but at a four-year level. Indeed, some transfer on this team are from nearby Mt. SAC, who slammed my Long Beach City College Vikings a few days ago, so there are some good programs in the Foothill Valley. Most players are from California, with a few good ones coming out of state.

And one reason why Azusa Pacific is great at football is their home stadium. Citrus College is next door, in the city of Glendora. Citrus Stadium is a 10,000 seat venue used by the Citrus Owls, who are a junior college side, and Azusa Pacific jointly. So scheduling games has to be agreed on by both institutions. Thus, if Citrus is playing at the stadium, Azusa in on the road, and vice versa. But there are some cases where both teams play at the same stadium on the same day. For example, on the weekend of Oct. 15, Citrus played during the day and Azusa Pacific played during the night. The Owls lost to Antelope Valley, the Cougars thrashed Humboldt State. It's, literally, a match made in heaven...relatively speaking.

And they have a solid assistant coach in Jackie Slater. A Hall of Famer, Matthew's dad, the father of a New England Patriot who's been a Pro Bowler like his Dad, an LA Ram to the core...his presence is worth the price of admission...which is $12. Combined with a Metro Day Pass and municipal bus fare, that's about $21 for transportation and admission and with pregame meal...$30. So it's a good deal.

And another thing: Azusa Pacific's record, currently 7-1 with a 6-0 conference record, is miles better than USC, or UCLA, or a whole lot of other local colleges in the area. Compare that to the big schools. USC, 4-3, cheapest tickets at $45. UCLA, 3-5, cheapest tickets, $33. Why should anyone pay more to see a below-average major college football team that won't play in the Rose Bowl and might not even go bowling, when they can instead that the Gold Line to APU/Citrus College Station, walk through APU's East Campus, the expansive Citrus College parking lot, and watch decent quality football from a side that know how to maintain good form and could be making the playoffs?

Remember, this is essentially Mt. SAC as a Division II team, based on the quality of players, based on the makeup, the coaching staff, and the desire to embrace the overall experience that one can get at Azusa Pacific. That is a good deal. A bargain. The best deal in town. Their logo might look similar to Air Force's block logo, but block logo identities these days seem to hold their own. Just ask Notre Dame.

One day, APU will get so good, and earn so much in the payout and donations and money flowing in from their support networks, that they will be competing with an old football rival in the University of San Diego in sports other than football in the West Coast Conference. I mean, that's the logical choice, because most of the member schools are from California and are Christian schools. Plus, there is the romantic oppotunity to face BYU on a constant basis. How about that.

Of course, this might mean that Citrus Stadium will have to be renovated and revamped to be up to NCAA Division I FCS standards, and it might be a cost-prohibitive move. But with all of their athletic successes and their brand being promoted on the up and up, I can't see why APU can't get big enough to play football in the Pioneer Football League with San Diego while play in the West Coast Conference in other sports. That rivalry is going to become an annual game and it should be a highly touted match with a lot of postseason implications, local pride and so on.

For the time being, Azusa Pacific University should enjoy settling down in NCAA Division II and shouldn't rush moving up to Division I. Stability and consistency in terms of winning form must take priority first. I am confident that when I head to the campus on Nov. 5 (contingent on tickets being available on Nov. 4, the day my card recharges), I will be enlightened by the quality of football from Azusa Pacific. By this point, unless the Wildcats of Central Washington (who also won a national title as an NAIA school back in 1995) have something to say about is this weekend, the Cougars are preparing for the playoffs as conference champions and I will enjoy the Wolves of Western Oregon receiving a heartfellt lesson in how to play proper football by the book.

I was in Azusa months ago, riding the Metro Gold Line to the city via the then-new Foothill Extension for the very first time, filming the entire ride from Downtown Los Angeles to APU/Citrus College both ways, uploaded it to YouTube, following it up with a first-time ride to Santa Monica on the Expo Line, soon to be the western portion of the revamped Gold Line. Now, I get to ride this same Gold Line, soon to be the north extension of the Blue Line to Long Beach for real, this time with a purpose. It may be one bus and three trains now, but in a few years, it will only be one bus and one train to get to an Azusa Pacific Cougars football game. (They're better than the other similarly-colored Cougar football team too, as of this writing. Slightly.)

But, yep, as much as I like to tout junior college football in the Golden State...this is NOT Azusa Community College.

Hibernian: 2015-16 Scottish Cup Champions

Rangers finds it incomprehensible that no one, either from within the Scottish FA or Hibernian Football Club, has condemned Hibernian’s supporters following the violent scenes at the end of yesterday’s Scottish Cup final when Rangers players and members of our backroom staff were physically and verbally assaulted. We have not even had the courtesy of any contact whatsoever from Hibernian to ask after the wellbeing of those who were attacked by their club’s supporters.

There must be a full independent investigation into the shameful scenes at Hampden. Rangers is also at a complete loss to understand why certain individuals have hastily attempted to gloss over the appalling events which unfolded at the end of Saturday’s final.

No matter how many times Hibernian’s chairman and Scottish FA vice-chairman, Rod Petrie, and certain other biased commentators wish to play down Saturday’s mayhem and violence, the truth must not be distorted. What unfolded on Saturday cannot and must not be put down to exuberance. That is a complete insult to Rangers, our supporters, and those individuals who were intimidated and attacked.

It was clear to most of those who watched in horror that the Scottish FA’s security procedures failed when Hibernian’s fans went over the top in their thousands.  It is to be hoped that all of Scottish football will share Rangers’ disgust and any attempts to attach blame to our supporters for the disgraceful and violent behaviour, which led to our players and fans fearing for their safety, will not be accepted or tolerated by this Club.

We acknowledge that a tiny minority of Rangers fans also encroached on the pitch but only after having been faced with prolonged and severe provocation and in order to protect our players and officials who were being visibly attacked in front of them. Any club’s supporters would have done the same. This distressing and deeply disturbing episode would never have happened had Hibs fans behaved properly but as they swarmed across the pitch it became immediately obvious that the security procedures were inadequate and had failed.

These fans were allowed to rush, unchecked, towards Rangers supporters at the opposite end of the stadium – all the while goading and threatening them. This makes it preposterous to suggest Rangers fans were somehow to blame as some commentators appear anxious to do. This thuggish behaviour must be investigated and as many culprits as possible brought to book and formally charged. This is the second time in a year that Rangers fans have had to endure attacks by another club’s supporters.

It must also be said that it was not at all helpful to see leading members of the Scottish Government, including the First Minister whose parish is Govan, passing comment on social media without any attempt to condemn the behaviour of Hibernian’s fans. These failures are unbecoming of our elected representatives.

Certain media outlets have also attempted to distort reality.  In the case of the BBC this is, of course, not news. BBC employees, in particular Stuart Cosgrove, believe Rod Petrie’s comments to be ‘balanced’ and others speak of a ‘minority’ of Hibernian supporters. Another, Tom English, who was not even at the match, would prefer the authorities to focus on Rangers fans’ reaction. We will not endure this insult.

So, let everyone be clear on one thing – Rangers demands that players, staff and fans be protected from the violence and hatred of supporters of other clubs. Rangers fully expects the Scottish FA and Police Scotland to take action to provide our people with a safe environment. When players are unable to accept medals at the end of a final because of fears for their safety and our supporters are alarmed and extremely concerned for the women and children among them, then surely every step must be taken to ensure that this is never repeated.

Rangers Are Back In The Scottish Premiership!

Rangers may have rubber-stamped their rise from the ashes on Tuesday night but Mark Warburton knows only too well the phoenix is yet to take full flight. The champagne, which remained on ice after Raith Rovers’ late equaliser on Saturday, was no doubt swigged once Dumbarton were beaten 1-0 at a packed Ibrox but not savoured for too long and it is unlikely the Scottish Championship trophy will be paraded at the front of a cabinet that contains 54 top-flight titles

The scars of the past four years, the financial meltdown in 2012 which led to a tumble down the divisions, the trips to Alloa, Elgin and Berwick and the indignity of a Ramsden Cup final defeat by Raith Rovers in 2014 are permanent and while a sense of relief among supporters greets Rangers’ return to the Premiership, inevitably thoughts immediately turn to bridging the gap to Celtic, who drew 0-0 at Dundee, and are closing in on a fifth successive title.

That may seem ambitious but after a four-year journey that has included 104 wins, 26 draws and 16 defeats, that accounted for Ally McCoist after nearly three years of laying the foundations for last night’s achievement, Warburton has no interest in smelling the roses.

He knows the importance of thinking ahead and doing so while showing the frugality in the transfer market that has reaped reward this season. And he appreciates there is more at stake than a place in the final when Rangers face Celtic in the Scottish Cup semi-final on Sunday week, not least after Neil Lennon recently questioned whether the former Brentford manager is ready for his first taste of the Old Firm derby which provoked a defiant response: “If you can’t deal with that, don’t be in the business.”

Indeed, even before Rangers’ promotion was confirmed Warburton was asked whether his side would provide a credible challenge to Celtic next season and, his response to Lennon aside, he chose his words carefully. “My expectation is that we have to go into that league and be highly competitive. I view highly competitive as that we’ve got to be a very, very tough team to beat and to break down and that we go into games expecting to win them. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re not going to challenge for the league. I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to win the league.”

What is clear is that Warburton’s recruitment over the summer will be fundamental to meeting expectations. Relying on his Football League knowledge his signings of Martyn Waghorn, James Tavernier and Wes Foderingham have proved successful, as has Harry Forrester, prolific under Warburton during their time together at Brentford and set to commit his long-term future at Ibrox after arriving in January.

Financially, Rangers may be in far calmer waters compared with 2012 but the cost of returning to the Premiership was apparent, as was the supporters’ boycott of the previous board, when reporting operating losses increased by 11% to £9.04m for the financial year to June 2015 last month.

Warburton is confident, however, that he will received funds to strengthen a squad, adding that “the board haven’t said no. Far from it. They have been really supportive”, but it was perhaps telling that he chose to use his programme notes for Tuesday’s match highlighting the widening gap in spending power between Scottish clubs and those in England, stating before the match: “If we keep ignoring it, we are going to keep on paying the price.”

Rangers may be back among Scotland’s elite but, as a former city trader in London, Warburton knows the real value of a bargain.

Brasil

Despertar

a un estado de lucidez.

Despertar,

no hay engaño esta vez.

Despertar,

hay un sentido y no lo ves.

El ritmo va

cuando resplandecés.

Pienso seguir,

no somos tan distintos.

Quizás no existe un fin.

Y este calor

(Hey! Tu calor...)

se queda en mí.

(Y voy perdido en esta danza...)

Despertar

a un estado de lucidez.

Despertar,

no hay engaño esta vez.

Despertar,

hay un sentido y no lo ves.

El ritmo va

cuando resplandecés.

Pienso seguir,

no somos tan distintos.

Quizás no existe un fin.

Y este calor

(Hey! Tu calor...)

se queda en mí.

(Y voy perdido en esta danza...)

Pienso seguir...

Pienso seguir,

no somos tan distintos.

Quizás no existe un fin.

Y este calor

(Hey! Tu calor...)

se queda en mí.

(Y voy perdido en esta danza...)

The Rhythm Of The Night

This is the rhythm of the night

The night, oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life, oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

You could put some joy upon my face

Oh, sunshine in an empty place

Take me to turn to, and babe I'll make you stay

Oh, I can ease you of your pain

Feel you give me love again

Round and round we go, each time I hear you say

This is the rhythm of the night

The night, oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life, oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

Won't you teach me how to love and learn

There'll be nothing left for me to yearn

Think of me and burn, and let me hold your hand

I don't wanna face the world in tears

Please think again, I'm on my knees

Sing that song to me, no reason to repent

I know you wanna say it

This is the rhythm of the night

The night, oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life, oh yeah

The rhythm of my life

This is the rhythm of the night

The night, oh yeah

The rhythm of the night

This is the rhythm of my life

My life, oh yeah

The rhythm of my life...

This is the rhythm of the night!