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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In the 2008 season opener for the University of Northern Colorado, the Bears lost 42-10 to Purdue in front of 51,476 at Ross-Ade Stadium. The Bears held close through the first three quarters, giving up just one touchdown in each frame before the Boilermakers scored 21 in the fourth quarter.

Northern Colorado tallied 22 first downs in the contest, winning that battle with Purdue, which had 17. The Bears also won the ground battle as NC had 122 net yards rushing, while the Boilermakers had 116. The Bears also scored two of the three times they entered the redzone on the afternoon.

"I'm very proud of our kids," said Head Coach Scott Downing. "All of our young guys have played. They can utilize that as a learning tool and we can continue on with the rest of the season.

"We were able to keep their offense off the field. When we gave Purdue a long field, our defense was able to give them some plays, but hold them out of the endzone. When we gave them the short field, they were able to put points on the board. Our offense was able to move the ball against a very good defense."

Senior tight end Ryan Chesla, who wears jersey nine, used his uniform number throughout the stats package today, catching nine passes for 99 yards. Junior quarterback Bryan Waggener hit nine different receivers on the day, as senior Jason Caprioli caught five passes for 25 yards and the lone touchdown, sophomore Brandon Smith, senior Cory Fauver and junior Alex Thompson each caught three passes, gaining 29, 22 and 14 yards each, respectively. Andrew Emmerling, Sam Sewell, David Woods and Tyrone Wilson each also pulled in one pass.

On the ground, sophomore running back Andy Muns led the team with 49 yards, including the longest rush of the game for either team, a 20-yard scamper in the fourth quarter. Wilson netted 28 yards, while Woods had 26 in the "running by committee" the team used last year as well.

Waggener completed 27 passes on 42 attempts for 216 yards. He was sacked twice and threw the touchdown pass to Caprioli. Waggener also rushed the ball 10 times for no gain.

Neither team turned the ball over in the contest, the first time that has happened in a Northern Colorado game since Oct. 6, 2007 against Idaho State.

Purdue was led by Kory Sheets, who rushed for 81 and caught two passes for 18. Desmond Tardy caught three receptions for 112 yards. Senior quarterback Curtis Painter completed 15-of-28 passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns.

Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford led the team with six tackles, all solo and broke up one pass, while true freshman Nick Hernon recorded the only sack for the Bears for a loss of one yard. Purdue was led defensively by Frank Duong with eight tackles, while Ryan Baker and Alex Magee each tallied one sack.

The Boilermakers won the opening coin toss and elected to receive. After no gain on the opening play, NC senior linebacker Cristian Sarmento hurried Purdue's quarterback Curtis Painter, who connected with Desmond Tardy for a 36-yard gain. A couple of plays later, Sarmento almost got to Painter again, this time forcing an incomplete pass and the Boilermakers punted into the endzone on their first drive.

On the Bears first offensive drive, Waggener completed his first pass to junior college transfer Alex Thompson for a short gain, but the Bears went 3-and-out. Purdue scored on its second possession. Sheets tallied three straight first-downs, getting two on the ground and catching one pass to move Purdue into Bears' territory. Painter connected with Keith Smith for 18-yards and the first score of the game and the extra point kick by Chris Summers was good.

Junior cornerback Quincy Wofford returned the first kickoff of his career, running the ball back 19 yards to the 25 yard-line. Waggener hit junior tight end Andrew Emmerling over the middle for an 18-yard gain. DC Wilson rushed for nine and an offsides penalty by the defense set the ball on the 45. A nine-yard grab by Brandon Smith and two quarterback keeps gave the Bears another first down. Waggener hit Sam Sewell for a five-yard gain and a face-mask penalty by Purdue put the ball on the 15-yard line. Several plays later, Michael York had a 35-yard field goal attempt bounce off the right upright.

Purdue punted on its next possession and NC took over possession on the 16-yard line. Fauver gained nine yards in the last play of the first quarter with the score 7-0, Purdue. After a quarterback sneak, Waggener hit all-conference tight end Chesla for a gain of 22. Two receptions by senior Jason Caprioli sandwiched around a two-yard rush by Brandon Smith took the ball to the 38-yard line. A Northern Colorado penalty stalled the drive and freshman punter Cameron Kaman punted to the 17-yard line, where the ball was fair caught.

A Purdue penalty and a sack by junior Martin Awachie forced the Boilermakers into another punt, which hit the endzone for a touchback. The Bears went three-and-out and the punt was tipped by Frank Halliburton giving Purdue a short field at the37-yard line. Painter's first pass of the drive was complete to Greg Orton for 28-yards and the next play resulted in a nine-yard touchdown rush for Sheets, making the score 14-0.

A seven-play drive resulted in no points for the Bears as Kaman punted to the 27-yard line and the Bears defense took the field. The first play was the largest of the contest in the first half, a 60-yard pass from Painter to Tardy. Wofford pushed Tardy out of bounds at the 13-yard line. Wofford had another big play, batting down a Painter pass in the endzone. After a gain of five on the ground, Painter threw back-to-back high passes which were both defended by Myles Hayes. The Bears ran out the clock, rushing the ball three times, trailing 14-0 at the break.

Waggener hit Chesla for another big gain to start the third-quarter, a 20-yard reception at the 40-yard line. Woods rushed for four, Fauver had a four-yard reception and Chesla notched another first-down and gain of seven. Both teams had penalties and the first sack of the day by Purdue gave the Boilermakers possession at the 33-yard line. The Bears' defense remained tough, forcing Purdue into a three-and-out. Josh Mack tipped a Painter pass on third-down, setting up the punt.

After another short possession for NC, a bad snap set up a bad punt giving Purdue a short field on the 39. Purdue took full advantage, as Sheets rushes five times in six plays for the touchdown, making the score 21-0.

Special teams became a factor on the next NC possession. After the Bears were forced to punt, the line drive punt by Kaman went off the heel of a Purdue player and the ball was recovered by sophomore linebacker CJ Stemo on the 25. Two incomplete passes, well defended and a five-yard gain by Woods set up a 37-yard field goal by York to put the Bears on board.

A long return to the Bears 40 by Sheets on the ensuing kickoff by Zak Bigelow set up a three-yard drive, culminating with a 43-yard touchdown reception by Orton for the 28-3 score.

Alex Thompson brought the kickoff out to the 22-yard line and Andy Muns gained three, setting up an eight-yard completion to Chesla for his career-high in reception yards. Muns gained another 20 yards on the ground, followed by a five yard rush by Waggener. Smith rushed for 13 and then Waggener hit Smith for another gain of 14 for a first-and-10 on the Purdue 14. After an incomplete pass, Waggener  completed another pass to Chesla, this one for 11 yards and hit Caprioli for three yards and the touchdown. York made the point after, bringing the score to 35-10.

Tardy returned the NC kickoff 68 yards to the 14 before he was knocked out-of-bounds at the 14 by Max Hewitt. Justin Siller carried the carried the ball four straight plays to the two-yard line and then back-up quarterback Joey Elliott ran the ball in for the score 42-10. The Bears used the final 4:12 of the clock as James Schrenk came in at quarterback. On the first play of the drive, he gained eight yards on the ground, then handed off to Muns four straight for 25 yards. Woods carried for three and the final play of the game was a four yard rush by Wilson.

Northern Colorado has a bye next week, returning to the gridiron on Sept. 20 against Texas State in the home opener for the Bears. Game time is set for 1:35 p.m. and it will be Family and Friends Weekend on campus.