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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 1:44 p.m., Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Purdue QB Painter chases records, consistency

By Cliff Brunt
Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue quarterback Curtis Painter has been both dynamic and depressing to watch this season.

The 6-foot-4, 228-pound sophomore from Vincennes has passed for 3,364 yards — ninth all-time for a Big Ten quarterback. He's approaching the conference and Purdue record of 3,983 passing yards set by Drew Brees in 1998, and he has two games to gain the 620 yards needed to set the mark.

He's also thrown 16 interceptions, and coach Joe Tiller has repeatedly voiced concerns about his accuracy.

Tiller has praised Painter's resilience and growth and criticized his decision making this season, all the while reminding people that Painter is a young player. Though he is notoriously tough on quarterbacks, Tiller has been mostly positive about Painter's work.

"I think he's learning," Tiller said. "He's starting to move some defenders with his eyes and do things that an accomplished veteran quarterback will do.

"We put a lot on him. We always have on our quarterbacks at Purdue as far as calling the game at the line of scrimmage, and that's a lot for a young quarterback to learn."

At Purdue, only Brees and Jim Everett have passed for more yards in a season, and Painter could pass Everett's 1985 total and move into fourth place on the school's chart Saturday at No. 25 Hawaii. Brees has the top three seasons.

Kyle Orton, the Chicago Bears quarterback who left after the 2004 season, never passed for as many yards as Painter has produced this season. Other Purdue quarterbacks Painter has passed are Bob Griese, Scott Campbell, Mike Phipps, Mark Herrmann and Gary Danielsen.

"It's certainly an honor to be mentioned with some of them, and to have some of the kind of success that they had." Painter said. "I think it's important if you're getting those yards and you're getting those statistics and it's helping out the team. It doesn't do any good if you're throwing for a million yards and you're losing every week."

The thing is, Painter is winning. Despite his mistakes, he's 11-6 as a starter. Tiller said Painter continued to improve throughout the season, even though he threw four interceptions against Indiana last Saturday. He has led Purdue to an 8-4 record and a bowl game.

"I think he has a better command of the offense," Tiller said. "He's demonstrated that when he gets hot, he's very, very good. He's physically strong. He hasn't been hurt this fall. He's been hit, but not hurt."

The interceptions stick out in Painter's mind.

"I don't really care how many yards I throw for or anything like that. When you're turning the ball over as much as I have, it definitely gives me something to work on."

Painter's highs have been awesome. Three times, he has gained more than 400 yards of total offense. He was Big Ten player-of-the-week after throwing for 431 yards against Northwestern.

He followed that by guiding the Boilermakers to a combined three points in losses to Wisconsin and Penn State.

Painter almost seems to be oblivious to all of it. He appears to be unflappable, in part because Tiller has shown him unwavering loyalty.

"When I know that I'm not having a great game, he still has confidence in me to make plays," Painter said. "The coaches have confidence and the players have confidence. It's hard to get down on yourself and continue to play bad when you know they have that kind of confidence. It builds you up and allows you to bounce back that much quicker."

Painter has learned enough to maintain a positive outlook.

"With each practice, each game, each situation, I think I learn a little bit more every time," he said. "The more experience, the better. With each game, you learn a little bit of something new. You keep building on that, and you continually get successful."