Purdue's Rose Bowl Season Reflections--Vinny Sutherland
Our July 14, 2025 edition of Chariot Auto Group 2001 Rose Bowl recollections features 2000 All-Big Ten receiver Vinny Sutherland. A lightning-fast Florida native, the colorful Suthlerland shares his memories on Purdue’s remarkable 2Big Ten championship campaign.
Purdue’s Sutherland hasn’t slowed down
In terms of burst, he might have been Purdue’s fastest receiver ever. He wasn’t slow in an all-out foot race, but the diminutive Vinny Sutherland, who stood 5-foot-9, and weighed 188 pounds hailing from West Palm Peach. Fla. could turn on the jets faster than just about any player in Boilermaker annals. Rondale Moore and Olympian Larry Burton were fast too, but Sutherland was a different kind of fast.
Purdue was hanging by a thread with a 3-2 record and a conference loss after early-season disappointing losses to Notre Dame and Penn State where six botched punts in early-season games was wreaking havoc.. To make matters worse, the Boilermakers trailed No. 6 Michigan 28-10 at half.
It was a five-alarm emergency as no Purdue team had EVER come from 18-points down to win (and none has since). Trailing 21-3 (note, my reference was wrong in the interview with Sutherland–funny how memory fails us from time to time), In the closing two minutes of the first half, and the Boilermakers searching for offense trailing 21-3, a simple out cut pass from quarterback Drew Brees that Sutherland caught near the Purdue sideline and turned up field for an electfying toucdown seemed to wake the offense up.
“When you run that route, you usually want to just try to catch it, turn up, get what you can,” said Sutherland, who led Purdue with 72 catches and 1014 yards and a school record (until Taylor Stubblefield broke it four years later) 13 TDs. .”But the guy played off so I knew if I was to roll it out, and he stayed high on me, I could maybe turn it back in. And he did. He overplayed me, and I turned it back in, and that was all she wrote.”
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In the end, it was all she wrote for the Wolverines. Travis Dorsch’s game-winning field goal sealed the deal and the Boilermakers were on their way to its first conference title in 33 years and first Rose Bowl in 34 seasons.
There were other big plays. And big plays made by teammates. Sutherland was a bit of a free spirit (and remains one today) and at times things weren’t always warm and fuzzy with the coaching staff. Yet, both player and coach(es) realized how important each were to the success of the Boilermaker football enterprise. Yet, it was a hug that Sutherland received from Tiller in another key moment in the season, Ashante Woodyard’s scoop and score that lead to an overtime win at Wisconsin, that still resonates with Sutherland.
“If you watch that tape, I’m actually rightnext to (coach Joe) Tiller as he’s running, I turn around to him, and then we realized we had it,” Sutherland said. “And then you have to (in that moment) have a big ‘ole hug. Me and him hugging might be one of the only hugs I got when I was at Purdue. But it was a great moment.”
More: Rose Bowl Recollections: Chukky Okobi
Gold and Black Illustrated Archives–2000 season game stories
Game 1: No. 15 Purdue 48, Central Michigan 0
Game 2: No. 14 Purdue 45, Kent State 10
Game 3: No. 21 Notre Dame 23, No. 14 Purdue 21
Game 4: No. 21 Purdue 38, Minnesota 24
Game 5: Penn State 22, No. 22 Purdue 20
Game 6: Purdue 32, No. 6 Michigan 31
Game 7: No. 21 Purdue 41, No. 17 Northwestern 28
Game 8: No. 17 Purdue 30, Wisconsin 24 (ot)
Game 9: No. 16 Purdue 31, No. 12 Ohio State 27
Game 10: Michigan State 30, No. 9 Purdue 10
Game 11: No. 17 Purdue 41, Indiana 13
Game 12: No. 4 Washington 34, No. 14 Purdue 24
