DETROIT – The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl trophy in hand, Purdue football coach Danny Hope finished a speech with three words: “Boiler up, baby.”

Indeed.

Purdue won in its first bowl game since 2007, defeating Western Michigan 37-32 in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl on Tuesday at Ford Field.

“This game is really a lot like our season,” said Purdue senior linebacker Joe Holland, who had a team-high nine tackles and was named the lineman of the game. “There were a lot of ups and downs. But it made it a lot of fun.”

The Boilermakers (7-6) forced seven turnovers, winning a bowl game for the first time since knocking off Central Michigan in the 2007 Motor City Bowl, which also took place at Ford Field.

“That’s a lot of turnovers,” Hope said. “We felt like we’d go into the game and manufacture some pressure, get some hits on the quarterback and that would result in some takeaways.”

Purdue needed every single turnover. The Boilermakers wrapped up the win when defensive end Ryan Russell stripped Western Michigan quarterback Alex Carder and defensive tackle Bruce Gaston recovered the ball at the Broncos’ 24 with 1:50 remaining.

Purdue recovered three fumbles and intercepted Carder four times.

“I took too many chances with the ball,” said Carder, who also passed for 439 yards and four touchdowns. “I was careless with it.”

“Their quarterback is very accurate and a very good player,” Holland said. “We were able to mix up some coverages and disguise some stuff and create some turnovers. That obviously had a huge outcome on the game.”

Special teams were also huge. Raheem Mostert returned a kick 99 yards for a touchdown with 6:48 to go in the second quarter to put Purdue ahead 17-15. The Boilers led the rest of the way.

Purdue followed Mostert’s score with a successful onside kick – its second of the game. The recovery set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Reggie Pegram that stretched the lead to 24-15 with 4:57 left in the half.

The Boilermakers used the special teams plays to keep Western Michigan’s dangerous pass attack off the field, though wide receiver Jordan White still finished with 13 catches for 265 yards. Purdue also used a strong running game.

The Boilers rushed for 265 yards. Akeem Shavers had 149 yards on 22 carries and was named the game’s MVP.

“I took a lot of mental reps in practice, and I spent hours in the film room just trying to found out tendencies and what they like to do,” he said. “I knew that if I had my chance, I was going to do good.”

Purdue won all three phases and as a result won the game.

“It builds great momentum for our team,” Hope said, “and will be a shot in the arm in recruiting and will re-energize our fan base in a lot of ways.”

lpope@jg.net