December 29, 1998

THE BUILDERS SQUARE ALAMO BOWL

No. 4 Kansas State 34, Purdue 37

Drew Brees led a furious 80-yard drive and connected with Isaac Jones for a 24-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left to lift Purdue to a shocking 37-34 upset of the Wildcats in the Alamo Bowl.

Kansas State rallied from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit and took a 34-30 lead on Michael Bishop's two-yard scoring toss to tight end Justin Swift with 1:24 remaining. But Brees, who has set numerous school records in just his sophomore season, led Purdue down the field to the dramatic victory.

The Boilermakers began the winning drive on their own 20-yard line and, after two incompletions and a short gain, Brees hit Randall Lane for 19 yards to midfield. A 15-yard pass interference penalty on the next play and a 11-yard run by Brees pushed the ball to the Kansas State 19.

On the next play, Brees fired a strike to Jones, who hauled in the ball while falling in the right side of the end zone. The six-play drive, which took only 54 seconds, lifted Purdue (9-4) -- a 14-point underdog -- to one of the biggest victories in school history.

"I had trouble seeing out of my right eye," said Jones of the winning score. "I knew we could win at the end. When Lane caught that pass and we got the pass interference call, I knew it would happen. I just want to thank God. I'm so grateful we had a chance to play in that game."

"I'm thinking right now, how did we win that game," said Brees. "All I can say is that offense wins games and defense truly wins championships."

For Kansas State (11-2), which dominated its opponents for much of the season and spent four weeks as the nation's top-ranked team, it was a heartbreaking end to a once-glorious campaign.

The Wildcats would have played for the national title if not for an overtime loss to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Conference title game. But they were left out of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) despite being ranked third in the final BCS rankings.

"I'm not embarrassed at all," said Bishop, who completed 9-of-24 passes for 182 yards but was intercepted four times. "We got beat by a good team tonight. We have no reason to hang our heads."

Brees threw three touchdown passes for Purdue, which improved its bowl record to 6-1. The Boilermakers' only postseason loss came to Virginia, 27-24, in the 1984 Peach Bowl. Purdue beat Oklahoma State 33-20 in last season's Alamo Bowl.

"I want to thank all these great fans. This was a great win for all the Purdue people," said Purdue coach Joe Tiller. "It was a great win at Purdue for our program. This is one of the two biggest wins in beating a top ranked team. The other being our victory over Notre Dame last year."

Cornerback Billy Gustin's interception late in the third quarter led to Travis Dorsch's 26-yard field goal with four seconds left in the period that gave Purdue a 27-13 lead. Bishop hooked up with Gavin Peries for a 53-yard gain on Kansas State's ensuing possession and David Allen got the Wildcats back into the game with a three-yard run.

Dorsch connected on a 37-yarder with 6:44 remaining to give the Boilermakers a 30-20 advantage. But on the first play of Kansas State's drive, Bishop lofted a pass down the left sideline for Darnell McDonald, who despite being bumped by Gustin, hauled in the ball and sprinted untouched for an 88-yard score.

Purdue went three-and-out and its next possession, and Allen, the nation's leading punt returner, brought the kick back 32 yards to the Boilermakers 32-yard line to set up Bishop's scoring toss to Swift.

The punting game was a problem for Purdue throughout the game, with bad snaps by Andy Standifer leading to the Wildcats' first two touchdowns.

Purdue had grabbed a 10-0 lead in the first 1:57 of the second quarter on Brees' five-yard scoring strike to Chris Daniels and Dorsch's 25-yard field. The field goal was setup when star defensive end Rosevelt Colvin forced Bishop to fumble deep inside Wildcats' territory.

Brees completed 25-of-53 for 230 yards and was intercepted three times for Purdue, while Jones hauled in 11 passes for 98 yards.

But on the Boilermakers' next possession, Standifer's slightly high snap eluded punter Danny Rogers, giving Kansas State the ball at the Purdue 1. Bishop wasted no time finding McDonald for a one-yard score. McDonald caught five passes for 124 yards.

Brees hit Jones for a 30-yard score midway through the second quarter as the Boilermakers took a 17-7 lead into halftime. But Kansas State, unable to move the ball for most of the game, was given another gift in the third quarter when Standifer's snap sailed over Rogers' head and the ball was recovered in the end zone by defensive back Jake Havick.

Just to demonstate this was not Kansas State's night, Martin Gramatica, who won the Lou Groza Award as the nation's best kicker last season, hooked the extra point wide left.

The Wildcats tried their best to hand the game to Purdue with 52 seconds left in the third when Bishop and fullback Brian Goolsby fumbled the exchange and defensive tackle David Nugent recovered in the end zone to give Purdue a 24-13 lead.

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