COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Purdue Gets a Break, Upsets West Virginia : Nonconference: Boilermakers, after building a 19-0 halftime lead, need a missed kick to win, 26-24.

Purdue gave up 541 yards total offense and managed 368, but still defeated No. 23 West Virginia, 26-24, Saturday when Mountaineer kicker Bryan Baumann missed a 26-yard field-goal attempt with 26 seconds remaining.

Purdue fullback Mike Alstott, who rushed for 109 yards, said, “We got lucky. We don’t want that to happen again. We’re too good a team to go into the last 20 seconds and have to hope the other team messes up.”

Purdue Coach Jim Colletto said, “Luck evens out. Last year if we had made a kick or two, we win a few more games.”

Purdue, which hasn’t had a winning season since 1984, was 4-5-2 last year.

West Virginia trailed, 19-0, at halftime but scored the first 17 points of the second half to get back into the game.

A Purdue touchdown made the score 26-17, but West Virginia scored again to pull within 26-24 and then Purdue had to punt after Craig Allen dropped a first-down catch on third-and-five.

“After the drop, my only comment was we haven’t learned yet how to win,” Colletto said.

The Mountaineers then went from their 28 to the Purdue eight, from where Baumann missed.

“We squandered opportunities all day,” said West Virginia quarterback Chad Johnston, who completed 22 of 35 passes for 390 yards despite a bad first half. “You can’t blame Baumann. We just didn’t get anything going in the first half. And in the second half, it was too little too late.”

A big play came when West Virginia’s Jerrald Long dropped a pass in the end zone early in the fourth quarter and the Mountaineers had to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Baumann.

The Boilermakers’ defense, ranked 105th in the country last season, held West Virginia to 168 yards in the first half, and 48 came on a pass play as time ran out.

The Boilermakers sacked Johnston twice and pressured him several other times during the first half.

Purdue quarterback Rick Trefzger was 15 of 22 for 187 yards with a touchdown and an interception.