COLLEGE FOOTBALL : Purdue Plays It Safe, Ties : Big Ten: Boilermakers opt to not go for a two-point conversion, then miss field goal against Michigan State.

Corey Rogers ran for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull Purdue even, but teammate Brad Bobich missed a 47-yard field-goal attempt as time ran out and the Boilermakers had to settle for a 35-35 tie with Michigan State in the Big Ten game.

After Rogers’ second touchdown, a four-yard run with 1:46 to go, made it 35-34, the Boilermakers, 1-1-1 overall and 0-0-1 in the Big Ten, decided to go for a safe extra-point kick instead of a possible two-point conversion.

“This was the first game in the league, and we were going to kick to tie the score,” Purdue Coach Jim Colletto said. “The Big Ten standings have a bearing on what bowl you play in if you get that far, and one tie doesn’t hurt you. . . . I did not want to start the Big Ten season 0-1. It’s better to be 0-0-1 than 0-1.”

Colletto was hoping there would still be time to try a field goal, and as things turned out there was.

Purdue’s Lee Brush intercepted a pass by backup quarterback Todd Schultz, who came into the game for the Spartans (1-1-1, 0-0-1) after Tony Banks hurt his leg with 1:18 to go.

Purdue started from its 42 with 46 seconds left and went to the Michigan State 34 on a 24-yard pass from Rick Trefzger to Kirk Olivadotti.

Trefzger was sacked for a six-yard loss, then Mike Alstott picked up 10 yards to the 30. With no timeouts left, Bobich’s last-second field goal try went left.

“I felt real well. It wasn’t the best I could kick it, but I kicked it pretty well,” Bobich said. “I didn’t know how far it was. It was going right down the middle, and then it just sailed off to the left.”

For Michigan State, fullback Scott Greene rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns.

“I feel down and so do the rest of the guys,” Greene said. “Overall, we played hard. We were lackadaisical in the first half but we picked it up and played much better.”

Greene’s 70-yard touchdown run with 4:59 to play, which followed a one-yard scoring run by Rogers, gave the Spartans a 35-28 lead.

Rogers’ second fourth-quarter score was set up by three passes to Olivadotti.