Purdue Stuns No. 4 Kansas State, 37-34

The Kansas State Wildcats never wanted to be in the Alamo Bowl, and it showed by the way they played.

Even their late rally couldn’t overcome the unranked Purdue Boilermakers, who drove 80 yards for a touchdown in the final minute to shock No. 4 Kansas State, 37-34, Tuesday night.

After losing a 14-point lead in the final quarter and letting the Wildcats jump ahead, 34-30, Purdue needed only 54 seconds for the game-winning drive, capped by Drew Brees’ 24-yard pass to Isaac Jones with 30 seconds left.

It was a bitter ending for Kansas State (11-2), which felt snubbed at not getting an invitation to a top-tier bowl after being knocked out of the national title picture because of a 36-33 double-overtime loss to Texas A&M; in the Big 12 championship.

“Tonight was the culmination of three weeks of disappointment,” Wildcat Coach Bill Snyder said.

Had it not been for a 21-point fourth quarter, Kansas State would have been blown out.

Quarterback Michael Bishop lost a fumble and threw four interceptions, but also threw an Alamo Bowl-record 88-yard touchdown pass to Darnell McDonald with 6:23 remaining. With 1:24 left, Bishop tossed a two-yard touchdown pass to Justin Swift as Kansas State went ahead, 34-30, completing a comeback that brought 30,000 purple-clad fans to their feet.

Purdue Coach Joe Tiller said this victory rivaled last year’s defeat of Notre Dame.

“This is a great win for all Purdue people,” Tiller said. “The defense played great and the special teams had its moments.”

Purdue scored 17 points off Wildcat fumbles, and Kansas State stayed close only because it scored its first two touchdowns after recovering bad snaps on Purdue punt attempts. The Wildcats got the ball on the one after the first and recovered the second in the end zone.

The offense didn’t produce a touchdown until three minutes into the fourth quarter on David Allen’s three-yard run that got Kansas State back into the game at 27-20.

“I may have pressed too hard to make things happen,” said Bishop, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. “I’m not embarrassed at all. We got beat by a good team. We have no reason to hang our heads.”

Brees was 25 of 53 for 230 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions, and Bishop was nine of 24 for 182 yards with three touchdowns and the four interceptions, matching his interception total for the season.

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