1998 Alamo Bowl |
The unranked Purdue Boilermakers shocked the No. 4 Kansas State Wildcats in the sixth annual Builders Square Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. The loss was the second straight loss for the Wildcats after falling to Texas A&M in the Big 12 Championship game on Dec. 5. More than 30,000 purpleclad fans cheered the Wildcats on in one of the most exciting bowl game finishes in school history. Trailing for most of the game, Kansas State brought the score to within three points at 30-27 when Michael Bishop found an open Darnell McDonald for an Alamo Bowl record 88-yard touchdown strike. Then, with just 1:24 left in the game, Bishop found tight end Justin Swift open for a twoyard touchdown and a 34-30 Wildcat lead. Purdue sophomore quarterback Drew Brees then engineered a six-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Jones to give the Boilermakers a 37-34 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the game. Pinned back on its own two-yard line after the ensuing kickoff and a penalty, K-State saw its hopes for another bowl victory dashed when Bishop was intercepted on a desperation pass to end the game. NOTING THE WILDCATS • Michael Bishop’s 88-yard touchdown pass to Darnell McDonald in the fourth quarter was an Alamo Bowl record. • K-State did not score in the first quarter for the first time all season. • Michael Bishop’s four interceptions matched his total for the entire season. • Purdue scored 17 of its points off Kansas State fumbles while the Wildcats scored their first two touchdowns off bad snaps by the Boilermaker punt team. K-State recovered one bad snap on the one-yard line and the other was recovered in the end zone. • K-State fell to 3-4 in postseason bowl games including a 3-3 mark under Coach Bill Snyder. • K-State made its sixth straight bowl appearance. • K-State suffered its first back-to-back losses since 1994. |