Black-eyed Purdue: OSU crushes Boilermakers in winning its third straight bowl game

BY JIMMIE TRAMEL World Sports Writer
Wednesday, January 02, 2013
1/02/13 at 3:31 AM

DALLAS - The Cotton Bowl stadium has played host to 76 college football bowls, and never has a team scored more points in one of those games than Oklahoma State did in crushing Purdue 58-14 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

OSU, playing as well as advertised on offense and better than the recent norm on defense, took advantage of efficient quarterback play by bowl MVP Clint Chelf, a start-the-avalanche punt return by Josh Stewart and a season-high five takeaways Tuesday to deal Purdue its most lopsided bowl defeat in program history.

Chelf, a junior who began the season third on the depth chart behind freshmen Wes Lunt and J.W. Walsh, hit 17-of-22 passes for 197 yards and fired touchdown strikes to Charlie Moore, Jeremy Seaton and Isaiah Anderson before taking a seat late in the third quarter.

Walsh and Lunt came off the bench to lead scoring drives as OSU rampaged to its second-most lopsided bowl victory, trailing only a 62-14 wipeout of Wyoming in the 1988 Holiday Bowl. The Cowboys' 58 points were three more than USC scored in this stadium in a 1995 Cotton Bowl victory over Texas Tech.

The fallout: OSU has won a bowl in three consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. The Cowboys (who ended a two-game losing streak to salvage an 8-5 record) have won at least eight games in five consecutive seasons for the first time. And the senior class finished with 40 wins, second only to the school-record 41 accumulated by the class of 2011.

OSU tied for third in the Big 12, and there was concern the Cowboys (one season removed from a BCS bowl) might play uninspired because they plummeted on bowl selection day and because Purdue (which finished 6-7) was a pedestrian opponent. The Boilermakers finished fourth in the Big Ten's Leaders Division and head coach Danny Hope was fired.

Purdue limped through a five-game losing streak during the regular season and clinched bowl eligibility only because quarterback Robert Marve, playing on a thrice-torn ACL, was virtually error-free in leading the Boilermakers to three consecutive victories prior to postseason.

Purdue entered the bowl as an outmanned 17-point underdog. In order to level the playing field, Purdue probably needed the Cowboys to be uninterested or the Boilermakers needed this to be a game in which the ball bounced their way. That didn't happen, but interim coach Patrick Higgins tried to manufacture an early break.

Higgins ordered a fake punt on Purdue's first possession, never mind that the Boilermakers faced fourth-and-5 at their own 13. Cody Webster ran 16 yards to move the chains.

"When they faked that punt on their own 13, they certainly got our attention that they'd be willing to do anything," OSU coach Mike Gundy said.

But that was the last time Purdue had a shred of momentum. The drive stalled and Webster punted to Stewart, who, returning a punt for the first time this season, raced 64 yards to set up a 19-yard OSU touchdown drive.

Two plays later, a Marve pass was tipped by Calvin Barnett and intercepted by Shamiel Gary, putting OSU in position for a 26-yard touchdown drive. Just like that, the Cowboys scored 14 points in a 79-second span and the rout was on.

Marve threw two interceptions (one to Andrae May) and Purdue fumbled six times, losing three. Justin Gilbert forced a fumble that Daytawion Lowe returned 37 yards for a score, giving OSU its first defensive touchdown this season.

"As you know, when you play an opponent like Oklahoma State (and) when you turn the ball over five times and you don't take advantage of your opportunities, the game can turn out like this," Higgins said during his postgame press conference.

This is what happens when the ball bounces your way: Before the Cowboys ran an offensive play in the second half, they held a 201-200 yardage advantage and led 35-0. (They finished with a 524-367 edge in total yards).

And this is what happens when you play defense like the Cowboys did: They shut out a bowl opponent in the first half for the first time since the 1984 Gator Bowl. And Purdue trailed 45-0 before crossing midfield for the third time.

MVP awards go to individuals, but the MVP trophy could have been shared by players on the Cowboy defensive unit.

"Our main goal was to win that big trophy," senior cornerback Brodrick Brown said. "Just to win that big trophy and kiss it and things like that, it was an awesome feeling."

Original Print Headline: Black-eyed Purdue

Jimmie Tramel 918-581-8389
jimmie.tramel@tulsaworld.com

Associated Images:

OSU's Joseph Randle jumps on Jeremy Seaton after Seaton caught a touchdown pass Tuesday against Purdue. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World

OSU quarterback Clint Chelf gets around Purdue's Josh Johnson during Tuesday's Heart of Dallas Bowl. STEPHEN PINGRY / Tulsa World