After Midnight

Last night’s late games in the West included close calls for Utah and Oregon State and a thriller in Eugene, Ore.

The Utes, working on a 15-game winning streak, fell into a defensive struggle with San Jose State which went into the fourth quarter at 7-7 until Utah QB Terrance Cain pitched a 51-yard TD pass on the third play of the last quarter to help put away a 24-14 win.

Oregon State fell behind UNLV 21-20 in the fourth quarter until its late drive resulted in Justin Kahut’s winning 33-yard field goal with seven seconds left to play.

Duck Thriller

The biggest outcome to be decided after midnight in most of the country was Oregon’s come-from-behind 38-36 victory over a very tenacious Purdue team.

The Boilermakers faced warmer than usual conditions at Oregon that turned into spurts of heavy rain, but the crowd in Eugene seemed more into the battle than the embattled Oregon Ducks. Purdue outgained Oregon by nearly 100 yards and led 7-3, 14-10, and 24-17. It took a pair of defensive TDs by the Ducks to even keep them in the game: DB Walter Thurmond ran back an interception and S Javes Lewis returned a fumble, each for a touchdown. A blocked extra point in the fourth quarter kept Oregon ahead 31-30 and immeasurably helped the Ducks at game’s end.

Coming off a school record rushing effort in his first start in Week 1, Purdue’s under-sized but tough RB Ralph Bolden scored three TDs, and although QB Joey Elliott hasn’t nearly the talent of predecessor Curtis Painter he has plenty of desire. After Purdue’s WR Keith Smith-to-WR Aaron Valentine fourth down TD pass with a minute to play, Elliott just missed the tying points when he fired a two-point pass caught inches past the end-line by TE Kyle Adams.

What did we learn from this outcome? Oregon showed a meager running attack until its freshman-committee of backs sparkled on its last TD drive, and that Bolden is going to be a star of a Boilermaker team that could be far better than anyone expected.