SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 30 -- Billy Dicken threw for 325 yards and two touchdowns Tuesday, leading Purdue to a 33-20 victory over Oklahoma State in the Alamo Bowl. The Boilermakers scored three touchdowns in the third quarter to break the game open and won a bowl game for the first time since the Liberty Bowl after the 1980 season. Purdue finished its first season under Joe Tiller at 9-3. The Boilermakers played in a bowl game for the first time since the 1984 Peach Bowl. The Cowboys finished 8-4 and also completed a turnaround season with their first bowl appearance since the 1988 Holiday Bowl. The Boilermakers held a 10-6 lead at the half and blew it open with a 20-point third quarter. The Cowboys took the opening kickoff of the second half, but a 36-yard interception return by Adrian Beasley on the third play from scrimmage gave Purdue the ball at the Oklahoma State 6- yardline. The Boilermakers wasted little time, as Dicken kept the ball on 3rd-and-goal from the one and snuck into the end zone. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty call after the score left the Boilermakers with a 35-yard extra point try, which was missed, but Purdue still had a 16-6 lead with 12 minutes 2 seconds left in the third. Oklahoma State came right back and scored, as Jamaal Fobbs raced 21 yards into the end zone for a touchdown. Fobbs ran four times for 48 yards on the eight-play, 80-yard march that left the Cowboys down 16-13 with 9:01 left in the quarter.
Purdue scored two more touchdowns to put the game out of reach. Both drives went more than 70 yards and took less than two minutes. Dicken hit running back Edwin Watson with a swing pass on the next Purdue possession and Watson took it 60 yards up the right sideline to the OSU 16. Wide receiver Vinny Sutherland then took a reverse on the next play and raced around the left end for a touchdown and a 23-13 lead with 7:34 left in the third. Purdue then forced a punt and took over at the 26. Dicken then hit Chris Daniels on the third play with a slant pass at midfield and Daniels raced untouched into the end zone for an Alamo Bowl-record 69- yard touchdown. The three-play, 74-yard drive gave Purdue a commanding 30-13 lead with 3:52 remaining in the third. Purdue tacked on a 37-yard field goal by Shane Ryan with 9:12 left to play. Sutherland ran another reverse for 22 yards and Watson ran 24 yards with a shovel pass to set up the field goal.
