Purdue faces a big task this Saturday when it plays at No. 2 Iowa. But this isn't the first time the Boilermakers will have squared off with a top-five Hawkeye squad.
Back on November 16, 1985, Iowa strolled into Ross-Ade Stadium ranked No. 5 in the country for a nationally televised game on CBS. That year, Iowa spent five weeks at No. 1 in the country led by Heisman-contending quarterback Chuck Long.
Expectations were high for the Boilermakers when the 1985 season began, as Purdue was coming off a surprising 7-5 Peach Bowl campaign in 1984. Star quarterback Jim Everett was back for his fifth-year senior season along with Rod Woodson, Rodney Carter, Cris Dishman and Ray Wallace, among others.
But the 1985 season got off on the wrong foot with a 31-30 opening loss at Pitt, when the Boilermakers went for a game-winning two-point conversion late and failed. And, it was downhill from there.
Still, Purdue harbored postseason hopes as it entered the Iowa game with a 4-5 mark, making it a must-win—along with the finale at Indiana—if the Boilermakers wanted to become bowl eligible.
The Boilermakers were in position to pull the upset vs. Iowa, which had beaten Michigan in a classic No. 1 vs. No. 2 game in October in Kinnick Stadium. But No. 1 Iowa lost at Ohio State to start November and fell in the rankings. Still, the Big Ten title and Rose Bowl berth were in the balance for the Hawkeyes as they arrived in West Lafayette with that aforementioned No. 5 ranking.
Earlier in the day, Ohio State was upset, 12-7, by Wisconsin, leaving Iowa a clear path to the Rose Bowl. The Hawkeyes learned that at halftime, when they led Purdue, 24-17. And they promptly went into a shell, playing not to lose.
“We tightened up,” Long told reporters after the game after hitting 20-of-33 passes for 268 yards. “I couldn't believe it. We sat on the ball in the third and fourth quarters ... "
Purdue was driving late in the game when Everett—who completed 23-of-32 passes for 315 yards and a TD—drove the Boilers to the Hawkeye 20-yard line and hit a pass to Carter. But the senior Boiler running back failed to get out of bounds … and the clock expired shortly thereafter.
Game over.
“I can see it in my mind,” Carter told GoldandBlack.com a few years ago. “I think we had 20 seconds or so left in the game. We were driving and trailing. When I caught the ball, I could have made it out of bounds, but I was thinking score. It sounds stupid now. When I got tackled, they piled on, making it hard to get up to try to run another play.”
Purdue had scored a TD with just under seven minutes left, cutting Iowa’s lead to 24-23. Hawkeye coach Hayden Fry thought Boiler boss Leon Burtnett would go for two. But, the Purdue coach opted for the extra point to make it 24-24.
“With that much time left, it never entered my mind,” Burtnett said when asked after the game about kicking the PAT. “The pressure was on Iowa to score. No coach in the country would have done things differently.”
Soon thereafter, Iowa kicker Rob Houghtlin booted a 24-yard field goal with 1:08 to go to give the Hawkeyes a 27-24 lead.
“I really was surprised,” Fry said of Burtnett's decision to spurn the two-point effort. “We were expecting it. Not to second-guess anybody, but when you're 4-5, you don't play for a tie.”
Carter still feels angst to this day about not being able to get out of bounds.
“I felt so bad about that,” said Carter, whose Boilermakers closed the year with a win at Indiana to finish 5-6. “It stayed with me. It was tough going home after that. I was mad at myself. We had a good team that year. We lost some close games that year, to Pitt and Michigan State (28-24).”
Iowa went on to the Rose Bowl, where it lost to UCLA and finished 10-2 and No. 10 in the AP poll.
Now, 36 years later, Purdue will get another shot to take down a top-five Iowa team.
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