HOUSTON - Last week, Purdue won on a last-second blocked field goal.

Now, the Boilermakers know exactly how Middle Tennessee felt.

Carson Wiggs' game-winning 31-yard field goal was blocked as time expired Saturday, as the Boilermakers lost at Rice, 24-22.

"It's funny how things turned, wasn't it?" quarterback Caleb TerBush said. "It's a bitter feeling."

The junior quarterback nearly led his second game-winning drive in as many weeks, leaving Purdue at the Rice 14-yard line, down just two points, as the clock dwindled.

"I felt confident we did," TerBush said when asked if he walked off the field prior to the kick thinking Purdue had won. "We know Carson's a preseason All-American and a great kicker, and we felt good that we'd be able to seal it up up front and Carson would put it through the uprights. But, I really don't know what happened. Something didn't work out."

That something was Justin Allen, who came up the middle to block the kick.

"Sometimes when (the opponent) is in a rush, they don't get their proper splits," Allen said. "I saw the A gap in front of me more open than I thought it would be. I took full advantage. I got skinny. I took three quick steps and got my hand up and the ball hit off my forearm."

Afterwards, Wiggs said the operation of Purdue's kick was fine, as was the elevation.

"If they did come through the A gap," he said after being told of Allen's comment about coming up the A gap, "I'm not sure that's legal, because they're not supposed to be touching the snapper."

Regardless, the block dealt Purdue a dose of the same feeling it dealt Middle Tennessee last week when Ricardo Allen blocked a last-second kick that would have forced overtime.

That was a 47-yard kick to tie, though; this was a chip shot for one of the best kickers out there, a "gimme" as Purdue coach Danny Hope termed it.

"We just know how it feels on both ends now," defensive tackle Kawann Short said.

But Purdue didn't lose this game solely on its final snap.

"We didn't need to be in that position at the end of the game," linebacker Joe Holland said. "We made too many mistakes on both sides of the ball."

Mistakes and missed opportunities loomed large for the Purdue, the first BCS conference team Rice has beaten since Duke in 2001.

It began immediately.

The Boilermakers dropped what would have been a 60-yard touchdown on their very first play from scrimmage, when TerBush's accurate play-action bomb was dropped by a wide-open O.J. Ross deep down the field.

Soon after, Rice fumbled a punt inside its own 5, but recovered even though several Boilermakers were around the ball.

"We didn't make enough plays in the first half," Hope said. "We're not playing very well in the first half as a football team right now."

Defensively, Purdue committed three third-down penalties, all of them as part of Rice scoring drives.

Purdue, though, had seemingly taken control of the game in the second quarter, after its defense forced a pair of three-and-outs deep in Rice territory. The result was consecutive Boilermaker drives starting at the Owl 46.

The offense took advantage, first scoring off Wiggs' 28-yard field goal, then off TerBush's 19-yard TD pass to Crosby Wright.

But the complexion of the game changed some on another last-second play.

Owl tight end Luke Willson's improbable touchdown catch on the final snap of the second quarter knotted the game at 17-all.

Willson had Holland and Ricardo Allen draped on his back when he fell to the ground after catching the ball, losing it, but reaching up to snare the ball while laying on his back.

The touchdown sent Rice into the half with momentum on its side; it carried over in the second half, when Taylor McHargue capped an 80-yard touchdown drive with a 19-yard scoring strike up the right sideline to Sam McGuffie, giving the hosts a 24-17 lead.

Purdue's only points of the third quarter came on a safety, a play made by Short when Rice was pinned on its own goal line. The two points were a mere consolation prize, though, after the Boilermakers were stopped on fourth-and-one at the 2.

After getting the ball back, TerBush led the offense to the Rice 10 before the offense stalled out; Purdue settled for Wiggs' 27-yard field goal that, as it turned out, finalized the scoring, thanks to Justin Allen's block.

"We made too many mistakes and we have to make more plays," Hope said. "We had our chances, but I'm really proud of our football team for coming back in the end, driving the length of the field and having a chance to kick what should have been an easy field goal to win the game."

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