EL PASO, Texas - Sam Keller made Arizona State forget all about injured star quarterback Andrew Walter, if only for one special afternoon.
Sam Keller made everyone else forget about Kyle Orton's last-minute heroics with some of his own.
Showing remarkable poise in his first collegiate start, Sam Keller threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Rudy Burgess with 44 seconds left to lead the Sun Devils (No. 24 ESPN/USA Today; No. 21 AP)) to a 27-23 victory over Purdue in the Sun Bowl on Friday.
"I've never been so ready for anything my entire life," said Sam Keller, who finished 25-of-45 for 370 yards and three touchdowns. "I had a ton of confidence coming into the game but I still didn't really know what to expect."
Neither did Purdue.
Starting for Walter, the untested sophomore completed all four of his passes on the winning drive for 80 yards in a frantic finish that stunned the Boilermakers and the Sun Bowl-record crowd of 51,288.
Burgess caught Sam Keller's final throw on a screen play, slipped two tackles along the sideline and cut back inside en route to the end zone to give the 21st-ranked Sun Devils (9-3) the lead after Purdue had gone ahead 30 seconds before.
The Boilermakers (7-5) had one more chance, but Orton's desperation heave into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
Burgess, who wasn't named a starter until Hakim Hill was kicked off the team earlier this week for breaking unspecified team rules, also had a career afternoon, 189 yards of total offense and two touchdown receptions.
"I'm going to share my MVP trophy with Rudy," Sam Keller said. "I just tossed the ball to him and he did the rest."
Darian Hagan added nine receptions for 182 yards and a touchdown for the Sun Devils, who had lost their three previous bowl games.
The Sun Devils were also missing defensive coordinator Brent Guy, who resigned three weeks ago to take over as head coach at Utah State. Arizona State hired Florida assistant Bill Miller as his replacement the day before the Sun Bowl.
If the smothering performance against Purdue is any indication, Miller will have plenty to work with. The Sun Devils held the nation's 12th-ranked offense to 347 yards, the Boilermakers' third-lowest output of the year.
"Sam played great today," Arizona State coach Dirk Koetter said, "but the game was won by our defense."
Arizona State's two novice offensive standouts totally outplayed Purdue's Kyle Orton and Taylor Stubblefield, one of the NCAA's most prolific pass-catch duos. Kyle Orton finished 23-of-47 for 281 yards with three touchdowns and Stubblefield had seven catches for 81 yards in their final college game together.
With the Sun Devils leading 20-16 midway through the fourth, Kyle Orton misfired on three straight passes to go three-and-out, and on Purdue's next offensive play, Brandon Jones fumbled at the end of a 24-yard catch to seemingly end the Boilermakers' comeback hopes. Many of Purdue's gold and black-clad fans started filing out of the stadium.
But Arizona State gave Purdue another chance when punter Chris McDonald struggled to field a snap, and safety Bernard Pollard stormed through to block the punt. The ball rolled out of bounds at the Sun Devil 36, giving Purdue excellent field position and about two minutes to work with.
Kyle Orton seized upon the unexpected opportunity, completing a 20-yard pass to Stubblefield and then lofting a 6-yard touchdown throw to 6-foot-6 tight end Charles Davis for a 23-20 lead with 1:14 remaining.
That gave Sam Keller just enough time to work his late-game magic.
"I really felt like our defense had no gas in the tank," Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. "I thought it would be difficult and I thought maybe we'd need a break and maybe they'd turn it over."
No such luck.
The Boilermakers had only 13 yards in the first quarter and didn't get their initial first down until a 13-yard pass from Kyle Orton to Stubblefield early in the second.
"They had a real advantage of speed against us," Kyle Orton said. "I think they were a much faster defense than we thought going into it."
Purdue's first and only points of the first half didn't come until defensive tackle Brandon Villarreal tackled Preston Jones deep in the end zone for a safety.
But Kyle Orton came out firing after halftime.
He threw an 80-yard touchdown pass to Brian Hare on the first play after the break and connected with Stubblefield on a 5-yard touchdown throw early in the fourth, giving Purdue a 16-10 lead.
Sam Keller responded with two scoring drives, including a 41-yard touchdown pass to Burgess midway through the quarter to put Arizona State up 20-16.
Purdue has lost in five of its past six bowl games, with its only win coming over Washington in the 2002 Sun Bowl. Kyle Orton and the Boilermakers have played in three of the past four Sun Bowls.
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