College Football Old School Game of the Week: Clark and Special Teams Lead Iowa to Thrilling Win over Purdue

Iowa tight end Dallas Clark celebrates after his game-winning touchdown catch against Purdue in 2002.

The Kirk Ferentz era at the University of Iowa has been defined by physical defenses that often keep the Hawkeyes in games when their offense is not producing, great special teams play, and a long line of tight ends that would go on to successful careers in the NFL after being major contributors for the Iowa offense.

Those characteristics were on the display in the Hawkeyes' sixth game of the 2002 regular season when they hosted the Purdue Boilermakers in Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa was coming off the biggest win so far in the Ferentz era as they had traveled to Happy Valley and upset the undefeated Penn State Nittany Lions 42-35 in overtime as the Hawkeyes would earn a #24 ranking in the AP poll, the first time Iowa had been ranked in five years and first time since Ferentz replaced Hayden Fry as head coach in 1999.

The Hawkeyes were led by senior quarterback Brad Banks, who had directed an offense which averaged 41.4 points and 485 yards per game, with their only loss in a 4-1 start being a 36-31 shootout to Iowa State three weeks before the Purdue game.

Clark, who had walked on to Iowa in 1999, became the Hawkeyes' tight end in 2001 as he caught 38 passes for 359 yards and four touchdowns that season to earn a scholarship before his senior season in 2002.

Clark got off to a slow start in 2002 as he caught just four passes for 19 yards in the Hawkeyes' opening three games, which included zero catches in the Iowa State loss, before catching nine passes for 155 yards in the two games prior to the Purdue game.

Purdue came to Iowa City with a 3-2 record as they had alternated wins and losses to begin the season, which was the sixth season for head coach Joe Tiller who had led Purdue to the Rose Bowl two years earlier with the help of quarterback Drew Brees.

The Boilermakers had gone 6-6 in 2001 as the team alternated between Brandon Hance and Kyle Orton as the team's starting quarterback throughout the 2001 season as Hance would end up transferring to USC in the offseason leaving the starting quarterback job to Orton for the start of the 2002 season.

Following an exchange of punts to start the game, the Hawkeyes got the ball at the Purdue 41-yard-line after the Boilermakers were called for a 10-yard catch interference penalty on the previous punt.

Three straight runs by running back Fred Russell gained eight yards to set up a 51-yard field goal by Nate Kaeding to give Iowa a 3-0 lead with 3:49 left in the first quarter.

The Boilermakers would start their next drive at their 14-yard-line as four plays for a total of 25 yards moved Purdue to its 39-yard-line when Orton threw a crossing pass to wide receiver John Standeford, who made the catch at his 45-yard-line and then outran the Iowa defense to complete the 61-yard touchdown and give Purdue a 7-3 lead 1:16 to go in the first quarter.

The Hawkeyes would then drive from their 29-yard-line to the Purdue 37-yard-line to end the first quarter when on the first play of the second quarter, Banks completed an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Ed Hinkel, only for Hinkel to fumble the football when he was stripped by Boilermakers linebacker Landon Johnson as free safety Stuart Schweigert would make the recovery to give the Purdue offense the ball at their 29-yard-line.

Purdue would drive to the Iowa 42-yard-line when it appeared the Hawkeyes defense had stopped the Boilermakers as Orton threw an incomplete pass on 3rd & 13 only for Iowa defensive end Matt Roth get called for an unnecessary roughness penalty which gave the Boilermakers 15 yards and a 1st down at the Hawkeyes 27-yard-line.

Four plays later, the Boilermakers had increased their lead to 14-3 as running back Jerod Void punched in for an one-yard touchdown to end the 11-play, 71-yard drive.

Iowa quarterback Brad Banks completed 14 of 22 passes for 226 yards and threw two touchdown passes.

The two teams would trade punts until the 5:16 mark of the second quarter when the Boilermakers took over possession at the Iowa 43-yard-line when they called a trick play as Orton lateraled the ball to tight end Mike Rhinehart, who then a deep pass intended for Standeford, that was intercepted by Hawkeyes strong safety Bob Sanders to give Iowa the ball back at their 15-yard-line.

The Hawkeyes would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Boilermakers who took over at the Iowa 39-yard-line and drove to the five-yard-line before calling on Berin Lacevic to kick a 22-yard field goal.

But that is when Sanders struck again as he blocked the kick as the ball which was then scooped up by Iowa cornerback Antwan Allen who returned the blocked field goal 85 yards for a touchdown to cut the Boilermakers' lead to 14-10 with 2:12 left in the second quarter.

Purdue would get another chance to put some more points on the scoreboard before the end of the first half as they drove to the Hawkeyes' 39-yard-line but would be forced to punt as Iowa would take a knee to end the first half with the Boilermakers still ahead 14-10 and set to get the ball to start the second half.

The Boilermakers would go three-and-out on their opening possession of the second half as they lined up to punt the ball from their 17-yard-line when the Hawkeyes special teams made their second big play of the game as backup defensive back Sean Considine came through untouched to block Brent Slaton's punt.

The ball would roll into the end zone where Jermine Roberts fell on the football resulting in the second blocked kick for a touchdown for the Hawkeyes but importantly gave them a 17-14 lead with 12:48 to go in the third quarter.

Purdue would drive to the Iowa 38-yard-line before punting the ball back to the Hawkeyes who would go three-and-out to punt it back to the Boilermakers, who would start their next drive at Iowa territory until they were forced to punt the ball away after Orton bobbled a snap from the shotgun formation on 3rd & 10 at the Hawkeyes' 36-yard-line.

When Orton came back to the sidelines, he was examined by the Purude training staff who asked Orton what was the last play they called with the quarterback saying he could not remember, leading to Orton being removed from the game with a concussion.

Starting at their two-yard-line, the Hawkeyes ran two straight running plays, gaining only three yards to set up a 3rd & 7 at their five-yard-line when Banks completed a short pass for Clark toward the left sideline for the tight end's first catch of the game.

Clark would dodge a Purdue tackler around the 15-yard-line then outran the Boilermakers defense for the 95-yard touchdown, the longest touchdown pass in history of Kinnick Stadium, to extend the Hawkeyes' lead to 24-14 with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter.

True freshman Brandon Kirsch would take over for Orton as the Boilermakers' quarterback following Clark's touchdown as Purdue would go three-and-out to punt the ball back to the Hawkeyes who would pick up one 1st down before they punted it back to the Boilermakers who would begin their next possession at their 11-yard-line.

After throwing an incomplete pass to end the third quarter, Kirsch would then scramble for 10 yards to pick up a 1st down at the Purdue 21-yard-line as Kirsch would complete seven of 10 passes for 55 yards on the 13-play, 89-yard drive which culiminated with a 16-yard touchdown run by Kirsch to cut the Iow lead to 24-21 with 10:23 left in the fourth quarter.

Following an Iowa punt, the Boilermakers got the ball back at their 33-yard-line as Kirsch began the drive with a 33-yard pass to Rhinehart which was followed by a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield to move Purdue to the Hawkeyes' 24-yard-line.

Kirsch would then run for 11 yards and complete a nine-yard pass to Stubblefield to set up 2nd & 1 as Void would pick up the 1st down on a two-yard run to give the Boilermakers a 1st & goal situation when fullback Jon Goldsberry punched it in for the two-yard touchdown to give Purdue a 28-24 lead with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter.

The Hawkeyes would begin their next possession at their 20-yard-line as Banks completed a 22-yard pass to wide receiver C.J. Jones which was followed by two straight running plays that gained 15 yards and gave Iowa a fresh set of downs at the Purdue 43-yard-line.

Three plays later, the Hawkeyes were faced with a 4th & 7 situation as Ferentz would go for the 1st down with less than three minutes to play only for it to fail as Banks would be sacked for Purdue defensive end Shaun Phillips for a 12-yard loss to give the Purdue offense the ball at the Iowa 48-yard-line and 2:44 left on the clock.

Needing to force a punt, the Iowa defense would hold as the Boilermakers gained eight yards on three straight running plays as Purdue would punt the ball back to the Hawkeyes who would take over at their 13-yard-line with 2:16 left in the game and no timeouts as Iowa would need a touchdown to retake the lead.

The drive got off to a sensational start as Banks ran for 44 yards on a quarterback draw to put Iowa in Purdue territory, which was followed by a 20-yard pass from Banks to wide receiver Maurice Brown to put the Hawkeyes at the Purdue 23-yard-line.

After a dropped pass by wide receiver Clinton Soloman on 1st down, Banks found Clark for a 14-yard completion to give Iowa a 1st & goal at the Boilermakers' nine-yard-line as the Hawkeyes seemed poised to score the go-ahead touchdown.

But after a four-yard run by Banks on 1st down, Russell was dropped for a two-yard loss which was followed by an incomplete pass to set up a do-or-die 4th & goal at the Purdue seven-yard-line with 1:12 left in the game.

That is when Banks rolled to his left but then threw back to his right side where he found Clark wide open at the goal line who made the catch for the seven-yard touchdown to give Iowa a 31-28 lead with 67 seconds left in regulation.

The Boilermakers would get the ball back at their 21-yard-line needing at least a field goal to send the game into overtime as Kirsch completed a 15-yard pass to Stubblefield, then a 15-yard pass to Standeford, followed by a 24-yard pass to Stubblefield, to move Purdue to the Iowa 25-yard-line with 22 seconds left.

But that is where the Boilermakers' drive would end as Kirsch threw a pass over the middle that bounced off Stubblefield's chest and into the arms of Iowa cornerback Adolphus Shelton with 14 seconds to go as Banks would take a knee to run out the clock to preserve the 31-28 win for the Hawkeyes thanks to Clark, who had only caught three passes, but two of those catches being touchdowns including the game-winner.

Purdue's up-and-down season would continue as the Boilermakers would finish the regular season with a 6-6 record which was still good enough to earn a trip to El Paso to take on the Washington Huskies in the Sun Bowl where Purdue defeated Washington 34-24 to end the season with a 7-6 record.

After moving up seven spots to #17, the Hawkeyes would continue their climb up the rankings as moved all the way to up #3 after a 11-1 regular season where Iowa shared the Big 10 conference championship with Ohio State as Banks would finish second in the Heisman Trophy voting behind the eventual winner, USC quarterback Carson Palmer, who led USC to a 38-17 win over Iowa in the Orange Bowl as the Hawkeyes' season would end with a 11-2 record and #8 ranking in both the final AP & coaches polls.

As for Clark, who would finish the season with 43 catches for 742 yards and four touchdowns as he would win the John Mackey Award, which goes to the nation's best tight end, as Clark would forgo his senior season to enter the 2003 NFL draft where he would be selected in the first round by the Indianapolis Colts.

Clark would go on a stellar 11-year NFL career, playing nine of those 11 seasons with the Colts, as Clark would be the first of successful tight ends to come out of Iowa which included George Kittle, Noah Fant, T.J. Hockenson, and Sam LaPorta.