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Welch's late field goal lifts Purdue past Michigan State

Nov 5, 2006 - 1:28 AM EAST LANSING, Michigan (Ticker) -- Casey Welch and Purdue made things even more gloomy around the Michigan State campus.

Welch kicked a go-ahead 18-yard field goal with 4:49 to play to help the Boilermakers rally for a 17-15 victory over the slumping Spartans in a Big Ten Conference battle.

The Spartans (4-6, 1-5 Big Ten) were playing their first game since the firing of coach John L. Smith on Wednesday. He will remain in charge until the end of the season.

Michigan State needs to win its last two contests - vs. Minnesota and at Penn State - in order to become bowl eligible.

Michigan State took a 15-14 lead with 14:09 remaining on Drew Stanton's 21-yard TD pass to T.J. Williams, but his two-point conversion pass failed.

Purdue was driving for a go-ahead score when Kory Sheets lost a fumble into the end zone with 7:34 to play. But Justin Scott intercepted Stanton three plays later and ran it back six yards to the Michigan State 37, setting up Welch's kick.

Stanton threw an incomplete pass on 4th-and-7 at the Michigan State 40 with 1:47 to play and Purdue ran out the clock.

Curtis Painter completed 21-of-30 passes for 286 yards, including first-half touchdowns passes of 25 and seven yards to Dorien Bryant, for the Boilermakers (6-4, 3-3), who took a 14-6 advantage into intermission. Bryant finished with seven catches for 96 yards.

Jaycen Taylor caught six passes for 90 yards and Sheets rushed for 64 yards for Purdue, which held Michigan State to just 3-of-12 third-down conversions.

Stanton had 161 yards through the air and ran for 83 yards and Brett Swenson made three field goals for the Spartans, who have dropped six of their last seven games.