Joseph Himon bookends touchdowns to send Northwestern past Purdue 26-20 in OT

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Purdue coach Ryan Walters went for the win in overtime Saturday.

When his gamble failed, the Northwestern Wildcats made sure the Boilermakers paid for it.

Two plays after the Boilermakers passed up the chance for a go-ahead field goal and then failed to convert on fourth-and-6 from the 21-yard line, Joseph Himon II scored on a 22-yard catch to give the Wildcats a 26-20 victory at Purdue.

“Joe just continues to work, to make big plays for us," Wildcats coach David Braun said. “Jack (Lausch) made a great play getting it (the ball) out, a little panicked and Joe makes a great play to end the game.”

Himon scored twice on just nine touches, breaking a 3-3 tie late in the first quarter with a nifty 51-yard TD run before capping the win when he got behind the coverage, stayed in bounds and raced across the goal line for the winner.

He had six carries for 78 yards and three catches for 34 yards while Lausch completed 23 of 35 passes for 250 yards and the one TD pass. Cam Porter caught eight passes for 85 yards.

But it was Walters’ decision that drew questions afterward.

“If we would have been a little bit closer,” Walters said rather than sending in freshman kicker Spencer Porath. “In that situation, we felt like getting a first down would have been a higher probability and would also allow us to get into the end zone. They had been moving the ball pretty well as well, so I was feeling like we had a better chance to win the game if we got that first down.”

Instead, Hudson Card’s pass to CJ Smith was broken up and the Boilermakers turned the ball over on downs.

It’s the second time in three games Purdue (1-7, 0-5) has lost in overtime after rolling the dice. Purdue also failed to convert a 2-point conversion in an overtime loss at then No. 23 Illinois on Oct. 12. The Boilermakers have lost seven straight, their longest skid since 2016.

Card was 21 of 37 with 267 yards and one TD pass while Max Klare had six catches for 78 yards.

Purdue finally evened the score at 20 when receiver Jahmal Edrine helped Devin Mockobee power his way across the goal line with 5:16 to play in regulation.

Himon broke a 3-3 tie late in the first quarter when he broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, evaded a second would-be tackler and sprinted 51 yards to make it 10-3. HIs second score made sure the Wildcats never trailed Saturday.

“It's huge,” Braun said. “It's hard to win on the road in the Big Ten. It's a reminder for our guys that when you prepare the right way and you play hard, good things happen.”

Northwestern: The Wildcats moved within two wins of becoming bowl eligible — likely a longshot with dates against No. 4 Ohio State, No. 24 Illinois and defending national champ Michigan still on tap.

Purdue: The Boilermakers squandered what may have been their best opportunity to end their skid, and Walters' overtime decision will be second-guessed all week.

Northwestern: Has a bye week before welcoming No. 4 Ohio State to Wrigley Field on Nov. 16.

Purdue: Visits the Buckeyes next Saturday..

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Northwestern running back Cam Porter (1) come up short of a touchdown as he dives for the end zone in front of Purdue defensive back Kyndrich Breedlove (10) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in West Lafayette, Ind., Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s National Guard fatally shot two Colombians and wounded four others in what the Defense Department claimed was a confrontation near the U.S. border.

The shootings happened Saturday on a dirt road near Tecate, east of Otay Mesa on the California border, that is frequently used by Mexican migrant smugglers, the department said.

It wasn't clear whether the Colombians were migrants, but one Colombian who was not injured in the shootings was turned over to immigration officials, suggesting they were.

Mexico’s Defense Department, which controls the National Guard, did not respond to requests for comment on that point.

If they were migrants, it would mark the second time in just over a month that military forces have opened fire on and killed migrants.

On Oct. 1, the day President Claudia Sheinbaum took office, soldiers opened fire on a truck, killing six migrants in the southern state of Chiapas. An 11-year-old girl from Egypt, her 18-year-old sister and a 17-year-old boy from El Salvador died in that shooting, along with people from Peru and Honduras.

Describing the events near Tecate on Saturday, the Defense Department said in a statement late Sunday that a militarized National Guard patrol came under fire after spotting two trucks in the area.

One truck sped off and escaped. The National Guard opened fire on the other truck, killing two Colombians and wounding four others. There was no immediate information on their conditions, and there were no reported casualties among the guardsmen involved.

One Colombian and one Mexican man were found and detained unharmed at the scene, and the departments said officers found a pistol and magazines commonly used for assault rifles at the scene.

Colombians have sometimes been recruited as gunmen for Mexican drug cartels, which are also heavily involved in migrant smuggling. But the fact the survivor was turned over to immigration officials and that the Foreign Relations Department contacted the Colombian consulate suggests they were migrants.

Cartel gunmen sometimes escort or kidnap migrants as they travel to the U.S. border.

The three National Guard officers who opened fire have been taken off duty.

Former president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who left office Sept. 30, gave the military an unprecedentedly wide role in public life and law enforcement; he created the militarized Guard and used the combined military forces as the country’s main law enforcement agencies, supplanting police. The Guard has since been placed under the control of the army.

But critics say the military is not trained to do civilian law enforcement work. Moreover, lopsided death tolls in such confrontations — in which all the deaths and injuries occur on one side — raise suspicions among activists whether there really was a confrontation.

For example, the soldiers who opened fire in Chiapas — who have been detained pending charges — claimed they heard “detonations” prior to opening fire. There was no indication any weapons were found at the scene.

FILE - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, center, reviews the troops with Defense Minister Gen. Ricardo Trevilla Trejo, left, and Navy Secretary Alt. Raymundo Pedro Morales, at Campo Marte in Mexico City, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano, File)