At First Glance: Week 14 Purdue Boilermakers

Purdue Boilermakers quarterback Ryan Browne (15) throws the ball Thursday, July 31, 2025, during football practice at the Kozuch Football Performance Complex in West Lafayette, Indiana. Subscriber Content Week Fourteen: Purdue Boilermakers Date & Time: Friday, November 28th @ 7:30PM EST Venue: Ross Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana TV: NBC Boilermakers at a Glance Head Coach: Barry Odom Entering his 1st season as Purdue’s Head Coach Head Coaching Record: 14-8 (High School), 44-33 (Missouri, UNLV) Last Season: 1-11 (0-9 Big Ten) Boilermakers Returning Leaders Passing: Ryan Browne (43 of 76, 532 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) Rushing: Devin Mockobee (138 carries, 687 yards, 4 TDs) Receiving: Devin Mockobee (17 receptions, 170 yards, 1 TD) Tackles: Smiley Bradford (17 tackles) Boilermakers Preseason Predictions Athlon: 18th in the Big Ten Lindy’s: 18th in the Big Ten Phil Steele: 18th in the Big Ten SP+: 101st Nationally Impact Newcomers for the Boilermakers Rico Walker, LB (Auburn) Traveon Wright, CB (Mississippi State) David Washington, WR (Utah) Biggest Questions Facing the Boilermakers Can 54 incoming transfers and 14 new high school enrollees mesh together in one offseason? Does Barry Odom make things better in year one? Couldn’t the Big Ten schedule makers have made things a little bit easier? Purdue Boilermakers head coach Barry Odom smiles Saturday, April 12, 2025, during the spring showcase at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Program Preview After just two seasons at the helm, Ryan Walters was fired last season after a winless Big Ten slate and just one win on the season, coming against FCS foe Indiana State in the season opener. Walters finished his tenure with the Boilermakers 5-19, the worst loss of them all arguably coming in the final game against the rival Indiana Hoosiers 66-0 last November. This ultimately sealed the deal, and the Purdue athletic administration decided it was best to move on and begin the rebuilding process. There are few positives the season after you win one total game and entirely overhaul your staff and roster, but one of them is that you would imagine things can only go up. For the Boilermakers and new head coach Barry Odom, however, that will not be easy. Odom became one of the most active coaches in all of college football in the transfer portal, though it’s hard to say if that was by preference or by sheer need. 54 transfers head in, along with a 14-player high school class, and the Boilers are an entirely new-look team. They’ll be greeted with one of the hardest schedules in all of the nation, including a nonconference game against Notre Dame and Big Ten tests against Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, Indiana, Washington, and USC. Seeing their third coach begin the season in four years time, the goal for the Boilermakers this year should be improvement from arguably the worst season in program history - whether that comes in the form of actual wins, however, is yet to be seen. If it does not, the Boilers should have a top-3 ranked preseason basketball program, and that season will kick off in early November to ease the pain. Purdue Boilermakers running back Devin Mockobee (45) rushes the ball Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024, during the NCAA football game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. Offensive Preview We’re getting dangerously close to the start of the season and at this point, Purdue has not yet named a starting quarterback. In fact, their social media is promoting messages like ‘One Mission, One Goal. No matter who’s taking the snaps.’ Not always a great sign when you’re within a few weeks of kicking off, because as the old adage goes, if you’ve got two quarterbacks, you don’t have one. The battle is seemingly between Ryan Browne, who transferred out for spring ball to UNC before returning to the Boilers, and Malachi Singleton, who transfers in from Arkansas. Purdue could use the first couple of games, Ball State and Southern Illinois, to figure out how they want to proceed before the gauntlet truly begins. The running back position for the Boilermakers will be a bright spot, as one of just three players still on the roster from the Jeff Brohm days returns, Devin Mockobee. Mockobee started all 12 games last season and is in the top-10 career ranks in multiple statistical categories for the Boilers. Add in Virginia Tech transfer Malachi Thomas, and the Purdue running back room actually has some talent, if the offensive line can do enough to spring them free. Whoever is named at quarterback will be throwing to an entirely rebuilt receiving room, led most likely by UCF’s Chauncey Magwood, USC’s Charley Ross, or maybe even Georgia’s Nitro Tuggle. At receiver, Odom and his staff mostly went with the opposite strategy of Curt Cignetti - potential over production, and preferably potential from schools that have produced good receivers in the past. Even if all the question marks above turn into positives, the Purdue offense will still likely have a difficult time because they will be running behind arguably the worst projected offensive line in the conference. Eight of their most talented players are transfers, but only one has previous Power Four conference experience - Bradyn Joiner, from Auburn. Jalen St. John does have over 1500 snaps at UNLV, however, so he will be one of the most trusted members of the line. Nov 9, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back TreVeyon Henderson (32) is pursued by Purdue Boilermakers linebacker Kydran Jenkins (4) during the second half at Ohio Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Barbara Perenic/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images Defensive Preview The hits keep coming on the defensive side of the ball, as there were transfer portal exits at all levels of the defense. The biggest loss came in Dillon Thieneman, a former All-American safety who headed to Oregon. Odom and his staff brought in another six defensive backs to help fill the room and did a decent job here, most notably nabbing Tony Grimes to follow his head coach from UNLV. Grimes has over 2,000 collegiate snaps at UNC and UNLV and is a former 5-star recruit. Crew Wakley and Myles Slusher will help him at the safety positions. At linebacker, Purdue will have some experienced guys in Mani Powell and Sanders Ellis leading the group, and a lot of inexperience behind them. Powell comes from UNLV and Ellis from FCS’s Tennessee State. Experience at this position will be important for the Boilers chances on defense. At defensive line, once again it will all depend on how transfers can fill the roles of strong players no longer on the roster, most notably Kydran Jenkins. CJ Nunnally IV (Akron), Breeon Ishmail (Michigan), TJ Lindsey (Auburn), and Marcus Moore (Bowling Green), will all have to step into bigger roles on their new team. The squad can likely only go up from last year’s performance, after ranking 120th out of 134 FBS teams in rushing defense and 84th in sacks. Sep 21, 2024; Corvallis, Oregon, USA; Purdue Boilermakers place kicker Spencer Porath (35) kicks an extra point during the second half against the Oregon State Beavers at Reser Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Craig Strobeck-Imagn Images Special Teams Preview Spencer Porath, a Brownsburg native entering his second season, will return for place kicking duties for Purdue. He hit just 7-of-11 last season, though he was a perfect 17-for-17 on extra points. Sam Dubwig, a redshirt freshman transfer from Arkansas, will likely assume punting duties, though he has yet to appear in a collegiate game thus far in his career. He was selected to play in the All-American bowl his senior season in high school and was ranked the number eight punter in the country by Chris Sailer Kicking. 2025 FIRST GLANCE PREVIEWS Week One: Old Dominion Week Two: Kennesaw State Week Three: Indiana State Week Four: Illinois Fighting Illini Week Five: Iowa Hawkeyes Week Seven: Oregon Ducks Week Eight: Michigan State Spartans Week Nine: UCLA Bruins Week Ten: Marryland Terrapins Week Eleven: Penn State Nittany Lions Week Twelve: Wisconsin Badgers Subscribe to get access Read more of this content when you subscribe today. Log in

At First Glance: Week 14 Purdue Boilermakers

Subscribe to get access

Like this:

Related

At First Glance: Week 14 Purdue Boilermakers

Subscribe to get access

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Discover more from Hoosier Huddle