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First Look: Michigan

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Michigan tunnel banner
Michigan Wolverines football runs out of the tunnel before the game against Central Michigan. (Photo by Lon Horwedel / TheWolverine.com)

Here’s an early look at Purdue’s ninth opponent of the 2025 season, the Michigan Wolverines:

Date/Time: Saturday, November 1, 7 p.m. EDT

Location: Michigan Stadium

Surface: Field Turf

Capacity: 107,601 (tickets)

Weather: The early forecast shows a high of 47, a low of 36 and overcast skies

2025 schedules/rosters: Purdue schedule | Purdue roster | Michigan schedule | Michigan roster

Series notes: The longtime Big Ten foes will meet for the 55th time on Saturday, as the series history strongly favors the maize and blue. Michigan leads the series 41-13 and enters on a six-game winning streak. Purdue last downed the Wolverines in 2009, when Joey Elliott threw for 367 yards and Ralph Bolden ran for two touchdowns as the Boilermakers left Ann Arbor with a 38-36 victory. The two programs last met in 2023 in a similar night game in the Big House. Michigan, on its way to a national title, rolled past Purdue 41-13 as JJ McCarthy threw for 335 yards.

TV: BTN

Early line: Michigan -20.5, O/U 51.5

STORYLINES TO WATCH

Big House of Horrors

Fitting for Halloween weekend, Michigan Stadium has not been kind to Purdue. The Wolverines hold a 26-5 record in games played in the Wolverine State, and four of those five losses came in consecutive years. From 1963 to 1966, Purdue won in Ann Arbor each season. Since then? The upset victory over Rich Rodriguez’s Wolverines stands as the lone trip to Michigan that ended with a smile on the Purdue sidelines.

In many cases, the Wolverines’ victories in Ann Arbor were non-competitive. Aside from 2009, Purdue last kept a game to a single-digit deficit in Michigan Stadium in 1995, when Michigan won 5-0. Purdue will look for its first victory on the road against a ranked opponent since 2022, when the Boilers defeated No. 21 Illinois 31-24 on a frigid day in Champaign.

A November to remember (or not)

October looked like the month where Purdue would make or break its 2025 season. The Boilermakers faced three contests against teams in the bottom half of the league, which appeared to be Purdue’s best chance to pick up a conference victory. Instead, gut-wrenching losses to Minnesota and Rutgers and a no-show against Northwestern left Purdue winless in the month.

Now? November looks like quite the gauntlet. The trip to Michigan kicks off a month where Purdue might enter each contest as a 20-plus-point underdog. After the Wolverines? No. 1 Ohio State comes to town, followed by a trip to Washington. Then, the Boilermakers get a late bye week before the season finale against No. 2 Indiana. Purdue will need an upset in order to avoid becoming the first Big Ten program since 2018-19 Rutgers to post consecutive winless conference campaigns.

Mockobee watch

Purdue’s top tailback left the game with an apparent injury in the fourth quarter on Saturday. The senior from Boonville, Ind. needs just 13 rushing yards to become the fourth Boilermaker to reach 3,000 for his career. Though Malachi Thomas and Antonio Harris ripped off long runs against Rutgers, Purdue will need all hands on deck from its playmakers to make noise in the season’s final month.

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