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GoldandBlack Saturday Simulcast: Purdue football in Vegas

Karpick_headshot500x500by: Alan Karpick07/26/25AlanKarpick
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Purdue football: Two questions

(an excerpt from Ton Dienhart’s 3-2-1.

1 – Who will start at QB?

Will it be Ryan Browne? Malachi Singleton? Someone else?

“Our staff has done a really good job on building that room up,” said Odom. “From a recruiting standpoint, I think going into where we left in spring practice, and then we made another addition after spring ball, with Ryan Browne coming in, it’s going to be great competition in fall camp.

“The sooner that we can identify who’s going to be our starter, probably the better for our team. But, also, I think it’s going to take more than one guy at that position to play winning football this year.”

Browne, of course, famously transferred in December to North Carolina soon after Odom was hired and subsequently returned to West Lafayette after spring ball in April. Browne has a dual-threat style that would seem to meld with the offense of Odom.

The 6-4, 210-pound Browne showed promise last season at Purdue as a redshirt freshman. He played in eight games, making starts in October at Illinois and vs. Oregon–when Hudson Card was injured. 

Browne nearly delivered a win at Illinois, as the Boilermakers fell, 50-49, in OT. He threw for 297 yards (18-of-26 passing, 69 percent) and 3 TDs and ran for 118 yards on 17 carries (6.9 ypc) vs. the Illini.

The bottom line is this: If the QBs that were here in the spring had impressed, would the staff really have needed to go out and woo Browne?

My money is on Browne–a tough leader whom teammates like–to be QB1.

2 – What is Odom’s ideal non-con schedule?

Amid the din of slot machines, non-conference scheduling was a big talking point in Vegas.

Odom made some waves before he got here last week when he took a shot at Indiana for dropping Virginia–paying $500K to do so–and adding mighty Kennesaw State. So, IU’s 2025 non-con is: Old Dominion, Indiana State and the aforementioned Kennesaw State.

Meanwhile, Purdue will battle Southern Illinois, Ball State and Notre Dame. In 2026, Purdue is slated to host Wake Forest, host Notre Dame and Indiana State.

“A number of things that go into it for us,” said Odom. “Geographically, location for our fans, how important it is to keep that continuity. I think that’s really, really important. And then you look at the opportunity to make sure that if you get an opportunity to play someone that would attract excitement for the game, that’s important to keep note, as well.

“And then if there’s any possible way that you could get a game in short order that you feel like maybe you could get an opportunity to play as many guys on your roster as possible for the experience and the things on game day. I think you look at those things, as well.”

Any changes loom to a 2026 non-conference schedule that has Indiana State, Wake Forest and ND?

“We’ve looked at next year’s schedule on who the non-conference folks are, and right now we’re staying with who we’ve got,” said Odom.

MORE: Devin Mockobee’s last lap: History within reach for Purdue’s star RB | Barry Odom: ‘This team is completely different than anybody on the outside knows’

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