Skip to main content
Purdue

Number Crunching

Karpick_headshot500x500by: Alan Karpick09/09/25AlanKarpick
Purdue Rose Bowl
Bob Griese hands the ball off to Perry Williams in Purdue's 14-13 1967 Rose Bowl win over USC in 1967/

Here’s our weekly feature on some of the numbers surrounding Purdue football. Former GoldandBlack.com intern, now turned highly skilled finance professional, Griffin Herdegen gets a major assist on this.

21,439

By the time Saturday rolls around, this will be the number of says since Purdue has beaten USC in a football game. The Boilermakers’ only win over the Men of Troy was in the 1967 Rose Bowl in a dramatic 14-13 victory.

3-0

Purdue’s record if it beats USC and the first 3-0 start since 2007, and would be the first time a Purdue coach begins his first season 3-0 since 1905.

Devin Mockobee in the Wildcat position against Southern Illinois (Chad Krockove

45-4

Devin Mockobee has been an absolute workhorse for the Boilers through their first two games. His 32 rushing attempts were the fourth-most by a Purdue player since 1995 and the most since 2003 (Jerod Void ran 34 times in a win over No. 10 Iowa). Mock’s 46 rushes and 50 total touches put him at T-4th and T-2nd in the country respectively, leading the Big Ten outright in both. Despite this, he’s only notching 4.0 yards per attempt, well below his career numbers (career rate was 4.9 Y/A before this season).

2.5

The Boilers have come out of the gate quite disciplined, recording only five penalties all season (2.5 per game), third-tied for 2nd-lowest in the country alongside Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Georgia. Last year the Boilers averaged 5.5 penalties per game (49th-lowest).

0

While the Boilermaker defense has been strong on the whole to start the year, Purdue is one of only 11 teams in the country that has yet to force a turnover. Last year, Purdue forced only five turnovers all season, the fewest by any P4 team this century (excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 season), and didn’t force a single turnover until Game 5. 

Drew Brees earned his first collegiate start in the LA Coliseum the last time Purdue faced USC (Aug.30, 1998). Brees was 30-of-52 for 248 yards, with two TDs and two INTs.

99

Game time temperature when the Boilermakers and Trojans last faced one another in football on August 30, 1998, in the third-annual Pigskin Classic. It is the warmest temp at kickoff in Purdue football history. This Saturday’s predicted game-time temperature will be about 85 degrees. Warm; but not THAT warm.

12th

Purdue’e schedule difficulty the rest of the season. Per ESPN’s FPI, Purdue’s strength of schedule thus far this year is 130th of 136 and the easiest of any Big Ten team. It’s going to turn around quickly, with the Boilers’ remaining SOS currently ranked at 12th-hardest, toughest of all Big Ten foes besides Wisconsin (4th). The Boilermakers’ remaining slate features three Top Ten teams, five Top-25 teams, and an overall combined record of 17-3. 

Billy Dicken escapes a Notre Dame defender in the Boilermakers’ upset win over Notre Dame in 1997. (Tom Campbell)

-21.5

The last time Purdue was close to this big of an underdog and won? Purdue was +19.5 to Notre Dame in 1997, and defeated the Irish 28-17 in one of the most memorable games in Ross-Ade Stadium in the last 30 years. While I haven’t been able to find the line, AP picked No. 1 Michigan to beat Purdue 35-6 on Nov. 6, 1976. Purdue upset coach Bo Schembechler’s Wolverines 16-14, which is arguably the biggest upset in the last 50 years in Ross-Ade.

However, the Boilers opened up as 21.5-point home underdogs to USC. It’s only the fifth time since 1990 that the Boilers have been 20-plus point underdogs at home. Purdue is 0-5 in such games, with two of them being last year’s games against Penn State and Oregon (Purdue was outscored in those contests 84-10) and the closest being a 14-point loss to Michigan State in 2014.

MORE: From UNLV to Big Ten: Purdue’s Barry Odom, USC’s Jayden Maiava set for reunion | First Look: USC | First and 10: Purdue-USC | Three Thoughts From The Weekend: Devin Mockobee, Purdue vs. USC and more | 25 years later, Purdue to honor 2000 Rose Bowl team | The 3-2-1: Talking Mockobee workload, football IQ, summer of George and more

You may also like