Number Crunching

Here is our semi-regular look at the numbers surrounding Purdue football as the Boilermakers look ahead to a battle at Northwestern on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/2 p.m. CT. Former crack GoldandBlack.com intern and now financial guru Griffin Herdegen was, once again, a key contributor to this week’s post.

12,023

…The seating capacity at Northwestern’s temporary home, Martin Field. While it will be filled to capacity, It will be the smallest crowd to witness a Purdue football game since 17,744 showed up for Purdue’s 52-31 win over the Wildcats at the old Dyche Stadium in Evanston on Nov. 1, 1980. The Purple and White were in the midst of a 34-game losing streak back then that spanned from 1979 to 1982. In fact, it has been 80 years since the Boilermakers played in front of fewer fans, as only 11,000 fans showed up for a 14-13 season-opening win on Sept. 22, 1945, in Ross-Ade Stadium, about six weeks after the conclusion of World War II.

11

…Big Ten games since Purdue entered the fourth quarter with a lead, as it did Saturday night at Minnesota. The last time the Boilermakers led going into the final period was in a 49-30 home win over the Gophers on Nov. 11, 2023.

7 and 4

Ryan Browne tossed two more picks against Minnesota, the most picks thrown in the Big Ten (seven – Northwestern’s Preston Stone has thrown six). Three are tied for the most in the country, with nine each. The Boilers are also turning the ball over twice per game on average, tied for the most amongst Power 4 teams alongside Syracuse.

77%

Purdue is 10-of-13 on fourth down conversions, the best conversion rate among teams that have converted at least 10 fourth down attempts.

42-4

Purdue outgained Minnesota by 194 yards, making it the 46th time since 1995 it has had 190 yards or more in total offense than an opponent. Not surprisingly, Purdue has won 91 percent of those games. And it was the first time since 2017’s 14-12 loss to Rutgers where the Boilers out-gained the Scarlet Knights by 257 yards. Purdue also out-rushed Minnesota by 223 yards – something it has done only 14 times since 1995, and only the second such loss – in 2018, Purdue out-rushed Eastern Michigan by 272 yards in a 20-19 home loss in a rainy Ross-Ade Stadium.

1-25

Purdue has turned over the ball four or more times in 26 games since 2010, and has only one of those games, most recently in 2017’s game against the Gophers, where the Boilers threw two picks and fumbled twice but pulled out a 31-17 victory sealed by the pick-six by Ja’Whaun Bentley. It had four turnovers at Minnesota, though one was counted on the game’s final “hook and ladder” play.

2 through 6

At the risk of sounding like a broken record…through six games, the Boilers have forced only two turnovers, including their first interception of the season in Minnesota. This is tied for the fewest in the country with three other teams (Texas State, Oklahoma, Florida Atlantic). Last year’s much-maligned defense had forced three turnovers through six games.

#5

ESPN’s FPI ranks Purdue as having the fifth-toughest SOS down the stretch. Next week’s matchup against Northwestern will be one of their easiest remaining matchups. Purdue opened as 3.5-point underdogs, a position they have found themselves in against the Wildcats six times since 1990. Purdue is 1-5 in those matchups, with the sole victory coming in 2010 when the Boilers, eight-point underdogs in the game, eked out a 20-17 win over a ranked NU team (coaches poll) with a late touchdown.

<450

Ending this week’s edition on a positive note, the Purdue offense has eclipsed the 450-yard mark in total offense in back-to-back Big Ten games for the first time in four years, dating back to when it gained 481 in a loss at Ohio State and 473 in a win over Northwestern in Wrigley Field.

More: Opponent View–Northwestern | Purduesports.com’s Game 7 Prep