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Purdue football notebook: September to remember

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart08/31/23TomDienhart1

Welcome to September, the most important month of Purdue’s 2023 season … or so it seems.

The Boilermakers play four of five games in September at home. It goes without saying that Purdue needs to take advantage of all of that home-cooking in renovated Ross-Ade Stadium if it wants to back up last year’s Big Ten West title with a third bowl bid in succession.

“I think you obviously want to start fast and don’t want to ease into the season,” said first-year Purdue coach Ryan Walters. “Our schedule doesn’t really allow for that anyway, and we have set up summer workouts and set up the way we have practiced this fall to be able to hit the ground running.

“It’s important to get off to a good start, to build confidence and build comradery and chemistry with a group of guys that is a veteran group, but don’t have a whole lot of experience playing with each other.”

Debuts of last 10 Purdue head coaches

SeasonCoachOpening game result
2017Jeff BrohmL, 35-28 vs. No. 16 Louisville (at Indianapolis)
2013Darrell HazellL, 42-7 at Cincinnati
2009Danny HopeW, 52-31 vs. Toledo
1997Joe TillerL, 36-22 at Toledo
1991Jim CollettoW, 49-3 vs. Eastern Michigan
1987Fred AkersL, 28-10 at No. 12 Washington
1982Leon BurtnettL, 35-14 vs. Stanford
1977Jim YoungL, 19-14 at Michigan State
1973Alex AgaseW, 14-13 at Wisconsin
1970Bob DeMossW, 15-0 vs. TCU

This is the 100th season of Ross-Ade Stadium, which underwent a $45 million update in the offseason highlighted by a re-imagined south end zone and construction of the Tiller Tunnel. … The new capacity of Ross-Ade was unveiled this week: 61,441. Capacity was 57,236. … Purdue never has played Fresno State. This game was added in May 2019. Fresno State will receive $1.3 million to play the Boilermakers. The 2023 matchup is the only game as part of the contract between the schools. … Fresno State is riding a nine-game winning streak, the third-longest active winning streak in the FBS. … The Boilermakers’ helmets will include a special sticker in remembrance of senior associate athletics director for performance and sports medicine Doug Boersma, who passed away in June at the age of 48. … Purdue’s depth chart features 17 players from the transfer portal. … Fresno State was picked to finish third in the Mountain West this season. The Bulldogs received five first-place votes. … The Bulldogs have announced UCF transfer Mikey Keene as their No. 1 quarterback. He was 8-3 as a starter for the Golden Knights. … At 37, Ryan Walters is the fifth-youngest head coach in the FBS this year. Fresno State coach Jeff Tedford is 61. … The last true Big Ten opponent the Bulldogs faced was Minnesota, and the Bulldogs fell 38-35 at home in overtime on Sept. 7, 2019. Fresno State beat Rutgers in overtime in 2013 (52-51), but the Scarlet Knights weren’t a member of the Big Ten that year. … Fresno State has 40 wins all-time against current Power 5 programs. The Bulldogs have defeated a Power 5 opponent in back-to-back seasons, knocking off UCLA in 2021 and Washington State in 2022. … The average age of the Purdue staff is 39. … Walters is the first Purdue head coach hired who came directly from a defensive background since Leon Burtnett was promoted from DC to head coach in 1982. … Purdue is one of only 15 FBS teams that doesn’t play an FCS opponent in 2023. … Fresno State is set to arrive in Indiana on Thursday, a day earlier than usual. The goal: More time to adapt to the three-hour time difference.

MORE: Opener vs. Fresno State kicks off Ryan Walters’ era, key September for Purdue | First and 10: Fresno State at Purdue | First look: Fresno State | Gold and Black Radio: Game week arrives | Three Thoughts From The Weekend: Purdue-Fresno State, injury reports and more | The 3-2-1: Injury report coming, Ross-Ade ready and who will snap ball? | Depth chart analysis | Videos: Graham Harrell, Hudson Card, T.J. Sheffield

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