2026 Opponent Snapshot: Purdue Boilermakers

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Head Coach: Barry Odom
Purdue Record: 2-10, 0-9

Quick 2025 Recap

It was the inaugural season for Barry Odom who came to West Lafayette after a successful two-year stint at UNLV. While Odom got Purdue off to a 2-0 start, that was about where the achievement ended as the Boilermakers didn’t win another game the rest of the way. Losses to USC, Notre Dame, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, Rutgers, Michigan, Ohio State, Washington, and Indiana dampened what many were hoping to be a turnaround season after the disastrous tenure of Ryan Walters.

Offensive Player to Watch

That’s a great question for an offense that could have as many as 7 transfers in the starting lineup. One of the returning starters is the quarterback, Ryan Browne, though who should bring some, uh, stability to the position? Truth be told, Browne struggled last season — as you might expect given Purdue was 2-10 — to the tune of 9 passing touchdowns to 10 interceptions. But there’s some hope the 6-foot-4, 210-pound signal caller can put things together with a new receiving crops. In comes Bisi Owens (Penn), Asaad Waseem (FAU), and Xavier Townsend (Iowa State) to shore up what the Boilermakers hope is an improved passing attack.

Defensive Player to Watch

Once again, this is a unit that could very well have 9-10 transfers as starters so it only makes sense we point out one of those intriguing transfers. Let’s go with Elo Modozie, a defensive end who comes to Purdue after having spent his first two years at Army and then the last at Georgia. While he didn’t accomplish a whole lot at Georgia (he had just 7 total tackles), Modozie showed some promise at Army in 2024 when he had 34 tackles, 6.5 sacks, and 8 TFLs.

Purdue Wins If…

I mean, who truly knows with the amount of transfers that Purdue brings in? Perhaps a couple of these guys hit in a big way, Ryan Browne takes a substantial step, and the Boilermakers work their way to 8 wins with one of them being over Penn State? Weirder things have happened.

Penn State Wins If…

This is the more likely of the outcomes, in my humble opinion. Listen, Purdue will likely be an improved team. I think Ryan Odom is a competent coach and will prove that this year. But there’s very little reason this game should be much cause for concern. It does come in between the Michigan and the Washington games, but there’s a bye in there for the Nittany Lions after the Michigan roadtrip and before this home affair. If the Nittany Lions are who we think they are — a top 25-esque team — this should be one of the easier Big Ten games.

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