The Wildcats host a Big Ten foe that has lost its last 11 dating back to last season.
Once again we are looking at Northwestern Football’s 2025 opponents. The seventh game on the Wildcats’ schedule is against Purdue, who are coming off an abysmal season. The ‘Cats will host the Boilermakers after narrowly defeating them a year ago thanks to heroics from Joseph Himon II.
The Basics
Returning Production: 42% overall (39% offense, 46% defense); 108th in FBS
2024 Record: 1-11 (0-9 B1G)
Head Coach: Barry Odom (first season)
The Stats
2025 SP+ Overall: 101st
2025 SP+ Offense: 111th
2025 SP+ Defense: 90th
2025 SP+ Special Teams: 117th
2024 Capsule
There is one word that stands above the rest to describe Purdue’s 2024 season: disastrous. Purdue opened the season with a 49-0 victory over FCS Indiana State, but then proceeded to lose the next 11 straight with three shutouts and two games scoring only single digit points. Only one game apart from the Week 1 victory had any real positivity and that was the overtime loss against Illinois. Quarterback Ryan Browne showed true flashes in that contest but the Boilermakers just barely lost 50-49. Apart from that game, a seven point loss to Michigan State, a fluke pick-six against Oregon State and an overtime loss against Northwestern, Purdue looked dead in the water all season and was outplayed in almost every aspect imaginable. Now headed into 2025, there is a clean slate for this Boilermakers team.
Offensive Overview
After such a troublesome year in 2024, Purdue saw many of its top offensive players enter the portal and move on to play for better teams. Star tight end Max Klare is now with Ohio State, offensive linemen DJ Wingfield and Mahamane Moussa left for USC and Louisville respectively, and Jahmal Edrine is now with Virginia. Quarterback Ryan Browne has to be the biggest story though. In the winter, Browne transferred to UNC to play under Bill Belichick. However, he transferred back to Purdue in the spring to presumably be the starter under new head coach Barry Odom. Malachi Singleton also came in from Arkansas to try and fight for the starting job after appearing sporadically for the Razorbacks a season ago.
Purdue’s offense overall just looks very different. While running back Devin Mockobee does return after rushing for over 600 yards, the Boilermakers’ offensive line will be almost completely different from last season with at least four new starters projected. For the wide receiver position, Nitro Tuggle transferred in from Georgia after just appearing in two games last season along with former USC receiver Charles Ross who is entering his sixth season. All in all, this Purdue roster is extremely different, but the quarterback who looked the best last season will likely have the keys to the offense.
Defensive Overview
Just stating the obvious (and like the offense), Purdue lost its best three defensive players to the transfer portal. Safety Dylan Thieneman left to go play for Oregon, edge rusher Will Heldt to Clemson and defensive lineman Cole Brevard to Texas. Aside from that, the Boilermakers are projected to field 11 new starters on defense with only two of them being on the roster a year ago. Scooping up former three-star recruit Ryan Turner from Boston College is a good get for Purdue if he can develop into a solid and reliable cornerback. The most promising addition is Hershey McLaurin from Houston, who had 50 tackles and 8.0 tackles-for-loss a season ago with the Cougars. He brings experience to this defense as he started in 11 of 12 games last season that he appeared in. Crew Wakely is also a good addition to the defensive back room after recording 103 tackles total across the last two seasons at BYU. The Purdue defense as a whole is very new-look and there are a lot of question marks all around.