The Penn State Nittany Lions (8-1) bounced back on Saturday night with a convincing win over Washington and now head back on the road for a date with the Purdue Boilermakers (1-8). Ryan Walters and company have been the worst team in the Big Ten by far
Prior to Saturday afternoon clash in West Lafayette between the Nittany Lions and Boilermakers, Happy Valley Insider takes a first look at Purdue.
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Game/Broadcast Details:
Where: West Lafayette, Indiana
Stadium: Ross-Ade Stadium (Official capacity of 61,441)
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Television: CBS - Brad Nessler (PxP), Gary Danielson (Color), Jenny Dell (Sidelines)
Odds: Penn State opened as a 28.5-point favorite, over/under is 50.5 points.
Nightmare season in West Lafayette:
What can go wrong, has gone wrong for Ryan Walters and the Boilermakers this season. At 1-8, they are the worst team in the Big Ten, the lone school in the conference that is not 4-5 or better, and have a better winning percentage than just two teams across college football. Yes, it's been that bad in West Lafayette.
Not only have the losses stacked up, but the Boilermakers haven't been competitive either, having six losses by two scores on more, including four losses by 35+. Three of those defeats came against teams currently ranked in the top ten, Oregon, Ohio State and Notre Dame. Those games have given the Boilermakers a scoring differential of -19.8, which is the worst by 12.1 points.
Purdue's
Key Purdue stats and notes to know...
Offense sputtering through fall:
The Boilermakers' have tried everything offensively this season. A change at offensive coordinator, Ryan Walters taking over play calling, changing quarterbacks, you name it. It has yet to pay off. Purdue has been shutout in two of its last three games (against Oregon and Ohio State) to drop to 18 points per game this season, which is last in the conference and 127th in the nation.
An offense with no identity has Tom Allen's unit licking their chops and potentially marking a third blanking of the Boilermakers this fall.
Big Ten's worst defense:
Not only has the offense been uninspiring, but the defense is statistically worse. The Boilermakers had the worst scoring defense in the conference last year and the same trend has continued in 2024. Purdue is surrendering 37.8 points per game, which is last in the Big Ten and 129th in the country, as well as just 0.4 points off a program-worst worst.
Against top competition, Purdue has given up 146 points across three games. That number could reach 200+ after the Nittany Lions come to town this weekend.
Walters' seat continues to heat up:
Despite being in just his second season at the helm, head coach Ryan Walters has found himself on the hot seat in West Lafayette. The Boilermakers are 5-16 over the last two seasons, giving Walters the second-lowest winning percentage of any Purdue head coach with more than one season.
There have been reports that Walters could return for a third season in 2025, but it is not a foregone conclusion, especially with how Purdue has regressed this fall.
Series history:
Penn State has dominated the Boilermakers across their 20-game all-time series, holding a 16-3-1 lead. That includes a current 10-game winning streak, dating back to 2005, which was a year after the last Boilermaker win in the series. The Nittany Lions fell 20-13 against a top ten Purdue team in Beaver Stadium.
Penn State has rattled off ten straight since, and the most recent matchup saw the Nittany Lions go into Ross-Ade Stadium and beat the Boilermakers in the final minute of the 2022 season opener. Sean Clifford found Keyvone Lee for the game-winning score, having five total touchdowns in the victory.
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