Once Penn State finishes their gauntlet portion of their schedule featuring USC, Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Washington, the Nittany Lions will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana to take on the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross Ade Stadium on November 16.
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Purdue is coming off a down season in West Lafayette after back-to-back 8+ win campaigns, the Boilermakers went just 4-8 in the first year of the Ryan Walters era. Purdue stumbled to a 1-3 start out of the gates, before a lopsided win over Illinois marked a potential turning point in the season.
A four-game stretch against Iowa, Ohio State, Nebraska and Michigan ended those hopes, however, pushing the Boilermakers to 2-7 on the season. A pair of wins in its last three games, over Minnesota and Indiana, did give Purdue some momentum to close the season however.
HEAD COACH PROFILE: Ryan Walters
Salary: $4,050,000
Overall Record: 4-8
Record at Purdue: 4-8
Record against Penn State: 0-0
Before his debut campaign as a head coach last season, Walters was the mastermind behind building one of the top defenses in the country at Illinois. In 2022, Walters oversaw a defense that finish third in total defense and first in scoring defense in the country, paving the way for the defensive mastermind to get the head gig in West Lafayette.
Prior to his two year stint with the Illini, Walters at Missouri from 2015-2020, serving as the co-defensive coordinator or sole defensive coordinator in all but one year with the Tigers.
Offensive Coordinator: Graham Harrell
- Points Per Game: 23.9
- Yards Per Game: 379.9
- Passing Yards Per Game: 211.2
- Rushing Yards Per Game: 168.8
Defensive Coordinator: Kevin Kane
- Points Allowed Per Game: 30.4
- Yards Allowed Per Game: 382.1
- Passing Allowed Yards Per Game: 241.5
- Rushing Allowed Yards Per Game: 140.6
LAST TIME PENN STATE MET PURDUE
Penn State will be making its second trip to West Lafayette in the last three years, with the last meeting being a thrilling 35-31 victory for the Nittany Lions to kick off the 2022 season. That meeting saw Sean Clifford throw for 282 yards and four scores, including the game-winning touchdown to Keyvone Lee with less than a minute to play.
It has been a one-sided affair for Penn State against the Boilermakers, holding a 16-3-1 record in the all-time series. That includes a current 10-game winning streak spanning over 20 years by the time November's matchup takes place.
Purdue brings back quarterback Hudson Card for his second season in West Lafayette, along with its leading rusher in each of the last two seasons, Devin Mockobee. The receiving corps is set to be a brand new group, with just two pass catchers remaining from last year's group.
Defensively, a pair of All-Big Ten talents are back for Ryan Walters and company, with Thompson-Randle El Big Ten Freshman of the Year and star safety Dillon Thieneman and edge rusher turned middle linebacker Kydran Jenkins. The secondary will see a bit of a shakeup, however, replacing three starters on the back end.
It was a busy portal season for the Boilermakers, bringing in 13 transfers to make up the 42nd ranked portal class according to Rivals.
Wide receiver and offensive line saw the most notable reinforcements enter the mix, with Hudson Card adding CJ Smith, De'Nylon Morrissette, and Kam Brown to his list of weapons. While the pair is not listed in the top ten, Corey Stewart (Ball State) and DJ Wingfield (New Mexico) are both projected starters on the offensive line as well.
While the portal was kind to Purdue as far as incoming talent, many contributors from last year's team also departed from the program. None were more impactful than star edge rusher Nic Scourton and wide receiver Deion Burks. The Boilermakers also lost their top three receivers, with Abdur-Rahmaan Yaseen and TJ Sheffield joining Burks in the portal.
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