Michigan vs. Purdue 2025 Preview: Can the Wolverines Keep Winning?

The Michigan Wolverines (6-2, 4-1) will host the Purdue Boilermakers (2-6, 0-5) under the lights in the Big House on November 1. Michigan is looking to continue their undefeated home record this season. Meanwhile, Purdue is looking to finally grab their first Big Ten win in huge upset fashion. With that in mind, let’s dive into this Michigan vs. Purdue 2025 college football preview.

Michigan Wolverines vs. Purdue Boilermakers: 2025 College Football Preview

Currently, the Wolverines are 20.5-point favorites entering their Week 10 matchup with Purdue. Can the Boilermakers beat the odds? Or, will the Wolverines put them away in this Big Ten showdown?

Michigan vs. Purdue: Matchup History and Coach Quotes 

Michigan holds a 41-13 all-time record versus Purdue, winning the last six matchups between the two teams. 

Coming off a physical, emotional win versus Michigan State, Michigan head coach Sherrone Moore is looking to build off another impressive win. Michigan has a lot to build on, but there are still areas that need improvement. Purdue is a team that gives them a chance to clean things up, but is also an opponent that should not be taken lightly. Moore had this to say about the challenge that Purdue brings to Michigan. 

“Quarterback transfer’s good. The Mockobee kid, the running back, he runs so hard. He runs so physical. We’ve faced him in the Big Ten Championship in ’22, and they’ve got two quarterbacks. One of them is the mobile guy, but the other one’s mobile as well. So they’re a good offense, and defensively, they do just enough to keep you off balance.”

Making sure Michigan treats this game like any other is critical. You can’t look past any Big Ten opponent, and a loss here would end any chances of them making the College Football Playoff.

Purdue head coach Barry Odom is in his first season with the Boilermakers and is looking to add an impressive win to his team’s resume. While a bowl game is likely out of the picture, Odom can rally his team to win some games to finish this year stronger than last season. Odom had this to say about Michigan.

“They are 6-2. It will be a night game. They are 4-1 in the Big Ten Conference. A great team led by Coach [Sherrone] Moore with a really, really good staff. Great coaches. Tremendous players and they play well together. We [at UNLV] played there two years ago and been in the environment before. What a great place to play a game. We’ve got to create our own energy and we need elite focus in the snap count and all the different things we need to execute the play call.”

Purdue has had a difficult schedule this season, and this game will be another challenging task for the Boilermakers.

Keys to the Game

Key Players for Michigan

Bryce Underwood is still finding his footing with some inconsistent performances. Last week, he didn’t play great, but still did enough to come out with a dominant win.

However, Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall proved, once again, that they are arguably the best running back tandem in the country. They combined for 262 yards and three touchdowns, generating more than enough offense on their own for Michigan to win. Left tackle Blake Frazier was a key piece in the offensive line after making his first career start last week and was solid in both pass protection and run blocking. 

Defensively, linebacker Jimmy Rolder continues to shine this season with his extraordinary development. He had the best game of his career against Michigan State, so look for him to make impact plays early this week.

Edge rusher Derrick Moore continues to dominate, too. He added a sack and four pressures to his impressive 2025 campaign. Defensive tackle Trey Pierce has been one of the heroes of this defense. While he doesn’t make flashy plays as a pass rusher, he is a dominant run defender and should make a huge impact again this week. Safety Brandyn Hillman and cornerback Jyaire Hill continue to make big plays for the defense as well as being the heart and soul of an aggressive group.

Key Players for Purdue

Purdue runs a unique two-quarterback system where Ryan Browne plays most of the team’s snaps, while Malachi Singleton operates as a dual-threat option. Purdue has struggled at quarterback, but their unique system makes it tough to gameplan for.

Running back Devin Mockobee is in his fourth season as one of Purdue’s top backs, and is putting together another solid season with 521 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Wide receiver Michael Jackson III leads the team with 398 receiving yards. 

Defensively, edge rusher CJ Nunnally IV has led the team in every pass rush category with five sacks and 20 pressures this season. Linebacker Mani Powell has been a solid player for the Boilermakers, totaling 55 tackles, which leads the team.

Where the Boilermakers’ defense is at its best is with its safeties. Tahj Ra-El and Myles Slusher are arguably Purdue’s two best players and have been a steady force in the backend of the Purdue defense.

Keys for Michigan to Win

Purdue has struggled to protect the quarterback all season, allowing 97 pressures in eight games, particularly in games against high-quality teams. Michigan’s outstanding defensive line should dominate throughout this game, and could total nearly 20 pressures. If the Wolverines can pressure the quarterback and force Purdue into a one-dimensional running offense, they will have a lot of success on defense. 

A matchup to look out for in particular is CJ Nunnally IV versus both of Michigan’s offensive tackles. Nunnally has been quite good this season and will test both of Michigan’s young offensive tackles this week.

Purdue has both a below-average passing defense and a rushing defense. Justice Haynes and Jordan Marshall could combine for over 250 yards again, powering this offense to another win. Michigan’s passing attack will also look to get back into a rhythm, generating chunk plays off play action, built on the dominant rushing attack.