Last week, the Purdue Boilermakers football game against Oregon may have been the most boring football game to watch in Tippecanoe County. High School football games were definitely more entertaining than the 35-0 sweep Oregon had on Purdue.
To top it off, Purdue has come out and said they are keeping head coach Ryan Walters into next season. Purdue is going to let him hire a new offensive coordinator with a second full season of recruiting – whatever that looks like this year. This week, however, Purdue is focusing on the Northwestern Wildcats.
Purdue Boilermakers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Football History
Purdue and Northwestern have been playing each other for almost 130 years. Believe it or not, the first matchup was played on November 2, 1895! Exactly 129 years later, after 88 matchups, Purdue and Northwestern will faceoff again.
Historically, Purdue has the lead with a record of 53-34-1 over the Wildcats. This year though, it could be anyone’s game.
Northwestern is 3-5 (1-5 in Conference) and Purdue is 1-6 (0-4 in Conference). Both teams are struggling this year, but there are better days ahead. for both hopefully!
Key Players for Purdue
Ryan Browne
What a tale of two games. Against Illinois, Ryan Browne looked like the next great mobile quarterback. He went 18-of-26 for 297 yards and three touchdowns, plus 118 yards on the ground. It was a thing of beauty!
Against Oregon, however, Browne played beyond poorly. He went 9-of-19 for 93 yards and an interception, plus only 48 rushing yards. It was disappointing, to say the least. Now, Browne has the opportunity to come back and show off his abilities against a Northwestern defense that’s worse than Oregon’s.
Dillon Thieneman
Dillon Thieneman is not playing as well this year as he did last year. As a true freshman, Thieneman averaged 6.18 tackles per game and had six total interceptions. With the expectations of him developing, Thieneman has disappointed.
He’s averaging five tackles per game this year and has yet to record an interception. If Thieneman comes out this week and plays like he did last year, he will be able to help the Boilers force turnovers and win the game.
Key Players for Northwestern
Jack Lausch
Quarterback Jack Lausch took over the starting job and has not let go. In six games this season, Lausch has accrued 870 passing yards and four touchdowns and four interceptions. He has been pretty mediocre, but the flashes have been there. The good news for Lausch is that the Purdue defense has been great for opposing quarterbacks to pick apart this year.
Cam Porter
Running back Cam Porter is a really solid player. While he’s been the backup most years, he’s putting together to good back-to-back seasons. So far, Porter’s best season was 2023, where he had 166 carries, 651 yards, and four touchdowns in 13 games.
Through seven games this year, Porter has 86 carries for 370 yards and five touchdowns. If we prorate out those states for a full 12 games, Porter would be looking at 147 carries, 634 yards, with nine touchdowns. That may not seem like a big jump from last year, but his scoring efficiency going up is what you want to see.
This week may be a very good week for Porter, as Purdue’s defense gives up over 215 rushing yards per game this season. If Porter is able to get the majority of the carries this week, he may be able to rush for around 150 yards or more this week.
Purdue Boilermakers’ Route to Victory
It’s time to be honest. It’s hard to see how the Purdue Boilermakers can win this football game. They look like they are staring down the barrel of an 1-11 season without a single win against an FBS opponent this year. If that’s the case, it’s hard to imagine what happens this spring in terms of recruiting and the transfer portal.
However, this week is as good as ever for the team to pull out a victory. If they are going to win, Purdue needs the defense to step up, the offense to dominate through the air and the line slow down Northwestern’s pass rush. They also need this weird two-QB system of Hudson Card and Browne to actually work; where Card comes out for easy checkdowns and short yardage and Browne coming in for big plays and running the ball.
Hunter Greene
Hunter started writing for The League Winners in the summer of 2021. Hunter has been playing fantasy football for about a decade, starting in middle school. Now he’s a professional landscaper and avid Colts and Purdue fan.