College football season is here. We’re going through Indiana’s schedule to look ahead at all 12 opponents for 2026.
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- Opponent: Purdue
- Date/Time/TV: Saturday, November 28, TBD
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
- 2025 record/postseason result: 2-10, 0-9 Big Ten
- Overall returning production: 58 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (No. 42 in the country, 12th in the Big Ten)
Returning production, offense: 61 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (38th in the country)
Offensive outlook: Josh Henson is in his second season as offensive coordinator at Purdue. The Boilermakers were No. 122 in scoring offense, No. 103 in rushing offense, and No. 81 in passing offense.
Ryan Browne is set to start again at quarterback. He started all 12 games last year and threw for 2,153 yards, nine touchdowns, and 10 interceptions with a 58.9% completion rate. He also ran for four touchdowns. Browne also has more career interceptions than touchdowns. He hasn’t been efficient or consistent to this point in his career.
The Boilermakers have a trio of running backs who should be a strength of the team. Antonio Harris had 69 carries for 305 yards and two scores as a sophomore for Purdue a year ago. Fame Ijeboi (transfer from Minnesota) had 97 carries for 441 and a couple touchdowns. And Jerrick Gibson, a transfer from Texas, had 152 yards on 37 carries in 2025.
The wide receiver room does not include anyone returning who had more than 14 catches a year ago. But there are some promising transfers, including Xavier Townsend (84 receptions, 764 yards, four scores in 39 games at UCF and Iowa State), Bisi Owens (138 catches, 1,664 yards, 11 touchdowns in three seasons at Penn), and Asaad Waseem (66 receptions, 699 yards, five touchdowns in 2025 at Florida Atlantic).
George Burhenn is back and the starter at tight end. He had 9 receptions for 94 yards in four games before suffering a season ending injury. He can be a real asset when healthy. Central Florida transfer Kylan Fox was Purdue’s likely No. 2 tight end but he had an offseason knee injury. There isn’t anyone proven after those two.
The offensive line is expected to be improved after a disastrous 2025. Joey Tanona is the lone returning full-time starter. Ethan Trent also had six starts for Purdue a year ago. They’ll be joined by several newcomers including Boaz Stanley, who had nine starts in 2025 at South Carolina, Micah Banuelos, who had five starts in 2025 at USC, and Nuku Mafi, who had 12 starts at Oklahoma State in 2025.
Returning production, defense: 55 percent (per Bill Connelly/ESPN) (59th in the country)
Defensive outlook: Kevin Kane returns as Purdue’s defensive coordinator, a role he held in 2023-24. The defense ranked No. 117 in scoring defense in 2025, No. 112 in rushing defense, and No. 110 in passing defense.
Purdue has some experienced players at defensive tackle. Returner Ian Jeffries had 20 tackles, three TFLs and a sack). Curt Neal, who is at his third Big Ten school, has 61 career tackles, and five TFLs in four seasons. And Rodney Lora had 22 tackles, 3.5 TFLs, and a sack in 2025 at UCF.
Defensive end is a concern after Purdue’s best edge rushers either graduated or transferred out. They return just a grand total of 2.5 sacks on the edge. But there’s hope with Keyshawn Burgos, who has 58 career tackles, seven TFLs, and 2.5 sacks in 41 games at Virginia Tech. Elo Modozie played sparingly for Georgia in 2025. And Jeremy Lewis had 71 tackles, 21 TFLs, and 10.5 sacks in two seasons at Iowa Western.
At linebacker Purdue has a very good player in Charles Correa, who finished last season with 96 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and three sacks. Competing to play beside and behind him are a lot of players who have yet to prove they’re ready to shine at the Power 4 level. They’ll need multiple players to step up.
Purdue welcomes back a couple productive pieces in the secondary: Smiley Bradford had 30 tackles, five TFLs, and interception and six PBUs, while Hudauri Hines had 33 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, an interception and eight PBUs. There were several key portal additions, including Jaden Mangham, who had 30 tackles at Michigan, Mister Clark, who was first-team All-Conference USA in 2025 at Florida International, Ta’Vari Hampton, who was a second-team NJCAA All-American, John Slaughter, who played at Colorado and Tennessee, and Dax Noles, who was a first-team NJCAA All-American.
Special teams outlook: The Boilers had the No. 6 special teams in 2025 according to PFF. But they lost kicker Spencer Porath to the transfer portal and punter Jack McCallister to eligibility. True freshman Jacobo Echeverria Lozano will be Purdue’s field goal kicker to start the season, and Buffalo transfer Dylan Drennan is the likely punter. He was a second-team All-MAC selection after averaging 44.8 yards per punt.
Overall Outlook: This is a Purdue program that hasn’t won a game in the Big Ten or against any Power 4 teams since 2023. So it seems like there’s nowhere to go but up. But unless Browne improves dramatically, the offensive line improves dramatically, and the defense improves dramatically, it’s hard to imagine up meaning anything more than a three or four win season at best. And it’s impossible to imagine a late November win over Indiana, which has outscored the Boilermakers 122-3 over the last two seasons.
Previous Outlooks:
- North Texas
- Howard
- Western Kentucky
- Northwestern
- Rutgers
- Nebraska
- Ohio State
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- USC
- Washington
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