After splitting back-to-back home games against Ohio State and Washington, Penn State football is back on the road. This time, the Nittany Lions face Purdue at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The Boilermakers look to play spoiler to the Nittany Lions’ College Football Playoff hopes. Let’s preview them ahead of the matchup.

The Team

Purdue has struggled mightily this season. It defeated Indiana State 49-0 to open the season but hasn’t won a game since. A 66-7 loss against Notre Dame and a 50-49 overtime loss at Illinois were two rough games for the Boilermakers. Last week, Purdue lost 45-0 against Ohio State in Columbus.

Ryan Walters has a 5-16 record in his second season as Purdue’s head coach. He was Illinois’s defensive coordinator before taking the job to help rebuild the program in the wake of Jeff Brohm’s departure for Louisville. Walters is considered one of the nation’s up-and-coming young college football coaches.

Kevin Kane is the defensive coordinator. Purdue doesn’t have an official offensive coordinator, but Cory Patterson is listed as an associate head coach.

Penn State owns a 16-3-1 all-time series lead over Purdue. The last matchup was a 35-31 thriller at Ross-Ade Stadium to open the 2022 season.

Offense

The Boilermakers are scoring 18 points per game. They’ve amassed 2,884 yards worth 320.4 per game and 5.7 per play.

Hudson Card is Purdue’s starting quarterback, with 1,113 passing yards, eight touchdowns, and five interceptions. Card also started last season and spent three seasons with Texas beforehand. He has 5,023 passing yards, 34 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions over his career.

Devin Mockobee leads the team with 635 rushing yards and three touchdowns. Behind him is former Fighting Illini Reggie Love III, who has 386 yards and two touchdowns.

Tight end Max Klare is Purdue’s leading receiver, with 475 yards and two touchdowns. Jaron Tibbs leads the wide receivers with 232 yards and two touchdowns. Jahmal Edrine has 230 yards and two touchdowns, while Mockobee has 123 yards and one through the air.

Corey Stewart and Moussa Mahamane are at left tackle and left guard. Gus Hartwig is at center, while DJ Wingfield and Marcus Mbow are at right guard and tackle.

Defense

Purdue is allowing 37.78 points per game. The Boilermakers have given up 45 touchdowns and 4,005 total yards, for 445 per game.

Safety Dillon Thieneman leads the Boilermakers with 75 tackles. He also has a sack and four pass breakups. Alongside him is Antonio Stevens, who has 38 tackles and one interception.

Botros Alisandro and Kyndrich Breedlove are the cornerbacks, and Smiley Bradford is the nickelback. Breedlove has 30 tackles and leads Purdue with three interceptions. Botros has 18 tackles and three pass breakups, while Bradford has 12 tackles.

Kydran Jenkins and Yanni Karlaftis are the starting linebackers. Jenkins is second in tackles with 62 and a team-most 5.5 sacks. Karlaftis has 43 tackles and is the brother of former first-round pick George Karlaftis, who plays for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Outside linebacker Will Heldt has 43 tackles and five sacks. Jeffrey M’Ba has 21 tackles, while Cole Brevard has 15 tackles and 1.5 sacks. Meanwhile, Joe Anderson has 16 tackles.

Special Teams

Spencer Porath is 7-for-11 in field goal attempts, hitting 45 yards as his longest successful kick this season. Ben Freehill is averaging 63 yards per kickoff, while Keelan Crimmins is averaging 44.77 yards per punt.

Thieneman has 67 yards over nine punt returns. Meanwhile, Elijah Jackson has eight kickoff returns worth 145 yards.