It’s lock-in time for Penn State football.

The Nittany Lions have dropped four straight games and remain winless in the Big Ten, but they can put their first conference win in the books when Purdue comes to town.

Penn State and Purdue both come off bye weeks and share identical 3-4 records. The Nittany Lions’ last game was a hard-fought 21-18 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor.

The Boilermakers have not beaten the Nittany Lions since 2004, when Kyle Orton was the signal caller for the black and gold. Penn State has an all-time 17-3-1 record against the team from West Lafayette, Indiana.

These two teams last faced off in 2024, but the more memorable matchup came in Week 1 of the 2022 season when Sean Clifford led a game-winning drive under the Friday night lights of Ross-Ade Stadium, clinching a 35-31 victory for Penn State. 

The Nittany Lions are 11.5-point favorites, per FanDuel.

The Team

Purdue was an awful football team last season, to put it mildly. The Boilermakers finished the year with an abysmal 2-10 record and went winless in conference play. They were the last Big Ten team to go 0-9 since *checks notes* 2024 Purdue.

2026 has handed the black and gold a better fate. Through seven games, the Boilermakers sit at 3-4, with two wins against Big Ten opponents. In Week 5, they took down Illinois, and the following week, they shellacked Minnesota by a score of 41-13, the same Golden Gophers team that defeated both Michigan and Iowa.

Additionally, Purdue put up 38 points on now-No. 7 UCLA, and lost narrowly in overtime to Wake Forest in Week 2. The Demon Deacons are currently No. 14 in the land.

Barry Odom is the head coach of the Boilermakers, having stepped into the role following the 2024 season. Before arriving in West Lafayette, Odom led UNLV, guiding the Rebels to two nine-plus-win seasons during his two-year tenure.

He spent the majority of his career at Missouri, where he worked in a variety of roles, including defensive coordinator.

Purdue’s offensive coordinator is Josh Henson, whom Odom hired from USC two years ago. Henson also served as the offensive line coach with the Trojans, in addition to managing his playcalling duties.

On defense, Kevin Kane is leading the charge. This season marks his first with the Boilermakers’ program, making the jump from the Minnesota outside linebackers coaching position the year prior.

Kane hasn’t yet set his footing, as Purdue ranks second-to-last in the conference in average yards allowed, with 413.1.

The Offense

Redshirt junior quarterback Ryan Browne got off to a stellar start to 2026, averaging 341 passing yards per game and just north of two passing touchdowns through the first three weeks.

Despite having slowed down significantly when it comes to yardage, ball security remains a strength, having thrown just three interceptions this season.  

FAU transfer wideout Asaad Waseem has been Browne’s top target this season, but his performance fluctuates drastically on a week-to-week basis, and he’s found the end zone just once. 

Waseem has, however, eclipsed the 100-yard mark in a game on three occasions this season, and will certainly pose a threat to the Penn State secondary.

In addition to Waseem, Xxavier Townsend, Bisi Owens, and Jaylan Hornsby were also wide receiver transfer portal additions for Purdue. Townsend came from Iowa State, having played for one season under Matt Campbell.

On the ground, Minnesota transfer Fame Ijeboi is the Boilermakers’ lead running back. He already has a career-high 568 rushing yards despite playing half as many games, but his most impressive single-game performance came against his former team.

In Purdue’s win over the Golden Gophers, Ijeboi exploded for 195 yards on 31 carries, scoring three touchdowns.

While the offensive line has done a decent job creating space for Ijeboi to excel, Browne has been sacked 13 times this season, 10 of those coming within a combined three games.

The Defense

On the other side of the ball, Purdue has struggled mightily, having one of the worst units in all of college football.

The team ranks higher than No. 100 in all of points allowed, yards allowed, and yards per play. Additionally, the Boilermakers have allowed opponents to score on over 92% of their trips to the red zone, making them one of the nation’s worst teams in that category.

A duo of linebackers, Jojo Hayden and Charles Correa, sit atop the tackles chart, with 48 and 46, respectively.

Hayden is an Illinois transfer and also leads the team with two interceptions.

If Penn State wants to get its run game going, now is the time. The black and gold surrender an average of 177 rushing yards per game, and the Nittany Lions average 130 yards on the ground on offense.

The defensive tackle room lacks star power and utilizes multiple depth pieces in its rotation. Nose tackle Curt Neal is the most experienced and perhaps most effective of the bunch.

The secondary is another weakness for Purdue, a team known for giving up explosive plays through the air.

Odom brought in a handful of transfer defensive backs in the offseason to bolster the room, to little avail.

Don Saunders transferred from Utah and has been one of Purdue’s best additions. He has accumulated four pass deflections, 21 total tackles, and a pick-six so far for the Boilermakers.

Special Teams

True freshman Jacobo Echeverria Lozano has found great success as Purdue’s placekicker. He is 15 for 16 all year, drilling a 48-yard field goal, and is perfect on extra-point attempts.

The Boilermakers have struggled to return punts; their longest return this season is just 15 yards, with an average of 5.4 yards, good for last in the Big Ten. Their kickoff-return average sits just north of 20 yards.

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