With each passing month, the wait grows longer. September came and went winless, and October followed suit. As they stare down the barrel of a bleak November, the question isn’t just when they’ll win—it’s whether they can at all.
The difficulty of Purdue’s schedule has been a talking point since the preseason, but even the most dire predictions couldn’t have prepared a program for this magnitude of defeat. Seven straight losses. One lone victory—against FCS Indiana State in the season opener. Two of the Boilermakers’ last three defeats have been heartbreaking overtime losses, including a 50-49 thriller against then-No. 23 Illinois and a 26-20 heartbreaker to Northwestern. It doesn’t make matters any easier that their rival school downstate is having a historic Cinderella run this season.
Purdue finds itself firmly anchored to the bottom of the Big Ten, the lone team without a single conference victory, with no clear path out of the freefall.
Somehow, even with seven straight losses in the rearview, Purdue’s season is about to get even tougher. The Boilermakers will face three of the top ten 2024 College Football Playoff ranked teams in November: No. 2 Ohio State, No. 6 Penn State and No. 8 Indiana.
As they head into the final stretch of the season, it’s hard to imagine things could get better. It surely isn’t looking like they will.
“Obviously, it’s going to be a big challenge,” head coach Ryan Walters said. “Looking forward to going and competing against the best. That’s why you play in this conference; that’s why you come to a school like Purdue, to be able to go compete with and give your all against some of the better teams in the country.”
Purdue’s football season has descended into an almost surreal string of miseries, each loss finding a way to be more uniquely painful than the last.
“Frustrating, disappointing, unexpected, you name it—all of the above,” said Purdue athletic director Mike Bobinski. “All the frustration, all the angst that everybody feels. We feel it all day, every day. It is what we do for a living, and so we understand how that looks and feels and is not good. We get it completely.”
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The question is no longer how can they get better? but rather, how did they fall so far?
Purdue’s current season marks a major shift from the optimism that surrounded the team heading into last season. Under first-year head coach Walters, the Boilermakers appeared poised to build on their Big Ten West title run. Quarterback Hudson Card, fresh from Texas, and offensive coordinator Graham Harrell were brought in to ignite the high-octane offense that had so much success under Jeff Brohm.
But what was supposed to be progress has been a sharp nosedive. The Boilermakers have plummeted across almost every statistical category, showing a marked decline in 2023 and an even worse performance in 2024.
The expanded Big Ten is more competitive than ever before. The NIL world and transfer portal changes in conjunction didn’t play particularly well to Purdue’s strengths. Despite pulling 19 offseason transfers, few have made an impact so far.
Yet, these seemingly logical touchstones distract from the reality facing Purdue. They are not the important parts of the equation Purdue is trying to solve.
Purdue is the worst team in the Big Ten – and it isn’t close.
Dead last in first downs. Dead last in fourth-down conversions. Dead last in scoring defense, rushing defense and total defense. Last in penalties and time of possession. Purdue’s defense has allowed an average of 36.9 points per game and 448.1 yards per game. The loss to Notre Dame in Week 3 was the worst scoring margin in the program’s 137-year history.
The Boilers are now relying on their third offensive play caller— who happens to also be their head coach — after a string of disappointing performances ended Harrell’s career only four games into the season. Analyst Jason Simmons briefly stepped in before Walters assumed responsibility for the offense himself — a position he has never held in all of his years coaching.
Meanwhile, Card spent two weeks on concussion protocol before sharing snaps with freshman Ryan Browne upon his return.
“You get to do a little bit of reflecting and whatnot.” Card said. “ I’ve done that. I feel good. I feel like I’m in a good spot now, and whatever the game plan is and whatever happens I’ll be ready to go.”
Even with Card officially named starter moving forward, the instability at quarterback, combined with the coordinator changes, made it difficult for the offense to find any continuity or identity.
Last year’s All-American freshman Dillon Theniman, a standout at high safety, has been shuffled across the field in an effort to plug gaps in the defense, but the constant repositioning has failed to provide any real stability. Meanwhile, highly touted cornerback Nyland Green, a transfer from Georgia, has been penalty prone.
Personnel on both sides of the ball have had their struggles. There is no denying the team isn’t as gifted or as deep as they would like to be. What is most striking, however, is the collapse of the vision that Walters and the coaching staff had for this season.
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Missed chances and opportunities lost
The ambition to blend a stifling defense with an explosive air-raid offense not only missed the mark—but it also has unraveled somewhat disastrously.
Each game unfolds with openings, opportunities to seize momentum, but time and again, Purdue watches them slip away. The offense stutters and sputters while the defense plays on its heels, each unit incapable of executing even the most basic plays.
Purdue’s players chase but never quite reach. A running back bounces to the outside, a linebacker overpursues and the running back cuts it inside to pick up several extra yards in a game of inches. Another tackle is there to be made, but a safety arrives a step late, grabbing at air instead of cloth, and the ball carrier slips free, extending the play. The pursuit is frantic and disjointed—no one is ever in the right place at the right time to finish the job.
On offense, the pocket disintegrates in real-time. The line crumbles as defenders storm through, and the quarterback is forced to scramble, looking downfield for any option. The ball is launched under duress, sailing high and wide—too far for the receiver to even make a desperate attempt. In other moments, the pocket stands for just long enough, but the throw is hurried as the quarterback launches it away, avoiding a sack but wasting another down. The opportunities are there, fleeting as they may be, but the execution falls apart in the final moments.
These are not plays that require miracles. They’re the easy ones, the ones that should be routine. But again and again, Purdue’s players are in the right spots, at the right time—and still, they can’t capitalize. The chances are sometimes the problem. Execution always is. And it’s slipping through their fingers.
Moving forward
ESPN reported Walters would get “more time” to right the ship after the 2024 season. Bobinski said he didn’t read the story.
“It doesn’t do me any good to read what someone else is thinking about,” he said. But Bobinski did confirm his team believes in Walters and his vision for where the program is going.
For now, Walters is taking a mindset of progress over perfection.
“It’s obviously very disappointing and melancholy after the game,” he says. “But they also see that two of the last three games we’ve been there right at the end in overtime, when that wasn’t the case early in the season. I think they see the progress.”
But the disconnect between his words and the results on the field has become increasingly difficult to ignore.
Ultimately, Purdue’s success—or lack thereof—this season will be a matter of consistency. The team has flashes of brilliance but can’t sustain them. Running back Devin Mockobee is climbing the career rushing charts, Browne shone in the second half at Illinois and Kendrich Breedlove made key interceptions at Wisconsin. Yet, these moments feel more like brief sparks than sustained fire. The Boilermakers can’t maintain that level of play for a full game.
If they can capitalize on the opportunities that have slipped away so far, a turnaround is still within reach. But time is running out, and every missed chance makes the climb steeper. A strong finish is possible, but only if they can string together more than just flashes of promise.
“The motivation is in the competition, and the opportunities to go compete with some of the great names in this conference and some of the premier teams in college football” Walters said. “The want-to and the drive to continue to improve. Obviously we want to win games, and we are working tirelessly to do so.”
About the Author
Mary Rose Hokanson is a senior studying Law & Society at John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University. Growing up the only girl with three brothers, she developed a lifelong passion for sports and competition.
Mary Rose is an undergraduate research scholar and competes on Purdue’s mock trial team. She is currently an intern for the Indianapolis Colts, a NASH crisis-intervention volunteer for RAINN, and a volunteer court appointed special advocate for child abuse and neglect cases.
In her time as a sports reporter, Mary Rose has interviewed a diverse range of student-athletes, from football players to divers. She plans to leverage her communication skills and passion for justice in pursuit of a career in law.
