Game Notes
Bahamas Donation Drive
Wheel Rise Event
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It is a primetime Big Ten-Big 12 showdown as Purdue hosts TCU at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised by BTN. The forecast calls for a splendid evening (clear skies and 76 degrees at kickoff, dropping to 66 at the end of the game). Tickets are going fast, and a crowd of 57,000 is likely.
The Boilermakers rebounded from their season-opening loss at Nevada with a decisive 42-24 victory over Vanderbilt last Saturday. TCU won its opener over Arkansas Little-Rock 39-7 on Aug. 31 and did not play last week.
As legendary former Purdue head coach Joe Tiller liked to say, the 2019 Boilermakers have passed the football until they have gotten hot, and then they have passed it some more. Purdue is averaging 466 yards through the air to rank third in the nation behind Temple (507.0) and Washington State (494.0).
"The key to winning is score points, so whatever that takes," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We would love to be good in both running and passing, but I think if you're good in both, then you're probably not going to be highly ranked in both. We want to score points and win games, and yes, putting all the pressure on the passing game is what we would prefer not to do, but yet at the same time if that's going to help us score points and win, we're not going to be stubborn, and we're not going to force the issue running the football."
Elijah Sindelar leads the country with 932 passing yards and an average of 484 yards of total offense per game. He shares the top spot with nine passing touchdowns (also Joe Burrow of LSU and Anthony Gordon of Washington State) and ranks second with 68 completions.
"Elijah is a guy who is very streaky and can get in a rhythm, and throughout his history when we have been very balanced, he hasn't played as well," Brohm said. "When we have thrown a lot, I think he has played better."
The last time the Boilermakers played TCU was Sept. 19, 1970, in their first game under head coach Bob DeMoss. Purdue won 15-0 at Ross-Ade, and DeMoss is the latest of 11 Purdue coaches to record a shutout in their debut (the others were between 1891 and 1922).
Purdue is hosting a Big 12 school for the first time. The Boilermakers have played three Big 12 opponents previously, all in bowl games. They defeated Oklahoma State in the 1997 Alamo Bowl (33-20) and Kansas State in the 1998 Alamo Bowl (37-34), while losing to Oklahoma State in the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl (58-14). Prior to the Big 12 being formed in 1996, the Boilermakers played 10 games against schools currently in the conference and posted a 7-3 record (5-2 at home and 2-1 on the road). The most recent such pre-Big 12 school to play at Ross-Ade was West Virginia on Sept. 21, 1996, and the Mountaineers won 20-6, when they were still a member of the Big East.
Purdue has played 13 night games previously at Ross-Ade, including five over the last two seasons.
Saturday is Band Day. Some 1,650 students from 28 high schools will join the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band in a fun and entertaining "mass band" halftime show. Listen to more than 2,000 musicians perform "Come Alive," "All Star" and "American Fanfare," as well as several others.
Bahamas Donation Drive
Wheel Rise Event
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It is a primetime Big Ten-Big 12 showdown as Purdue hosts TCU at Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday.
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised by BTN. The forecast calls for a splendid evening (clear skies and 76 degrees at kickoff, dropping to 66 at the end of the game). Tickets are going fast, and a crowd of 57,000 is likely.
The Boilermakers rebounded from their season-opening loss at Nevada with a decisive 42-24 victory over Vanderbilt last Saturday. TCU won its opener over Arkansas Little-Rock 39-7 on Aug. 31 and did not play last week.
As legendary former Purdue head coach Joe Tiller liked to say, the 2019 Boilermakers have passed the football until they have gotten hot, and then they have passed it some more. Purdue is averaging 466 yards through the air to rank third in the nation behind Temple (507.0) and Washington State (494.0).
"The key to winning is score points, so whatever that takes," head coach Jeff Brohm said. "We would love to be good in both running and passing, but I think if you're good in both, then you're probably not going to be highly ranked in both. We want to score points and win games, and yes, putting all the pressure on the passing game is what we would prefer not to do, but yet at the same time if that's going to help us score points and win, we're not going to be stubborn, and we're not going to force the issue running the football."
Elijah Sindelar leads the country with 932 passing yards and an average of 484 yards of total offense per game. He shares the top spot with nine passing touchdowns (also Joe Burrow of LSU and Anthony Gordon of Washington State) and ranks second with 68 completions.
"Elijah is a guy who is very streaky and can get in a rhythm, and throughout his history when we have been very balanced, he hasn't played as well," Brohm said. "When we have thrown a lot, I think he has played better."
The last time the Boilermakers played TCU was Sept. 19, 1970, in their first game under head coach Bob DeMoss. Purdue won 15-0 at Ross-Ade, and DeMoss is the latest of 11 Purdue coaches to record a shutout in their debut (the others were between 1891 and 1922).
Purdue is hosting a Big 12 school for the first time. The Boilermakers have played three Big 12 opponents previously, all in bowl games. They defeated Oklahoma State in the 1997 Alamo Bowl (33-20) and Kansas State in the 1998 Alamo Bowl (37-34), while losing to Oklahoma State in the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl (58-14). Prior to the Big 12 being formed in 1996, the Boilermakers played 10 games against schools currently in the conference and posted a 7-3 record (5-2 at home and 2-1 on the road). The most recent such pre-Big 12 school to play at Ross-Ade was West Virginia on Sept. 21, 1996, and the Mountaineers won 20-6, when they were still a member of the Big East.
Purdue has played 13 night games previously at Ross-Ade, including five over the last two seasons.
Saturday is Band Day. Some 1,650 students from 28 high schools will join the Purdue "All-American" Marching Band in a fun and entertaining "mass band" halftime show. Listen to more than 2,000 musicians perform "Come Alive," "All Star" and "American Fanfare," as well as several others.