WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Football looks to continue its winning streak and remain atop the Big Ten West, traveling to Wisconsin for a divisional battle (Oct. 22). The Boilermakers play their third road contest over the past four games, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Purdue enters the matchup with a 5-2 record, winning five of seven games to start a season for the first time since 2007. The Boilermakers are coming off a 43-37 victory over Nebraska in front of a sellout crowd of 61,320, their fourth straight win. The last time Purdue won four games in-a-row came during the 2018 season, a winning streak that included a 49-20 thumping over No. 2 Ohio State.
Purdue is 3-1 in B1G play for the second time under head coach Jeff Brohm (2018); prior to Brohm's arrival, the last time the Boilermakers won three of their first four conference games occurred during the 2003 season.
MOCKOBEE, O'CONNELL EARN B1G WEEKLY HONORS
• Leading Purdue Football to a 43-37 win over Nebraska, a pair of Boilermakers earned weekly accolades from the Big Ten Conference. Quarterback Aidan O'Connell was named B1G Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while running back Devin Mockobee became the B1G Freshman of the Week.
• Mockobee collected the first weekly award of his career, Purdue's first B1G Freshman of the Week since David Bell three years ago (Nov. 25, 2019).
• O'Connell earned offensive player of the week honors for the second time, his first coming after the Boilermakers' upset victory over No. 3 Michigan State last season. • • The two give Purdue three on the season, including Cam Allen becoming B1G Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 3).
• Mockobee accounted for 206 yards of offense, running for 178 yards and catching a pair of passes from O'Connell for 28 yards. Carrying the ball 30 times, Mockobee's 178 yards on the ground set a Purdue freshman rushing record for a single game. The walk-on running back found the end zone as well, recording his team-leading fifth rushing touchdown of the season.
• O'Connell marched Purdue down the field all night long, throwing for 391 yards for the 12th 300-yard game of his career. The sixth-year senior tossed four touchdown passes as well, the fifth time he has produced a four-touchdown game.
BIG WINS AWAY FROM HOME
• Playing on the road in Big Ten play hasn't fazed Purdue lately. The Boilermakers have won five of their past six conference games away from home, including the two this season against Minnesota (Oct. 1) and Maryland (Oct. 8).
• Two of those victories were over ranked teams. Purdue beat No. 2 Iowa 24-7 last season (Oct. 16, 2021), while knocking off No. 21 Minnesota this October.
• Last season, Purdue went 3-1 in B1G games away from home, which included a neutral site win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field. The Boilermakers ended the 2021 campaign with five victories away from Ross-Ade Stadium, their most since 1943.
FOUR IN-A-ROW
• Purdue is riding a four-game winning streak for the first time the 2018 season.
• The Boilermakers won four straight games in 2018, which included the memorable 49-20 victory over No. 2 Ohio State.
• The 2018 and 2022 seasons are the only ones over the past 15 years that have featured four-game winning streaks. The 2006 and 2007 Boilermakers won their first four games of each season under Joe Tiller.
POPPING CORN
• In the 43-37 win over Nebraska, the Boilermakers popped the Cornhuskers for 608 yards of total offense for the eighth-most yardage in school history.
• The Boilermakers racked up 391 yards through the air and 217 on the ground, just the second time in the past 25 years that they surpassed 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards (Oct. 13, 2018 at Illinois). Both instances have occurred under Jeff Brohm.
• Purdue rushed for 217 yards, the most on the ground in a B1G game since the 2018 game at Illinois.
• The offense ran 101 plays while tying a school record with 38 first downs.
• Individually, Devin Mockobee set a Purdue freshman rushing record with 178 yards. Aidan O'Connell added 391 yards and four touchdowns through the air, his favorite target being Charlie Jones. The wideout made 12 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns for his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
SO CLOSE
• While Purdue is 5-2 for the first time since 2007, the Boilermakers are 64 seconds away from being 7-0.
• Both losses came to teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
• No. 16 Penn State scored a go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds to go to leave West Lafayette with a season-opening victory (Sept. 1)
• In the first road game of the season, the Boilermakers suffered a heartbreaking loss to unbeaten No. 14 Syracuse after the Orange found the end zone with just seven seconds left in the ballgame.
• Five of Purdue's seven games have been decided by six points-or-less.
BROHM KNOWS OFFENSE
• Jeff Brohm has produced more 600-yard games than any coach in Purdue history, owning four of the 10 highest offensive outputs of all-time.
• With 608 yards in the win over Nebraska, Purdue recorded the eighth-most yards of offense in a single game and pushed Brohm past legendary head coach Joe Tiller.
• The top two offenses in a game belong under Tiller's watch but four of the next six have been by Brohm's Boilermakers.
ALL ABOARD THE MOCK TRAIN
• Don't underestimate redshirt-freshman Devin Mockobee. The walk-on running back leads the Purdue rushing attack with 453 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
• The Boonville, Indiana, native had his best game as a Boilermaker in the win over Nebraska, recording 206 all-purpose yards (178 rushing, 28 receiving). His 178 yards on the ground set a new single-game record for rushing yards by a Purdue freshman.
• Mockobee was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after his performance against Nebraska. He was the first Boilermaker freshman to earn the honor since David Bell in November 2019.
• Mockobee produced his first 100-yard game at No. 21 Minnesota, recording 112 yards rushing on only 11 carries to average 10.2 yards per rush. Late in the fourth quarter with Purdue ahead by three points, Mockobee broke free for a 68-yard run and motored into the end zone from two yards out on the following play to put the game on ice.
• Mockobee became the first Purdue freshman to rush for 100 yards since Brian Lankford-Johnson in 2016 (127 yards at Illinois – Oct. 8, 2016).
• The 68-yard rush at Minnesota was the longest run by a Boilermaker since Rondale Moore scampered 76 yards against Northwestern (Aug. 30, 2018).
BRING ON THE PAYNE
• Tight end Payne Durham has been an important piece of the Purdue offense, hauling in 33 catches for 310 yards and three touchdowns to rank second among Boilermakers in all three categories.
• In the win over Nebraska, Durham eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for his career to become just the eighth Purdue tight end to accomplish the feat.
• Durham came through in the clutch against Maryland (Oct. 8), catching the go-ahead touchdown pass before rumbling 56 yards to set up another late Purdue touchdown. He made seven catches for 109 yards, both team highs, to record the third 100-yard game of his career.
• Durham sits into a tie for 11th in program history with 16 receiving touchdowns, third among tight ends, trailing Dave Young (27, 1977-80) and Jim Beirne (17, 1965-67). He is tied with Dustin Keller (2004-07) and Brycen Hopkins (2016-19).
• In last season's game against Wisconsin, Durham led Purdue with nine catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
• Durham's progression in college from backup to all-conference caliber is made more impressive when you consider he played one year of high school football after playing lacrosse all his life.
AIDAN ADDING TO HIS LEGACY
• Beginning his career as a walk-on and eighth on the quarterback depth chart, Aidan O'Connell worked his way up to the starting role and didn't stop there. The sixth-year QB has etched his name in the school record books, and he continued to rise up the career charts early this season.
• O'Connell already ranks in the program's Top 10 in several career categories: completion percentage (1st – 68.0%), 500-yard games (T1st – 2), 400-yard games (2nd – 5), 300-yard games (3rd – 12), touchdown passes (6th – 57), passing completions (6th – 684) and passing yards (6th – 7,679).
• Aidan O'Connell paces the Big Ten in passing yards and total offense. His 325.0 passing yards per game rank eighth nationally, while he stands 13th in total offense with 321.3 yards per game.
• O'Connell has kept up his game against Big Ten teams, throwing for an average of 282.8 yards in B1G games to lead the league.
• In his 12 300-yard games over his career, O'Connell has eclipsed 350 yards in all of them.
• He torched the Syracuse defense with a season-high 424 passing yards and three touchdowns.
• He was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week after a four-touchdown performance against Nebraska. It was the second weekly honor of his career from the conference.
• O'Connell has five 400-yard passing games; only Drew Brees has more (7).
CHUCK'S SIZZLIN'
• Wide receiver Charlie Jones has made an immediate impact since transferring to Purdue from Iowa, ranking second nationally in receptions per game (8.9) and receiving touchdowns (9) while ranking seventh in receiving yards (735).
• Jones has recorded four 100-yard games this season, including a 12-catch, 132-yard performance in last week's win over Nebraska.
• It's safe to say Jones enjoys the Purdue offense. After making 21 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns during the entire 2021 season, it only took him three games to surpass last year's totals with the Hawkeyes.
• With three multi-touchdown games, Jones is just the sixth Purdue receiver since 2000 to have three-or-more multi-touchdown games in a season.
• Jones has been named Midseason All-America by multiple outlets (AP, The Athletic, PFF).
WELCOME BACK 6
• The Boilermaker defense welcomed back one of their leaders, Jalen Graham, in the 31-29 win over Maryland.
• Graham, who missed the previous four games due to injury, returned to record a team-high nine tackles to go along with one tackle-for-loss and one pass breakup.
• The senior followed up his return performance with six tackles, including two tackles-for-loss, one sack and a forced fumble in the win over Nebraska.
• Despite playing in just three games this season, Graham ranks fourth on the team in total tackles (21); his 7.0 tackles per game pace Purdue.
RED ZONE, END ZONE
• The Boilermakers have been successful in the red zone this season, scoring 30 out of 32 times for a 94 percent rate and ranking No. 15 in the country.
• Moreover, 24 of those 30 red zone scores have been touchdowns (80%).
• In conference play, Purdue has scored more times in the red zone than any other team in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers are 18-of-19 in conference action with 12 touchdowns and six field goals.
STRENGTH ON THE LINE
• Purdue veteran offensive line has been a major factor for success on that side of the ball.
• The Boilermakers allow only 3.57 tackles-for-loss per game, ranking second in the B1G and 11th in the nation.
• The trio of Gus Hartwig, Spencer Holstege, and Eric Miller have started the past 22 games alongside one another. Holstege leads the way with 25 straight starts, followed by Hartwig (23) and Miller (22).
• In the win over Nebraska, the line paved the way for 217 rushing yards, the most by a Purdue offense in four years.
BOILERMAKER CONNECTIONS
• Purdue linebacker Ben Kreul and Wisconsin tight end Cole Dakovich both attended and played football together at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis.
• Purdue defensive tackle Lawrence Johnson attended Snider High School and played against Wisconsin offensive lineman Joe Tippmann who attended Bishop Dwenger High School, both in Fort Wayne, Ind. Their last meeting was in October of 2017, when Snider beat Bishop Dwenger 34-31.
• Purdue defensive back Reese Taylor attended Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and played against Isaac Guerendo who went to Avon High School. Their last meeting was a semi-state playoff game in November 2017, which Avon won 63-14.
• Purdue assistant cornerbacks coach Ashton Youboty previously spent three seasons on staff at Wisconsin in 2016- 2019, serving as senior defensive assistant for the Badgers.
Purdue enters the matchup with a 5-2 record, winning five of seven games to start a season for the first time since 2007. The Boilermakers are coming off a 43-37 victory over Nebraska in front of a sellout crowd of 61,320, their fourth straight win. The last time Purdue won four games in-a-row came during the 2018 season, a winning streak that included a 49-20 thumping over No. 2 Ohio State.
Purdue is 3-1 in B1G play for the second time under head coach Jeff Brohm (2018); prior to Brohm's arrival, the last time the Boilermakers won three of their first four conference games occurred during the 2003 season.
MOCKOBEE, O'CONNELL EARN B1G WEEKLY HONORS
• Leading Purdue Football to a 43-37 win over Nebraska, a pair of Boilermakers earned weekly accolades from the Big Ten Conference. Quarterback Aidan O'Connell was named B1G Co-Offensive Player of the Week, while running back Devin Mockobee became the B1G Freshman of the Week.
• Mockobee collected the first weekly award of his career, Purdue's first B1G Freshman of the Week since David Bell three years ago (Nov. 25, 2019).
• O'Connell earned offensive player of the week honors for the second time, his first coming after the Boilermakers' upset victory over No. 3 Michigan State last season. • • The two give Purdue three on the season, including Cam Allen becoming B1G Defensive Player of the Week (Oct. 3).
• Mockobee accounted for 206 yards of offense, running for 178 yards and catching a pair of passes from O'Connell for 28 yards. Carrying the ball 30 times, Mockobee's 178 yards on the ground set a Purdue freshman rushing record for a single game. The walk-on running back found the end zone as well, recording his team-leading fifth rushing touchdown of the season.
• O'Connell marched Purdue down the field all night long, throwing for 391 yards for the 12th 300-yard game of his career. The sixth-year senior tossed four touchdown passes as well, the fifth time he has produced a four-touchdown game.
BIG WINS AWAY FROM HOME
• Playing on the road in Big Ten play hasn't fazed Purdue lately. The Boilermakers have won five of their past six conference games away from home, including the two this season against Minnesota (Oct. 1) and Maryland (Oct. 8).
• Two of those victories were over ranked teams. Purdue beat No. 2 Iowa 24-7 last season (Oct. 16, 2021), while knocking off No. 21 Minnesota this October.
• Last season, Purdue went 3-1 in B1G games away from home, which included a neutral site win over Northwestern at Wrigley Field. The Boilermakers ended the 2021 campaign with five victories away from Ross-Ade Stadium, their most since 1943.
FOUR IN-A-ROW
• Purdue is riding a four-game winning streak for the first time the 2018 season.
• The Boilermakers won four straight games in 2018, which included the memorable 49-20 victory over No. 2 Ohio State.
• The 2018 and 2022 seasons are the only ones over the past 15 years that have featured four-game winning streaks. The 2006 and 2007 Boilermakers won their first four games of each season under Joe Tiller.
POPPING CORN
• In the 43-37 win over Nebraska, the Boilermakers popped the Cornhuskers for 608 yards of total offense for the eighth-most yardage in school history.
• The Boilermakers racked up 391 yards through the air and 217 on the ground, just the second time in the past 25 years that they surpassed 350 passing yards and 200 rushing yards (Oct. 13, 2018 at Illinois). Both instances have occurred under Jeff Brohm.
• Purdue rushed for 217 yards, the most on the ground in a B1G game since the 2018 game at Illinois.
• The offense ran 101 plays while tying a school record with 38 first downs.
• Individually, Devin Mockobee set a Purdue freshman rushing record with 178 yards. Aidan O'Connell added 391 yards and four touchdowns through the air, his favorite target being Charlie Jones. The wideout made 12 catches for 132 yards and two touchdowns for his fourth 100-yard game of the season.
SO CLOSE
• While Purdue is 5-2 for the first time since 2007, the Boilermakers are 64 seconds away from being 7-0.
• Both losses came to teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
• No. 16 Penn State scored a go-ahead touchdown with 57 seconds to go to leave West Lafayette with a season-opening victory (Sept. 1)
• In the first road game of the season, the Boilermakers suffered a heartbreaking loss to unbeaten No. 14 Syracuse after the Orange found the end zone with just seven seconds left in the ballgame.
• Five of Purdue's seven games have been decided by six points-or-less.
BROHM KNOWS OFFENSE
• Jeff Brohm has produced more 600-yard games than any coach in Purdue history, owning four of the 10 highest offensive outputs of all-time.
• With 608 yards in the win over Nebraska, Purdue recorded the eighth-most yards of offense in a single game and pushed Brohm past legendary head coach Joe Tiller.
• The top two offenses in a game belong under Tiller's watch but four of the next six have been by Brohm's Boilermakers.
ALL ABOARD THE MOCK TRAIN
• Don't underestimate redshirt-freshman Devin Mockobee. The walk-on running back leads the Purdue rushing attack with 453 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 5.7 yards per carry.
• The Boonville, Indiana, native had his best game as a Boilermaker in the win over Nebraska, recording 206 all-purpose yards (178 rushing, 28 receiving). His 178 yards on the ground set a new single-game record for rushing yards by a Purdue freshman.
• Mockobee was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week after his performance against Nebraska. He was the first Boilermaker freshman to earn the honor since David Bell in November 2019.
• Mockobee produced his first 100-yard game at No. 21 Minnesota, recording 112 yards rushing on only 11 carries to average 10.2 yards per rush. Late in the fourth quarter with Purdue ahead by three points, Mockobee broke free for a 68-yard run and motored into the end zone from two yards out on the following play to put the game on ice.
• Mockobee became the first Purdue freshman to rush for 100 yards since Brian Lankford-Johnson in 2016 (127 yards at Illinois – Oct. 8, 2016).
• The 68-yard rush at Minnesota was the longest run by a Boilermaker since Rondale Moore scampered 76 yards against Northwestern (Aug. 30, 2018).
BRING ON THE PAYNE
• Tight end Payne Durham has been an important piece of the Purdue offense, hauling in 33 catches for 310 yards and three touchdowns to rank second among Boilermakers in all three categories.
• In the win over Nebraska, Durham eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards for his career to become just the eighth Purdue tight end to accomplish the feat.
• Durham came through in the clutch against Maryland (Oct. 8), catching the go-ahead touchdown pass before rumbling 56 yards to set up another late Purdue touchdown. He made seven catches for 109 yards, both team highs, to record the third 100-yard game of his career.
• Durham sits into a tie for 11th in program history with 16 receiving touchdowns, third among tight ends, trailing Dave Young (27, 1977-80) and Jim Beirne (17, 1965-67). He is tied with Dustin Keller (2004-07) and Brycen Hopkins (2016-19).
• In last season's game against Wisconsin, Durham led Purdue with nine catches for 112 yards and a touchdown.
• Durham's progression in college from backup to all-conference caliber is made more impressive when you consider he played one year of high school football after playing lacrosse all his life.
AIDAN ADDING TO HIS LEGACY
• Beginning his career as a walk-on and eighth on the quarterback depth chart, Aidan O'Connell worked his way up to the starting role and didn't stop there. The sixth-year QB has etched his name in the school record books, and he continued to rise up the career charts early this season.
• O'Connell already ranks in the program's Top 10 in several career categories: completion percentage (1st – 68.0%), 500-yard games (T1st – 2), 400-yard games (2nd – 5), 300-yard games (3rd – 12), touchdown passes (6th – 57), passing completions (6th – 684) and passing yards (6th – 7,679).
• Aidan O'Connell paces the Big Ten in passing yards and total offense. His 325.0 passing yards per game rank eighth nationally, while he stands 13th in total offense with 321.3 yards per game.
• O'Connell has kept up his game against Big Ten teams, throwing for an average of 282.8 yards in B1G games to lead the league.
• In his 12 300-yard games over his career, O'Connell has eclipsed 350 yards in all of them.
• He torched the Syracuse defense with a season-high 424 passing yards and three touchdowns.
• He was named the Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week after a four-touchdown performance against Nebraska. It was the second weekly honor of his career from the conference.
• O'Connell has five 400-yard passing games; only Drew Brees has more (7).
CHUCK'S SIZZLIN'
• Wide receiver Charlie Jones has made an immediate impact since transferring to Purdue from Iowa, ranking second nationally in receptions per game (8.9) and receiving touchdowns (9) while ranking seventh in receiving yards (735).
• Jones has recorded four 100-yard games this season, including a 12-catch, 132-yard performance in last week's win over Nebraska.
• It's safe to say Jones enjoys the Purdue offense. After making 21 catches for 323 yards and three touchdowns during the entire 2021 season, it only took him three games to surpass last year's totals with the Hawkeyes.
• With three multi-touchdown games, Jones is just the sixth Purdue receiver since 2000 to have three-or-more multi-touchdown games in a season.
• Jones has been named Midseason All-America by multiple outlets (AP, The Athletic, PFF).
WELCOME BACK 6
• The Boilermaker defense welcomed back one of their leaders, Jalen Graham, in the 31-29 win over Maryland.
• Graham, who missed the previous four games due to injury, returned to record a team-high nine tackles to go along with one tackle-for-loss and one pass breakup.
• The senior followed up his return performance with six tackles, including two tackles-for-loss, one sack and a forced fumble in the win over Nebraska.
• Despite playing in just three games this season, Graham ranks fourth on the team in total tackles (21); his 7.0 tackles per game pace Purdue.
RED ZONE, END ZONE
• The Boilermakers have been successful in the red zone this season, scoring 30 out of 32 times for a 94 percent rate and ranking No. 15 in the country.
• Moreover, 24 of those 30 red zone scores have been touchdowns (80%).
• In conference play, Purdue has scored more times in the red zone than any other team in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers are 18-of-19 in conference action with 12 touchdowns and six field goals.
STRENGTH ON THE LINE
• Purdue veteran offensive line has been a major factor for success on that side of the ball.
• The Boilermakers allow only 3.57 tackles-for-loss per game, ranking second in the B1G and 11th in the nation.
• The trio of Gus Hartwig, Spencer Holstege, and Eric Miller have started the past 22 games alongside one another. Holstege leads the way with 25 straight starts, followed by Hartwig (23) and Miller (22).
• In the win over Nebraska, the line paved the way for 217 rushing yards, the most by a Purdue offense in four years.
BOILERMAKER CONNECTIONS
• Purdue linebacker Ben Kreul and Wisconsin tight end Cole Dakovich both attended and played football together at Catholic Memorial High School in Waukesha, Wis.
• Purdue defensive tackle Lawrence Johnson attended Snider High School and played against Wisconsin offensive lineman Joe Tippmann who attended Bishop Dwenger High School, both in Fort Wayne, Ind. Their last meeting was in October of 2017, when Snider beat Bishop Dwenger 34-31.
• Purdue defensive back Reese Taylor attended Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis and played against Isaac Guerendo who went to Avon High School. Their last meeting was a semi-state playoff game in November 2017, which Avon won 63-14.
• Purdue assistant cornerbacks coach Ashton Youboty previously spent three seasons on staff at Wisconsin in 2016- 2019, serving as senior defensive assistant for the Badgers.