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Game 3 Prep: Purdue Hosts USC to Begin B1G PlayGame 3 Prep: Purdue Hosts USC to Begin B1G Play
Chris Lyons/Purdue Athletics

Game 3 Prep: Purdue Hosts USC to Begin B1G Play

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Starting 2-0 for the first time since 2021 following a pair of non-conference victories, Purdue Football begins Big Ten play by hosting USC at Ross-Ade Stadium. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS.

 

QUICK HITS

  • During Saturday's contest, Purdue will honor the 2000 team that is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its Big Ten Championship season and a trip to the Rose Bowl Game.
  • Led by Heisman finalist and Maxwell Award winner Drew Brees, the 2000 Boilermakers featured seven future Super Bowl champions (Brees, John Standeford, Matt Light, Gene Mruczkowski, Chukky Okobi, Brandon Gorin, Gilbert Gardner).
  • While the 2000 Rose Bowl team will be honored, Purdue and USC first met in the 1967 Rose Bowl to conclude the 1966 campaign. Jack Mollenkopf's Boilermakers beat the Trojans 14-13.
  • Legendary Purdue quarterback Gary Danielson will be on the call Saturday as an analyst for CBS, his 36th and final season as a college football broadcaster and 20th with CBS. Danielson is a member of the Cradle of Quarterbacks, featuring 12 of the best quarterbacks in program history.
  • The Purdue defense has allowed only 17 points this season, the fewest allowed through the first two games of a season since 2004.
  • The Boilermakers scored touchdowns on their first two drives in both games this season, totaling 28 points. Purdue scored 13 first quarter points throughout the entire 2024 season.
  • Kicker Spencer Porath was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after going 2-for-2 on field goals against Southern Illinois.
  • Rushing for 126 yards and two touchdowns on a career-high 32 carries in the win over Southern Illinois, Devin Mockobee became the first Boilermaker to produce at least 125 yards and two touchdowns on the ground since Zander Horvath in 2019.
  • Mockobee is currently ranked in the program Top 10 in several career categories: 100-yard rushing games (4th), rushing yards (5th), rushing touchdown (9th).
  • Ryan Browne is just the second Boilermaker quarterback since 1995 to average at least 15.0 yards per completion through the first two games of the season. Kyle Orton accomplished the feat during the 2002 and 2004 seasons.
  • Defensive back Tahj Ra-El made a team-high seven tackles in each of the first two games, and his 14 tackles (all solo) lead the Boilermakers. He ranks third in the Big Ten and eighth nationally in solo tackles.
  • Wide receiver Arhmad Branch leads Purdue with 132 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Out of Branch's six career touches (five receptions, one rush), three have resulted in touchdowns.

 

25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BIG TEN CHAMPS

  • The 2025 season marks the 25th anniversary of the Boilermakers' 200Big Ten title and trip to the 2001 Rose Bowl Game. Purdue will welcome back the historic team to Ross-Ade Stadium for the USC game on Sept. 13.
  • Quarterbacked by Heisman Trophy finalist and Maxwell Award winner Drew Brees, the Boilermakers went 8-4 overall with a 6-2 mark in Big Ten play to earn a share of the Big Ten title and reach the Rose Bowl Game for the first time since 1967.
  • Ten Boilermakers garnered All-Big Ten honors, led by Brees, the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year and Chicago Tribune Silver Football Award winner. Safety Stuart Schweigert was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
  • The 2000 roster featured seven future Super Bowl champions (Drew Brees, John Standeford, Matt Light, Gene Mruczkowski, Chukky Okobi, Brandon Gorin, Gilbert Gardner).

 

WELCOME BACK, GARY DANIELSON

  • A familiar face returns to West Lafayette this weekend in legendary quarterback Gary Danielson.
  • A longtime college football analyst for CBS, Danielson will call the game this weekend in his 36th and final year in the broadcast booth.
  • Danielson (1970-72) is one of 12 QBs that make up Purdue's Cradle of Quarterbacks.
  • In 1971, Danielson led the Big Ten in passing offense with 1,467 yards and was the architect of six of the conference's 11 longest plays of the season. He set the Big Ten record for passing accuracy that year at 61.7 percent in conference games.
  • In the early 1970s, Purdue Athletics commissioned a university artist named Keith Butz to create a poster featuring outstanding Boilermaker quarterbacks of the previous 30 years. That poster featured Bob DeMoss, Dale Samuels, Len Dawson, Bernie Allen, Bob Griese, Mike Phipps and Gary Danielson.

 

BACK-TO-BACK WINS

  • With the win over Southern Illinois, Barry Odom became the first Purdue head coach to start his tenure in West Lafayette 2-0 in more than a century.
  • The last coach to start his tenure 2-0 was Cleo O'Donnell in 1916 when he beat Monon Bell rivals Wabash and DePauw.
  • The best start to a Purdue career was by Knowlton Ames, who went a perfect 12-0 over two seasons (4-0 in 1891, 8-0 in 1982) to win back-to-back Indiana Intercollegiate Athletic Association Championships.

 

CROSS COUNTRY CONNECTIONS     

  • Despite campuses being separated by more than 2,000 miles, there are a couple of connections between Purdue and USC.
  • Purdue offensive coordinator Josh Henson served as USC’s offensive coordinator for three seasons before joining head coach Barry Odom in West Lafayette.
  • Michael Jackson III, Purdue’s leader in receptions (7) through the first two games of the season, spent the first three seasons (2021-23) of his collegiate career at USC. Jackson caught 46 passes for 498 yards and five touchdowns for the Trojans.

 

THE MOCKCAT OFFENSE         

  • In his first four years as a Boilermaker, Devin Mockobee never took a snap from the quarterback position. However, under new offensive coordinator Josh Henson, the Wildcat formation has become the Mockcat.
  • All three of Mockobee’s rushing touchdowns this season have come from the Purdue running back taking the snap before rumbling into the end zone.
  • Scoring a pair of touchdowns in the win over Southern Illinois, Mockobee recorded his first game with multiple rushing touchdowns to bring his career total to 22 (ninth all-time).
  • Thanks to the Mockcat, Mockobee’s three rushing touchdowns rank third in the Big Ten and ninth nationally through the first two weeks of the season.

 

LOCKDOWN DEFENSE

  • After giving up some record-breaking numbers last year, the Purdue defense has locked down under new head coach Barry Odom and defensive coordinator Mike Scherer. 
  • The Boilermakers have allowed only 17 points thus far, their fewest surrendered through the first two games of a season since 2004, ranking 14th nationally in scoring defense. 
  • Purdue has surrendered just three points over the final three quarters of both games, a 53-yard fourth quarter Southern Illinois field goal. 
  • The Boilermakers shut out Ball State in the season opener, one of 10 teams to start the year with a shutout, allowing only 203 yards of total offense. 
  • In the final three quarters against SIU, Purdue only gave up three points and 130 yards, including just 66 yards in the second half.

 

NO PUNTS, NO PROBLEM       

  • In the 34-17 victory over Southern Illinois, the Purdue offense was so efficient that the Boilermakers did not have to punt during the game.
  • It marked the first time Purdue played an entire game without punting since 2016, a 24-14 win over Nevada.
  • The Boilermakers have had four games without a punt over the past 21 years, all games resulting in victories.
  • Punting only three times this season, Purdue leads the nation in net punting with a 51.3 average. That includes ranking second in punt return defense, producing negative yardage (-3.0 average).

 

SPECIAL SPENCER      

  • Sophomore kicker Spencer Porath was named the Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week after going 2-for-2 on field goals against Southern Illinois.
  • This season, Porath is 3-of-3 on field goals with a long of 43 yards.
  • The last Boilermaker to earn Big Ten Special Teams of the Week was J.D. Dellinger in November of 2019.
  • Last season, Porath connected on seven kicks to tie for fourth most on the Purdue freshmen charts.
  • He became the first Purdue kicker to score 10 points in a game since Mitchell Fineran made five field goals for 15 points in the 2022 Big Ten Championship game (Dec. 3, 2022).
  • Porath improved 3-for-3 on field goals this season, increasing his career total to 10-for-14. His 71.4 career field goal percentage ranks fourth among Purdue kickers (since 1995) through the first 14 games of their careers.

 

FAST START      

  • Purdue has gotten off to fast starts in each of the first two games of the season. The Boilermakers scored touchdowns on their first two drives in both games, totaling 28 points. Purdue scored only 13 first quarter points Purdue throughout all of last season.
  • Arhmad Branch has scored Purdue’s first touchdown in both games. The wide receiver has gotten off to fast starts of his own, recording four catches for 114 yards and two touchdowns in first quarters this year.
  • It took the Boilermakers two plays and only 36 seconds to score for their first points of the season. After a 13-yard run by Devin Mockobee, Ryan Browne found Branch down the middle of the field. The sophomore wideout broke multiple tackles and added a smooth spin move before finding the end zone for the 49-yard touchdown.
  • The last time Purdue scored within the first minute of the season was at the start of the 1981 campaign.