WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue Football kicks off the month of November on the road, battling No. 21 Michigan in a Saturday night matchup (7 p.m. ET) on BTN.
QUICK HITS
- The contest is a rematch of the 2022 Big Ten Championship game.
- Purdue has beaten a ranked Michigan team five times throughout history, all of them when the Wolverines were in the Top 10.
- On this date 17 years ago (Nov. 1, 2008), the Boilermakers defeated Michigan 48-42 in a high-scoring affair at Ross-Ade Stadium. One year later, Purdue won 38-36 at Michigan.
- The Boilermakers face a month of November that features opponents with a combined record of 27-4. That includes facing the top two teams in the country and back-to-back weeks against the last two national champions.
- Purdue has kept Big Ten opponents to converting only 31.9 percent (22-of-69) of their third downs, ranking third in the conference behind No. 1 Ohio State (17.4%) and No. 2 Indiana (24.6%).
- Over the past two weeks, his first two games as a Boilermaker, defensive back Hershey McLaurin has forced a fumble in each contest. He became the first Boilermaker with a forced fumble in back-to-back games since Marvin Grant in 2020.
- Michael Jackson III ranks third in the Big Ten in receptions in league games, averaging 6.6 per contest. His 14-catch output at No. 22 Illinois is the most catches by any player in a B1G game this season.
- The Boilermakers are one of only two teams in the country (Buffalo) to have three different 15-tackle performances this season. (Mani Powell - 20 at Northwestern, Charles Correa - 15 vs. Illinois, Tahj Ra-El - 15 vs. Rutgers).
- Purdue is the only team to have three players crack the Big Ten's Top 10 in tackles per game. Powell (9.5) ranks second, Correa (9.0) ranks fourth and Ra-El (8.5) ranks sixth.
- Powell sits 16th nationally in tackles per game (9.5). His output is even better in conference contests, averaging a B1G-best 12.0 tackles per game.
- Devin Mockobee is currently ranked in the program Top 10 in several career categories: 100-yard rushing games (4th), rushing yards (4th), all-purpose yards (7th) and rushing touchdowns (9th).
- Mockobee is a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year, an award given to someone who demonstrates leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
- Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th nationally in net punting with a 43.0 average.
- Jack McCallister has been one of the best punters in the nation. He leads the Big Ten with 13 punts inside the 20, and with the help of 11 punts of at least 50 yards, the Purdue punter ranks second in the conference with a 45.6 average.
- Spencer Porath is 10-for-11 on field goals this season, ranking 15th in the country in field goal percentage (90.9%).
SUCCESS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
- Purdue has beaten seven ranked teams over the past seven seasons despite being the underdog in each one of those games.
- Three of those wins were against Top 3 teams, while Purdue handed five of those ranked teams their first loss of the season.
- The victories during the 2021 campaign (No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Michigan State) gave Purdue multiple wins over Top 5 teams in one season for the first time since 1960 (No. 3 Ohio State, No. 1 Minnesota).
- Five of the seven wins have been by double digits, the biggest being a 29-point victory over No. 2 Ohio State in 2018.
- Purdue has won two of the past three matchups against a ranked Illinois team. The Boilermakers knocked off No. 23 Illinois in 2011 (21-14) at home, beat No. 21 Illinois on the road in 2022 on their way to the Big Ten West title, and fell in a double overtime thriller last season.
LAST WEEK VS. RUTGERS
- Four Boilermakers recorded at least 10 tackles on Saturday to become the first Big Ten team to achieve that this year.
- Purdue ran 28 times for 217 yards. An average of 7.8 yards per carry tied the Boilermakers 10th highest mark since 1995.
- The Boilermakers committed no penalties for just the fourth time in the last 20 years.
- Purdue recorded a season-high five sacks.
- The Boilermakers’ 92-yard drive in the first quarter was their longest scoring drive of the season.
- Three Boilermakers (Devin Mockobee, Malachi Thomas, and Antonio Harris) had a rush of 30-or-more yards for the first time since 2018 vs. Eastern Michigan (D.J. Knox, Markell Jones, and Rondale Moore).
- Thomas became the first Boilermaker with a rush of 40-or-more yards and a reception of 40-or-more yards in a game since Akeem Hunt in 2012 (vs. Eastern Michigan).
SWARM THE BALL
- Mani Powell (76), Charles Correa (72), Tahj Ra-El (68) have combined for 216 tackles this season, more than any other trio of teammates in the country.
- The Boilermakers are the only team to have three players crack the Big Ten’s Top 10 in tackles per game. Powell ranks second (9.5), Correa ranks fourth (9.0) and Ra-El ranks sixth (8.5). Those numbers are even better in conference play. Powell’s 12.0 tackles per conference contest lead the Big Ten, while Correa’s 9.8 rank third. Ra-El also increased his average to 9.0 in B1G games.
- Powell and Correa crack the nation’s Top 25 in tackle average, ranking 16th and 24th, respectively.
- With Ra El’s career-high 15-tackle performance against Rutgers, Purdue became the second team nationwide to record at least three individual 15-tackle games this season (Buffalo).
- Correa and Powell led the attack against No. 22 Illinois, recording 15 and 14 tackles, respectively. They became the first pair of Purdue teammates to have at least 14 tackles in the same game since the Boilermakers’ 2021 Music City Bowl win over Tennessee (Chris Jefferson, Jaylan Alexander and Kieren Douglas).
MANI’S THE MAN
- A team captain and landing on the Butkus Award Watch List, linebacker Mani Powell is Purdue’s leading tackler through the first eight games of the season.
- Powell ranks second in the Big Ten and 16th nationally with 9.5 tackles per game. He has been even better in conference play, as his 12.0 tackles per game in B1G games lead the league.
- Against Northwestern, the Columbus, Ohio, native produced one of the best performances this century by a Purdue defender. He made a career-high 20 tackles, the most by a Big Ten player in a conference game since 2018.
- Powell’s game marked the first time a Boilermaker recorded 20 tackles in a game since Willie Fells accomplished the feat against Iowa 28 years ago (Nov. 1, 1997).
JASON WITTEN MAN OF THE YEAR SEMIFINALIST
- Due to his positive impact both on and off the field, Devin Mockobee was named a semifinalist for the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year. Mockobee was selected as one of 20 semifinalists who have all demonstrated a record of leadership by exhibiting exceptional courage, integrity and sportsmanship both on and off the field.
- Mockobee is no stranger to being recognized for his contributions on and off the field, having also earned spots on the Wuerffel Trophy and AFCA Good Works Team Watch Lists.
- Off the field, Mockobee has showcased his leadership by giving back to the community. A native of Boonville, Indiana, Mockobee returned to his hometown this summer to make a $10,000 donation to Pioneer Junior Football and Cheer. It was with Pioneer that Mockobee fell in love with the game of football, leading to him being only 767 yards away from becoming Purdue’s career leading rusher.
- Also making an impact in the Greater Lafayette community, Mockobee has made several visits to the Boys and Girls Club of Lafayette as well as Food Finders Food Bank.
THAT’S A FACT, JACK – FOR THE BRAND
- A starting punter for the past three seasons at Washington, senior Jack McCallister had no problem bringing his talents from the Pacific Northwest to West Lafayette.
- A weapon for the Boilermakers, McCallister's punts forced opponents to a starting field position of their own 20.8-yard line; that number was the 10.8-yard line over the opening three games of the season.
- Purdue ranks 15th nationally and leads the Big Ten in net punting at 43.0 yards.
- McCallister has punted 29 times on the year for an average of 45.6 yards per boot. He has dropped 13 balls inside the 20-yard line and launched 11 punts of 50 yards or more with a long of 68.
- His punts have been returned just 12 times for an average of 3.1 yards per return.
- McCallister ran a fake punt for 10 yards and a first down through contact at Notre Dame, the first Purdue punter to run for a first down since Joe Schopper at Rutgers in 2017.
- Against USC, McCallister was called upon three times for an average of 54.3 yards per game, including a 68-yard boot.
- The 68-yard punt was the longest by a Boilermaker since Brooks Cormier's 69-yard punt against Minnesota in 2019.
- He is one of three Purdue punters to average 50+ yards on a minimum of three punts twice in a season since at least 1995 joining Jared Armstrong (2006) and Travis Dorsch (2000, 2001).
- In his Purdue debut, McCallister landed all three of his punts inside the 20-yard line for an average of 50.3 yards.
- He was named to the Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 after Week 1 and Week 3 of the season.