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Game 6 Prep: Back-to-Back Road Slate Begins Saturday Night at MinnesotaGame 6 Prep: Back-to-Back Road Slate Begins Saturday Night at Minnesota
Chris Lyons/Purdue Athletics

Game 6 Prep: Back-to-Back Road Slate Begins Saturday Night at Minnesota

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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Nearing the halfway mark of the 2025 season, Purdue Football hits the road for the first time in conference play. The Boilermakers travel north to face Minnesota in a Saturday night Big Ten battle. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.

 

QUICK HITS

  • Purdue begins a stretch of playing three of the next four games away from home.
  • On this date 28 years ago (Oct. 11, 1997), first-year head coach Joe Tiller took his Boilermakers on the road for a night game at Minnesota and emerged with a 59-43 victory. It was also Tiller's first Big Ten road game as Purdue's head coach.
  • The Boilermakers have won the past two matchups against Minnesota, a 20-10 road win over the No. 21 Golden Gophers in 2022 and a 49-30 victory at Ross-Ade in 2023.
  • Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks fifth nationally in net punting with a 45.6 average.
  • The Boilermakers are the only Power 4 team to have four players rank in the Top 15 of their respective conference in tackles. Charles Correa (9.8) ranks third, Mani Powell and Myles Slusher are tied for 11th (7.4) and Tahj Ra-El (7.0) sits 13th in the Big Ten in tackles per game.
  • Purdue has four players with at least 35 tackles, the most by any team in the country: Correa (49), Powell (37), Slusher (37), Ra-El (35).
  • Correa's 9.8 tackles per game rank 13th in the country. He is the first Purdue underclassman with at least 49 tackles through the first five games of the season since Ja'Whaun Bentley in 2015.
  • The Purdue defense has only surrendered four touchdown passes through five games this year.
  • Purdue is 8-for-10 (80%) on fourth down, the second-best conversion rate in the country among teams that have at least 10 fourth down attempts.
  • Last week against No. 22 Illinois, Purdue produced a season-high 453 yards of total offense.
  • The Boilermakers have scored at least 27 points in four of their five games this season after only reaching that mark twice throughout the entire 2024 campaign.
  • Michael Jackson III ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 15th nationally with 6.4 receptions per game.
  • With 14 catches last week, Jackson became just the third player in the nation to have a game with at least 14 receptions this season.
  • Ryan Browne joined Drew Brees, Kyle Orton and Curtis Painter as the only Purdue passers since 1995 with three 300-yard games in the opening five weeks.
  • Browne's 267.6 passing yards per game are third-most in the Big Ten and rank 21st in the country.
  • Devin Mockobee is currently ranked in the program Top 10 in several career categories: 100-yard rushing games (4th), rushing yards (5th), rushing touchdowns (9th) and all-purpose yards (10th).
  • Two of Mockobee's nine career 100-yard games have been against Minnesota.
  • Spencer Porath is a perfect 7-for-7 on field goals this season, the most consecutive makes by a Purdue kicker to start a season since Mitchell Fineran made nine in 2021.

 

MOCKOBEE VS. MINNESOTA

  • Devin Mockobee has had success against the Golden Gophers during his career. In two games facing Minnesota, the Purdue running back has amassed 265 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
  • Two of Mockobee’s nine career 100-yard games have been against Minnesota.
  • Mockobee helped the Boilermakers go on the road and upset No. 21 Minnesota in the first meeting (Oct. 1, 2022). He helped put the game on ice with a career-long 68-yard run before finding the end zone to put Purdue up double digits, 20-10, with three minutes left in the game. Mockobee finished with 11 carries for 112 yards, his first career 100-yard game.
  • In the last matchup (Nov. 11, 2023), Mockobee led a powerful rushing attack to help Purdue roll past the Golden Gophers 49-30. He racked up a season-high 153 yards on 17 attempts to average nine yards per carry. The Boilermakers' 353 rushing yards were the team's most since Sept. 15, 2012, vs. Eastern Michigan.

 

TACKLING MACHINE

  • Making the move with head coach Barry Odom from Las Vegas to West Lafayette, sophomore linebacker Charles Correa has made an immediate impact for the Boilermaker defense.
  • Correa has tallied 49 tackles through the first five games of the season, averaging 9.8 per game to rank third in the Big Ten and 13th nationally.
  • He is the first Boilermaker underclassmen with at least 49 tackles through five games since Ja'Whaun Bentley in 2015.
  • Correa is the first Boilermaker since at least 1995 to record 10 or more tackles in four of the first five games and just the 14th Big Ten player to do so in that span.
  • Only six other players throughout the country have recorded four 10-plus tackle games this year.
  • With four double-digit tackle games, Correa is tied for seventh-most in a season at Purdue since 1995.

 

OFFENSIVE SURGE

  • With offensive coordinator Josh Henson calling the plays, Purdue has moved the ball up and down the field this season.
  • The Boilermakers have averaged nearly 400 yards of total offense (399.2), an 100-yard improvement from the 2024 season. The difference has been in the passing game, led by Ryan Browne, who ranks third in the Big Ten and 21st nationally with 267.6 yards per game.
  • Averaging 27.8 points per game, Purdue has scored at least 27 points in four of the team’s five games. The 2024 Boilermakers reached the 27-point plateau just twice throughout the entire season, averaging 15.8 points per game.
  • Last week against No. 22 Illinois, the Purdue offense produced a season-high 453 yards.

 

SWARM THE BALL

  • Purdue has four players with at least 35 tackles this season, the most in the country: Charles Correa (49), Mani Powell (37), Myles Slusher (37) and Tahj Ra-El (35).
  • The Boilermakers are the only Power 4 team to have four players rank in the Top 15 of their respective conference in tackles. Correa (9.8) ranks third, Powell and Slusher are tied for 11th (7.4) and Ra-El (7.0) sits 13th in the Big Ten in tackles per game.
  • 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).

 

PERFECT PORATH        

  • Just five games into his sophomore year, Spencer Porath has already made as many field goals as he did all of last season. He went 7-for-11 as a freshman, and he is a perfect 7-for-7 to start the 2025 campaign.
  • Porath’s perfection through the first third of the season has been the best start by a Purdue kicker since Mitchell Fineran made his first nine field goals in 2021.
  • In just 14 career games, Porath has moved into a tie for 18th on the Purdue career charts with 14 made kicks.
  • He made a career-high three field goals at No. 21 Notre Dame. That included a career-long 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.
  • Against Southern Illinois, he scored 10 points thanks to a pair of field goals and splitting the uprights on four PATs. For his performance, Porath became Purdue’s first Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week since J.D. Dellinger six seasons ago (Nov. 11, 2019).

 

FROM GEORGIA TO PURDUE 

  • In the offseason, the Purdue wide receiver room welcomed a pair of Georgia transfers who have become an important part of the Boilermaker offense.
  • After making the move north, Michael Jackson III and Nitro Tuggle have combined for 45 catches for 529 yards and four touchdowns through the first five games of the season.
  • Jackson leads the Boilermakers in receptions (32) and receiving yards (305), while Tuggle’s three receiving touchdowns are tied for a team best.
  • Scoring a touchdown against Notre Dame, Tuggle became the first Purdue wide receiver to find the end zone in three straight games since Charlie Jones (Cincinnati Bengals) accomplished the feat during his 2022 All-American season.
  • Jackson hauled in a career-high 14 receptions against No. 22 Illinois, the first Big Ten player to reach that mark this season. It was also the most catches by a Boilermaker since Rondale Moore (Minnesota Vikings) caught 15 passes against Minnesota (Nov. 20, 2020).

 

WHAT CAN BROWNE DO FOR YOU

  • Quarterback Ryan Browne has thrown for 1,338 yards on 107-of-172 passing with seven touchdowns.
  • Browne is third in the Big Ten with 267.6 yards passing per game this season.
  • The junior was one of three Purdue quarterbacks to post three 300-yard passing games in the opening five games of a season (Drew Brees - 1999, 2000 | Kyle Orton - 2004 | Curtis Painter - 2007) since 1995.
  • Browne (15.0) joined Kyle Orton as the only two Purdue quarterbacks since 1995 to average 15.0 yards per completion through the first two games of the year (Kyle Orton 15.8 in 2004 and 15.0 in 2002).
  • Browne was named the starting quarterback by head coach Barry Odom in the last week of fall camp after a competition with Malachi Singleton, Bennett Meredith and Evans Chuba and Garyt Odom.
  • Browne served as a backup for the Boilermakers last year, making one start, before spending the spring semester under Bill Belichick at North Carolina. He transferred back to Purdue during the spring portal window.