In 1891, shortly after Purdue routed Wabash College 44-0, a local newspaper’s account of the blowout came with a vivid headline.
Slaughter of Innocents: Wabash Snowed Completely Under by the Burly Boiler Makers from Purdue
The name stuck. Since that time, Purdue’s athletic teams have been known as the Boilermakers, a label that ties nicely with a school with a renowned engineering program.
Given recent on-field achievements, though, a slight twist to the longstanding nickname has been suggested. Forget Boilermakers and all the imagery that comes with it — the Boilermaker Special, a replica 19th-century steam engine that’s the university’s official mascot, or Purdue Pete, the big-headed, hammer-wielding athletic mascot that has been the source of countless nightmares.
With a penchant for unexpected triumph, Purdue is now the Spoilermakers.
Last Saturday, those Spoilermakers lived up to their moniker, topping No. 2 Iowa 24-7 on the road. It wasn’t just that Purdue beat the Hawkeyes, who were fresh off a dramatic win against then-No. 4 Penn State; they dominated them, winning by 17 and out-gaining them by a 464-271 margin.
Surprising as the win was, it was far from out of character for the Boilermakers. Purdue now has nine victories against teams in the top two of the Associated Press poll while being unranked itself. No other program has more than four such wins. When paired with a 49-20 thumping of then-No. 2 Ohio State in Oct. 2018, the Boilermakers have become the first team to win consecutive contests against AP top-two teams while unranked.
While the win added to Purdue’s burgeoning reputation as a college football chaos agent, it did much more for its current team and the program’s overall outlook. At 4-2, the Boilermakers are No. 25 in the AP poll, their first appearance in the top 25 since Sept. 2007, when much of their present roster was in elementary school (if they were even that old).
Purdue has achieved its success this season by doing what it has throughout coach Jeff Brohm’s five-year tenure at the school — throwing the ball, and doing it a lot. The Boilermakers are 10th among Football Bowl Subdivision teams in passing offense, with 334 yards per game. The recipient of many of those yards has been junior wide receiver David Bell, who is fourth in FBS with 135.8 receiving yards per game and is averaging an astonishing 17.9 yards per catch. Against Iowa, Bell had a career-high 240 yards on 11 catches.
Bell’s gaudy stats were reflective of Purdue’s success gashing a stingy Iowa defense with big plays. The Boilermakers finished with six passing plays of at least 20 yards, which included receptions of 60 and 47 yards from Bell. Though Aidan O’Connell accounted for 40 of his team’s 43 pass attempts, Purdue kept its opponent on its heels by rotating three different quarterbacks in the game.
“Sometimes when you try to use some creativity, it works,” Brohm said, according to the AP. “Sometimes it looks [bad]. We took some chances with it, and fortunately today it worked.”
The victory against the Hawkeyes and the spot in the top 25 has added a level of excitement to a program that had been lacking it of late. After going 13-13 in Brohm’s first two seasons and making a bowl game in each campaign, the Boilermakers went a combined 6-12 in 2019 and 2020, placing some pressure on a coach whose early accomplishments earned him a $5 million salary.
Difficulties remain on the schedule. With matchups against No. 9 Michigan State and No. 5 Ohio State on consecutive weekends in November, Purdue’s joy may only last so long.
But if this program has shown anything in its history, it’s that it fares well as an underdog.
Numbers game
5-17: Nebraska’s record in one-score games under coach Scott Frost, who has been at his alma mater since 2018. Following a 30-23 setback last Saturday at Minnesota, the Huskers’ five losses this season have come by a combined 28 points, with none of them decided by more than eight.
Keep an eye on
Stephon Robinson Jr.: Northwestern’s offense has been difficult to watch for much of this season, ranking 110th among 130 FBS teams in points per game (21.8). The Wildcats have a playmaker in Robinson, though. The 5-foot-10 senior caught five passes for 115 yards in a 21-7 victory last Saturday against Rutgers, a performance that came one game after hauling in eight passes for 116 yards in a loss at Nebraska.
Game of the week
No. 5 Ohio State at Indiana: The best option of another underwhelming slate of games, though things get significantly more interesting next week. The Hoosiers have been a disappointment this season at 2-4, but they came within five points of knocking off a top-10 Michigan State team last week. This has the potential to at least be fun. In their last meeting, a 42-35 Ohio State victory in 2020, the two teams combined for 1,097 total yards.
Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG
First Published: October 21, 2021, 11:00 a.m.
Updated: October 21, 2021, 11:12 a.m.