Penn State football: Purdue is more than a trap game

With less than 100 days until the return of Penn State football, all eyes are fixated upon one game: Penn State at Purdue. In many other years, Purdue would be seen as a tune-up game; but in 2022, Purdue needs to be treated like a threat.

PSU and Purdue since 2016

Historically, Purdue football has been disappointing to say the least. After joining the Big Ten in 1896, the Boilermakers have won eight total conference titles–most recently in 2000 with Drew Brees under center.

After decades of mediocrity, Purdue hired Darrell Hazel in 2013. Hazel then led Purdue from bad to worse, going 9-39 from 2013-to 2016 and establishing Purdue as the punching bag of the Big Ten conference.

During that same period, Penn State was recovering from sanctions that rocked the program. From 2013-2015, Penn State finished 7-5 twice and 7-6 twice, including current head coach James Franklin’s first two seasons. In 2016, everything changed for both programs.

Purdue football moved on from Darrell Hazel before the 2016 season ended. Although the Boilermakers finished 3-9 that season, Purdue met the challenge with a homerun hire: Jeff Brohm (who took over in 2017).

At that same time–following a 4-2 start to the season–Penn State football was making its own recovery. In the White Out game against Ohio State, the Nittany Lions got back on the map with a 24-21 victory against the undefeated Buckeyes. Penn State football closed out the season with all W’s until the Rose Bowl game, including a comeback win over Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game en route to the first of James Franklin’s three 11-win seasons since 2016.

While the Boilermakers’ resume is far less impressive, Purdue has still accomplished a great deal for their own standards. In year one of Jeff Brohm (2017), Purdue got back to winning.

A 6-6 regular season sparked the team’s first bowl appearance since 2012, and its victory in the Foster Farms Bowl was the program’s first bowl win since 2011–both very notable for a school that had failed to break 10 total wins under their previous head coach.

Since 2017, Purdue has finished 6-6 or better in three of Brohm’s five seasons as head coach and is 2-1 in bowl games. Brohm led Purdue to its first nine-win season since 2003 and defeated Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in 2021.

All was going well on Penn State’s end leading up to the Covid-19 pandemic that shocked the U.S. in March of 2020. Following the Nittany Lions’ 11-3 Big Ten title season in 2016, Penn State stayed in the win column by going 11-2 in 2017, 9-4 in 2018, and 11-2 again in 2019. From 2017-19, Penn State also accumulated two NY6 wins in the Fiesta Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.

Why is Purdue a threat to Penn State?

Although Penn State had a disappointing 7-6 season in 2021, the Nittany Lions are still in pretty good shape as a program and will likely be favored against Purdue to open the season. Why is Purdue still a threat? Two words: night game.

One thing that has become synonymous with the Boilermakers’ football program is upsets. Over the past few seasons, Purdue has defeated numerous top-10 programs, including a blowout over Ohio State in 2018, a beat down of both Michigan State and Iowa in 2021, and more.

A night game in West Lafayette can spell disaster for overconfident programs–something that Penn State football needs to avoid.

The game that kicks off both programs’ conference and regular-season schedules is set for an 8 PM (EST) kick-off on Thursday, Sept 1. A week one road game against a Purdue squad that is well-coached and returns much of its offensive and defensive talent is a scary thought. If Penn State football does not come ready to play, there is a likelihood that James Franklin’s ninth season starts off 0-1.

With Auburn just two weeks after the Purdue game, Penn State needs to remain perfect early in the season. Most other Big Ten programs have an easy start to the season, so keeping up with some early wins is essential.

A few things are certain when it comes to Purdue: the game will not be easy, this Purdue team is excellent on both sides of the ball and well coached, and Penn State cannot afford to get overconfident as it looks to start the new season.