Illinois football AT Purdue Boilermakers – Saturday, October 4 (No time set)
With Illinois winning the first five games of the season, we can’t look ahead to the Ohio State matchup. The Purdue game could be a classic trap game for the Illini.
Purdue was garbage last season under former Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. He has since been fired after the 1-11 season and going winless in the Big Ten. In steps former Missouri and UNLV head coach Barry Odom.
Here is the thing about the Boilermakers, these games are always close. Illinois, who beat South Carolina in the Citrus Bowl and won 10 games last season, had to beat the 1-11 Boilermakers in overtime. It was crazy.
Historically, this has happened to Illinois. That was Ryan Browne’s first start, and he torched us for 297 yards and three touchdowns. After the season, Browne transferred to North Carolina. He reentered the transfer portal and is now back with the Boilermakers.
This week, Browne was named the starter for Purdue. What that means to me is that the rest of the quarterbacks on the roster weren’t very good. For the 2024 season, Browne threw for 532 yards, four touchdowns, and two interceptions.
It is honestly tough to see what Purdue is going to look like in 2025. They had 56 outgoing transfers and 54 incoming transfers. That is essentially a new roster, minus starting running back Devin Mockobee.
With that being said, Illinois has tape on Browne now. This is a quarterback we are familiar with, and that will help the program defend him. I think the scare from 2024 will help, too. It will make sure this isn’t a trap game.
Illinois should be able to hold Purdue’s offense in check for most of the game. There will be a few blimps, but the Illini defense is much more talented than the Purdue offense.
It is going to be tough for that many new faces to not only gel with one another, but they all have to learn an entirely new playbook by a new head coach and coordinator. That is a tough ask in a relatively short amount of time. While Purdue is going to be better than 1-11, I am not sure how much better.
Final score: Illinois 35 – Purdue 20