Week 2 Opponent: Indiana State
Beat North Alabama 17-14 (OT)
Stock: Sideways
Purdue should have no problem against a pretty standard FCS opponent.
Week 3 Opponent: Syracuse
Beat Louisville 31-7
Stock: Up
Either Syracuse's stock is way up or Louisville's is way down. Or both. They completely embarrassed Brohm's alma mater that, fortunately for Louisville fans, nobody watched because it was on at the same time as the Ohio State-Notre Dame game. They key takeaways for Syracuse as an opponent is that they ran for over 200 yards and 2 TDs, their lead back Sean Tucker was also their lead receiver with 85 yards and another TD, they were able to force 3 turnovers without committing any themselves, but they did commit 18 (!) penalties for 107 yards. Their star RB got injured during the game but returned. Several key defensive players also got hurt and I'm unaware of their statuses.
Week 4 Opponent: FAU
Beat Charlotte 43-13, Lost to Ohio 38-41
Stock: Sideways
They looked good in week one beating a fellow C-USA member by 30 points, although Charlotte's QB got injured in that game early and things really fell apart for the 49ers from there. QB N'Kosi Perry is near the top of the national leader boards in several stats, although a lot of that has to do with playing 2 games already. But the Owls do like to pass a lot and won't be uncomfortable should Purdue take an early lead.
Week 5 Opponent: Minnesota
Beat New Mexico State 38-0
Stock: Sideways
They beat up on a NMSU team that had actually played 5 days prior to traveling for this long-distance road game. So there's not much to take away from that game, other than Mo Ibrahim seems to be healthy, carrying the ball 21 times in a blowout.
Week 6 Opponent: Maryland
Beat Buffalo 31-10
Stock: Sideways
An underwhelming performance from Taulia Tagovailoa with 0 TDs and a pick, but their run game was all that was needed to put away an out-talented Buffalo team. Much like his older brother's team in the NFL, if the Tagovailoa can play at an elite level then their offense should be super electric. But it hasn't seemed to have happened yet.
Week 7 Opponent: Nebraska
Lost to Northwestern 28-31, Beat North Dakota 38-17
Stock: The Floor
For some reason there was pre-season hype for the Cornhuskers when they added some 4-star talent to a team that was already filled with 4-star talent. Different year, same results for Frost. They were tied with North Dakota at halftime before overwhelming the FCS opponent. They're just not good.
Week 8 Opponent: Wisconsin
Beat Illinois State 38-0
Stock: Sideways
A typical Wisconsin-vs-FCS performance, just completely dominated the lines of scrimmage and won without any drama at all. They look like Wisconsin still.
Week 9 Opponent: Iowa
Beat South Dakota State 7-3
Stock: Way Down
They legitimately have a top-10 defense in P5 and a bottom-10 offense in FBS. Clearly Kirk isn't going to fire his son otherwise it would have happened by now, and Kirk was extended through 2030 so I have no idea what happens. But it's basically a freebie for Purdue because this opponent who would otherwise be competing for a Big Ten title may not even be a competitor in the West. QB Spencer Petras had a 1.1 QB rating. It's out of 100 and 50 is an average performance. They were playing an FCS defense.
Week 10 Opponent: Illinois
Beat Wyoming 38-6, Lost to Indiana 20-23
Stock: Down
I thought Illinois might play a bit of a spoiler role in the West this year, and they still can but they had an absolute meltdown to allow Indiana to come back to beat them. Yeah, the refs took a TD off the board for no reason which was larger than the final score differential, but Illinois had several opportunities to put the game away late and failed to do so. Chase Brown had almost 200 yards rushing against the Hoosiers, while Isaiah Williams had 112 yards receiving. Absolutely no one else on their roster appears to be skills position playmaker though. Their lines were playing well until late in the game when they must have been gassed.
Week 11 Opponent: Northwestern
Beat Nebraska 31-28
Stock: Up
It's even-year Northwestern so they have a chance to be good. Following Nebraska's underwhelming performance against an FCS opponent their win against Nebraska appears to be more of Nebraska being bad than Northwestern being particularly good, but the Huskers beat Northwestern by 50 the previous season so it's an improvement either way. Northwestern looked like a proper Big Ten West team in that game, committing to the run game for all of 60 minutes and late in the game finally out-worked Nebraska and were able to gash their way to consistent 8 or 9 yard gains. Should they beat Duke they're looking at an easy 4-0 start to their season.
Weak 12 Opponent: Indiana
Beat Illinois 23-20
Stock: Up
They won a conference game so they're automatically better than last year. They appear to have a competent QB, not a great one as he was consistently air-mailing passes throughout the game. But Cam Camper and DJ Matthews proved to be effective targets, netting 156 and 109 receiving yards respectively. IU could not run the ball whatsoever, only gaining 32 yards on 26 carries. There's no reason to be scared of Indiana as they required 3 fumble recoveries and help from the officials to beat a likely 6th- or 7th-place Big Ten West team, but they're not completely inept like last season.
Beat North Alabama 17-14 (OT)
Stock: Sideways
Purdue should have no problem against a pretty standard FCS opponent.
Week 3 Opponent: Syracuse
Beat Louisville 31-7
Stock: Up
Either Syracuse's stock is way up or Louisville's is way down. Or both. They completely embarrassed Brohm's alma mater that, fortunately for Louisville fans, nobody watched because it was on at the same time as the Ohio State-Notre Dame game. They key takeaways for Syracuse as an opponent is that they ran for over 200 yards and 2 TDs, their lead back Sean Tucker was also their lead receiver with 85 yards and another TD, they were able to force 3 turnovers without committing any themselves, but they did commit 18 (!) penalties for 107 yards. Their star RB got injured during the game but returned. Several key defensive players also got hurt and I'm unaware of their statuses.
Week 4 Opponent: FAU
Beat Charlotte 43-13, Lost to Ohio 38-41
Stock: Sideways
They looked good in week one beating a fellow C-USA member by 30 points, although Charlotte's QB got injured in that game early and things really fell apart for the 49ers from there. QB N'Kosi Perry is near the top of the national leader boards in several stats, although a lot of that has to do with playing 2 games already. But the Owls do like to pass a lot and won't be uncomfortable should Purdue take an early lead.
Week 5 Opponent: Minnesota
Beat New Mexico State 38-0
Stock: Sideways
They beat up on a NMSU team that had actually played 5 days prior to traveling for this long-distance road game. So there's not much to take away from that game, other than Mo Ibrahim seems to be healthy, carrying the ball 21 times in a blowout.
Week 6 Opponent: Maryland
Beat Buffalo 31-10
Stock: Sideways
An underwhelming performance from Taulia Tagovailoa with 0 TDs and a pick, but their run game was all that was needed to put away an out-talented Buffalo team. Much like his older brother's team in the NFL, if the Tagovailoa can play at an elite level then their offense should be super electric. But it hasn't seemed to have happened yet.
Week 7 Opponent: Nebraska
Lost to Northwestern 28-31, Beat North Dakota 38-17
Stock: The Floor
For some reason there was pre-season hype for the Cornhuskers when they added some 4-star talent to a team that was already filled with 4-star talent. Different year, same results for Frost. They were tied with North Dakota at halftime before overwhelming the FCS opponent. They're just not good.
Week 8 Opponent: Wisconsin
Beat Illinois State 38-0
Stock: Sideways
A typical Wisconsin-vs-FCS performance, just completely dominated the lines of scrimmage and won without any drama at all. They look like Wisconsin still.
Week 9 Opponent: Iowa
Beat South Dakota State 7-3
Stock: Way Down
They legitimately have a top-10 defense in P5 and a bottom-10 offense in FBS. Clearly Kirk isn't going to fire his son otherwise it would have happened by now, and Kirk was extended through 2030 so I have no idea what happens. But it's basically a freebie for Purdue because this opponent who would otherwise be competing for a Big Ten title may not even be a competitor in the West. QB Spencer Petras had a 1.1 QB rating. It's out of 100 and 50 is an average performance. They were playing an FCS defense.
Week 10 Opponent: Illinois
Beat Wyoming 38-6, Lost to Indiana 20-23
Stock: Down
I thought Illinois might play a bit of a spoiler role in the West this year, and they still can but they had an absolute meltdown to allow Indiana to come back to beat them. Yeah, the refs took a TD off the board for no reason which was larger than the final score differential, but Illinois had several opportunities to put the game away late and failed to do so. Chase Brown had almost 200 yards rushing against the Hoosiers, while Isaiah Williams had 112 yards receiving. Absolutely no one else on their roster appears to be skills position playmaker though. Their lines were playing well until late in the game when they must have been gassed.
Week 11 Opponent: Northwestern
Beat Nebraska 31-28
Stock: Up
It's even-year Northwestern so they have a chance to be good. Following Nebraska's underwhelming performance against an FCS opponent their win against Nebraska appears to be more of Nebraska being bad than Northwestern being particularly good, but the Huskers beat Northwestern by 50 the previous season so it's an improvement either way. Northwestern looked like a proper Big Ten West team in that game, committing to the run game for all of 60 minutes and late in the game finally out-worked Nebraska and were able to gash their way to consistent 8 or 9 yard gains. Should they beat Duke they're looking at an easy 4-0 start to their season.
Weak 12 Opponent: Indiana
Beat Illinois 23-20
Stock: Up
They won a conference game so they're automatically better than last year. They appear to have a competent QB, not a great one as he was consistently air-mailing passes throughout the game. But Cam Camper and DJ Matthews proved to be effective targets, netting 156 and 109 receiving yards respectively. IU could not run the ball whatsoever, only gaining 32 yards on 26 carries. There's no reason to be scared of Indiana as they required 3 fumble recoveries and help from the officials to beat a likely 6th- or 7th-place Big Ten West team, but they're not completely inept like last season.
