There are struggling programs.

Then there is Purdue.

That sounds harsh, but there is no way to look at the last two years and pretend this has been normal.

The Boilermakers went 2-10 last season. They finished 0-9 in the Big Ten. They have not won a Big Ten game in two years. They have not had a winning record since 2022. They have not had a 10-win season since 1979.

That is a long drought.

And the problem is not just that Purdue has been losing.

It is how the games have looked.

The Boilermakers averaged only 17.4 points per game last season. They gave up 33.2 points per game. Opponents averaged 436 yards per game and ran the ball on almost 60% of their plays.

That tells you what the season looked like.

Teams got ahead.

Teams ran the ball.

Teams put Purdue away.

Now Barry Odom enters year two, and the first goal is simple – Be competitive again.

HEAD COACH:

• Barry Odom, entering year two at Purdue
• Purdue went 2-10 last season.
• The Boilermakers finished 0-9 in the Big Ten.
• Purdue has not had a winning record since 2022.

Odom inherited a tough job.

This was not a quick-fix situation. Purdue had slipped badly, and the Big Ten is not getting easier. Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington are in the league now. The middle of the conference is deeper. The top of the conference is loaded.

That makes rebuilding harder.

But year two still has to look different.

Purdue does not need to suddenly become a Big Ten contender. That is not realistic. But the Boilermakers need to look organized. They need to look tougher. They need to stop getting pushed around. They need to stop watching games get away from them in the second half.

The offense averaged 339 yards per game, which is not good, but it was not completely hopeless. The scoring was the bigger issue.

The defense was the bigger problem.

When you allow 33 points and 436 yards per game, the offense has to chase. When the offense has to chase, the quarterback gets put in bad spots. When the quarterback gets put in bad spots, turnovers and empty possessions follow.

That is how a bad team stays bad.

Odom has to break that cycle.

QUARTERBACK

The best news for Purdue is that Ryan Browne is back.

That does not mean everything is fixed.

But it does give the Boilermakers an experienced quarterback in a year when a lot around him is changing.

Browne completed 58.9% of his passes last season for 2,153 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. For his Purdue career, he has 13 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

Those numbers are not good enough.

But he has played. He has taken Big Ten snaps. He has seen what this league looks like. On a team trying to climb out of the basement, that matters.

The question is whether experience turns into improvement.

Browne did not throw multiple touchdown passes in a Big Ten game last season. He went 12-of-40 on deep balls with four touchdowns and two interceptions. In a clean pocket, he completed about 66% of his passes, but still had six touchdowns and six interceptions.

That is the part that has to change.

When Purdue protects him, Browne has to reward the offense with better decisions.

Under pressure, the numbers were rough. Browne completed 38.9% of his passes with three touchdowns and four interceptions.

That is where defenses could really squeeze Purdue.

Pressure him, force him off schedule, make him play fast, and the offense struggled.

So this season is about two things.

Purdue has to protect him better.

Browne has to be better when he is protected.

If both happen, the offense can improve.

If neither happens, this is going to look too much like last year.

THE REST OF THE OFFENSE

The offense has to replace Devin Mockobee.

Mockobee had been the steady piece in the Purdue backfield for years. Now the Boilermakers have to rebuild the running game with transfers and new roles.

Jerrick Gibson comes in from Texas. Fame Ijeboi comes in from Minnesota after rushing for 441 yards on 97 carries last season. Travis Terrell also comes in from Jackson State.

That gives Purdue options.

Now one of them has to become the guy.

The Boilermakers passed on 55% of their plays last season, and a lot of that was because they were behind. They cannot live that way again. They need a run game that keeps them out of obvious passing situations and keeps Browne from having to carry the whole offense.

At receiver, Purdue hit the portal hard.

Bisi Owens comes in from Penn. Asaad Waseem comes in from Florida Atlantic. Xavier Townsend comes in from Iowa State. De’Nylon Morrissette also returns after being part of the receiver group last season.

That room is new.

But new is not automatically bad.

Purdue needed more playmaking. It needed more separation. It needed more explosiveness. The Boilermakers could not keep relying on the same formula and expecting a different result.

The offensive line also has a lot of moving parts.

Joey Tanona and Ethan Trent are the returning starters, and Purdue added multiple offensive linemen through the portal to rebuild the group.

That may be the most important position group on the team.

If the line improves, Browne improves. If Browne improves, the receivers have a chance. If the running game improves, the defense gets more rest.

Everything starts there.

DEFENSE

The defense has to be dramatically better.

There is no other way to say it.

Purdue gave up 33.2 points per game and 436 yards per game last season. Opponents ran the ball on 59% of their plays, which shows how often Purdue was playing from behind and how little resistance the defense gave once teams decided to lean on the run.

That cannot happen again.

The returning pieces start with Ian Jeffries, CJ Madden, Charles Correa and Hudauri Hines.

Correa is the big name.

He is back after a 96-tackle season, and Purdue needs him to be the tone-setter. On a defense that got pushed around too often, having a productive linebacker back matters.

The portal additions could be important too.

Elo Modozie comes in from Georgia, and Keyshawn Burgos comes in from Virginia Tech. Those are Power Four defensive line additions, and Purdue needs them to matter immediately.

This team has to be better up front.

It has to force more uncomfortable downs. It has to stop allowing teams to run the ball whenever they want. It has to create more negative plays.

At linebacker, Anthony Speca comes in from Penn State, and Jojo Hayden comes in from Illinois. Those additions should help a defense that needed more physicality and depth.

In the secondary, Smiley Bradford and Hudauri Hines are back.

But the secondary can only do so much if the front is not better.

Purdue’s defense does not have to become great overnight.

It just has to stop being the reason games are over early.

SCHEDULE

The schedule is not impossible.

But it is not easy either.

Purdue opens with Indiana State at home, then hosts Wake Forest. After that, the Boilermakers go to UCLA, then host Notre Dame on Sept. 26.

That Notre Dame game is a monster.

The Irish may be one of the best teams in the country, and Purdue will have to deal with them early. But the first month still gives the Boilermakers a chance to start better than last year.

Three of the first four games are at home.

Five of the first seven are at home.

That matters for a team trying to rebuild confidence.

After Notre Dame, Purdue goes to Illinois, then hosts Minnesota and Washington. After a bye, the Boilermakers go to Penn State on Halloween.

Then comes the final month: Maryland at home, Iowa on the road, Wisconsin at home and Indiana on the road.

There are a few interesting schedule notes.

Purdue does not play Ohio State, Oregon or Michigan.

That helps.

But the Boilermakers still have Notre Dame, Penn State, Iowa and Indiana away from home or in tough spots. Three of the final five games are on the road: at Penn State, at Iowa and at Indiana.

That is a tough finish.

The path to improvement probably has to come early.

Indiana State has to be a win. Wake Forest is important. Minnesota, Maryland and maybe one of the other home games have to be real targets.

If Purdue is still searching for confidence by November, the back end of the schedule could be rough.

OUTLOOK

This is a hard preview to write because the optimism has to be realistic.

Purdue can be better.

That does not mean Purdue is going to be good.

The Boilermakers have an experienced quarterback in Ryan Browne. They have a new running back group with Jerrick Gibson, Fame Ijeboi and Travis Terrell. They added receivers. They added offensive linemen. They added defensive front-seven pieces from bigger programs.

That is the positive case.

The concern is everything else.

The offense could not score enough last season. Browne threw more interceptions than touchdowns. The defense got gashed. Opponents ran the ball whenever they wanted. Purdue has not won a Big Ten game in two years.

Those are not small problems.

The best-case scenario is that Browne becomes more efficient, the new running backs give Purdue real balance, one or two transfer receivers become reliable targets, and the defense gets immediate help from Modozie, Burgos, Speca and Hayden.

If that happens, Purdue can be more competitive.

It can finally get a Big Ten win.

Maybe it can push toward four or five wins if things break right.

The worst-case scenario is that the quarterback numbers stay the same, the line still struggles, the run game never settles, and the defense remains too easy to run on.

If that happens, this could be another long season.

Full disclosure: I use AI tools to format my research into an article encompassing all of the information.