Back to Music City Bowl for Purdue
Purdue is headed to familiar territory: The TransPerfect Music City Bowl.
The official announcement came on Sunday, with the Boilermakers (8-4 overall, 6-3 Big Ten) slated to play Tennessee in the Nashville-based bowl in Nissan Stadium (69,143) at 3 p.m. ET on December 30.
This will be the program's first bowl since 2018, when it lost 63-14 to Auburn in the Music City Bowl. And it will be the third bowl bid for the Boilermakers since Jeff Brohm became head coach in 2017, as Purdue beat Arizona in the Foster Farms Bowl to cap Brohm's first season in West Lafayette.
Tennessee is led by first-year coach Josh Heupel, who led the Volunteers to a 7-5 overall record and 4-4 SEC mark which was good for third place in the SEC East. Heupel was offensive coordinator at Missouri in 2017 when Purdue won 35-3 in Columbia vs. the Tigers.
The Boilermakers and Vols have met just one time, with Purdue taking a 27-22 win in the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston in 1979 to cap the lone 10-win season in program history.
Most bowl pundits had Purdue pegged for one of four destinations: Las Vegas, Music City, Pinstripe or Guaranteed Rate. The Outback Bowl was a long shot. Purdue had a good turnout of fans for its last trip to the Music City Bowl. Tennessee fans should populate the stands for this game, as Knoxville is roughly 180 miles from Nashville.
Purdue is one of nine Big Ten teams in bowls. Michigan is in the College Football Playoff vs. Georgia in the Orange Bowl, while Ohio State (Rose vs. Utah) and Michigan State (Peach vs. Pitt) are in New Year's Day Six bowls. Other Big Ten teams in bowls are Iowa (Citrus vs. Kentucky), Wisconsin (Las Vegas vs. Arizona State), Minnesota (Guaranteed Rate vs. West Virginia), Penn State (Outback vs. Arkansas) and Maryland (Pinstripe vs. Virginia Tech).
Purdue has been one of the biggest surprises in the Big Ten in 2021, winning eight games in the regular season for the first time since 2006. A victory in the bowl game would give the Boilermakers' their first nine-win season since 2003.
The Boilermakers have been led all season by a rebuilt defense that ranks No. 5 overall in the Big Ten (340.8 ypg) and is No. 6 in scoring (20.5 ppg). The unit has an entirely new coaching staff and is led star end George Karlaftis.
The offense also has been a big part in the program notching its first winning season since 2017. Elevating Aidan O'Connell to No. 1 quarterback beginning with the fifth game of the season was a key move. O'Connell and favorite target David Bell sparked an attack that is No. 5 in the Big Ten in scoring (27.5 ppg) and No. 2 in passing (340.2 ypg).
A victory in the bowl would be Purdue's third in a row and fifth in six games. But a big question looms as the Boilermakers begin bowl prep: With Karlaftis and Bell likely to turn pro, will they take part in the bowl game?
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