Purdue vs. Tennessee

Date/Time/Place: Thursday, December 30: 3 PM ET, 2 PM local time, Nissan Stadium

Surface: Natural Grass

Capacity: 69,143 (Ticket info)

Schedule/records: Tennessee (7-5 overall, 4-4 SEC); Purdue (8-4, 6-3 Big Ten)

Series notes: Purdue won the only game between the schools, a 27-22 victory at the Bluebonnet Bowl on Dec. 31, 1979, in a game played in front of 40,522 fans in the Houston Astrodome. It delivered Purdue to its only 10-win season in its history.

Thanks to a 7-3 record against Missouri, the Boilermakers are 12-9 against teams currently in the SEC. The Boilermakers are just 1-3 in bowl games, however. Coach Jeff Brohm is 2-2 against the SEC as the Purdue head coach, winning at Missouri 35-3 in 2017, losing to Missouri at home 40-37 in 2018, 63-14 to Auburn in the 2018 Music City Bowl and a 42-24 home win over Vanderbilt in 2019. This will be the fourth SEC school the Boilermakers have faced in the postseason. Other SEC postseason games include overtime losses to Georgia (2000 Outback Bowl, 28-25; 2004 Capital One Bowl, 34-27). Purdue also played in Nashville on Oct. 3, 1942, suffering a 26-0 loss to Vanderbilt.

TV: ESPN (PBP Tom Hart; Analyst Jordan Rodgers; Sidelines Cole Cubelic)

Radio: Purdue Sports Properties (PBP Tim Newton; Analyst Pete Quinn; Sidelines Kelly Kitchel) Listen on Tunein or the VarsityApp

Line: Tennessee -6, though it opened as Purdue -2

Pregame: Gold and Black Radio

Purdue roster | Purdue Game Notes

Tennessee roster | Tennessee Game Notes

Nashville weather

MORE: Music City Bowl Notebook | Wright/Mackey won't play in Nashville | No Karlaftis? No Bell? No Problem? | O'Connell, Horvath, Anthrop talk MCB | Purdue looks to flip the script from last MCB appearance | Number Crunching: Bowl Week

In Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel's up-tempo system, quarterback Hendon Hooker has thrived this year both through the air and on the ground. In fact, Hooker is the Volunteers' leader in rushing attempts on the season with 148 attempts. He will provide a true dual-threat option out of the shotgun for Tennessee that Purdue will have to be wary of. At the running back position, sophomore Jabari Small and freshman Jaylen Wright lead the way, both of whom got 15 carries in the Vols' blowout win to end the season vs. Vanderbilt. Yet, the unit is subdued with the surprising departure of second leading rusher Tiyon Evans who transferred to Louisville. All-around, it's a high-powered Tennessee rushing attack, as they average 212 yards per game on the ground via the up-tempo offense that Josh Heupel likes to run.

Purdue's run defense finished the year on a strong note with a solid performance against a struggling Indiana rushing attack. It was a year of improvement for Purdue's run defense, led by senior linebacker Jaylan Alexander who led the team with 94 tackles. Alongside Kieren Douglas and Jalen Graham, Alexander led the linebacker crew to a much-improved 2021. It hasn't truly faced an attack like what Tennessee will bring to the table, however. The closest thing Purdue has seen was Nebraska, whose run-pass option combinations gave Purdue some problems in the first half of the game in Lincoln. The Boilermaker defense will need to come out stronger than it did then, as Tennessee doesn't make mistakes as frequently as the Cornhuskers did in that game.

Tennessee opened the season with Michigan transfer Joe Milton as their starting quarterback, but that decision didn't last long. Once Hooker took over the reins, the offense began to take off. The Volunteer offense has been incredibly efficient when throwing the ball. They "only" average 247 yards passing, but Hooker completes 68% of his passes and has a touchdown-to-interception ratio of 26-to-3. That type of efficiency is hard to come by. On the receiving end, Cedric Tillman and Velus Jones Jr. are by far Tennessee's most-targeted options, as they both have more than 50 receptions on the season. No other Volunteer receiver has more than 20 receptions, for comparison. The up-tempo Volunteer offense is hard to stop, as proven by their 38 points per game average on the season.

Shutting down Indiana's pass offense that relied on a walk-on quarterback helped Purdue's defense finish the regular season allowing under 200 passing yards per game. After the extreme struggles Purdue's defense had in 2020, that's a pretty remarkable statistic. Credit to corners Dedrick Mackey and Jamari Brown, who had to step up big time after Cory Trice was lost for the season prior to the third game. The rub is that Mackey will not be in uniform for the Music City Bowl, a severe blow to the secondary unit.

While the defensive improvement has been significant, it also helps that Purdue didn't face many high-level quarterbacks this season. Hooker will be a significant test for a pass defense that will be without its best weapon: defensive end George Karlaftis, who will skip the bowl game to begin preparing for the NFL Draft.

Purdue's 167 rushing yards in the Old Oaken Bucket game popped off the stat sheet, as the Boilermaker rushing attack has struggled so mightily at times over the past three seasons. The running game benefited greatly with the return of Zander Horvath, who will be playing his final game as a Boilermaker in Nashville. Between him and King Doerue, the Boilers have a pair of backs that are tough to tackle, though they aren't the most explosive.

For a few games mid-season, Jeff Brohm turned to alternate quarterbacks Jack Plummer and Austin Burton for sporadic snaps to help spark the run game. Don't expect to see that in the Music City Bowl. Plummer will not be with the team for the bowl game after entering the transfer portal and landing at Cal, and Aidan O'Connell has taken every meaningful snap since the second quarter of the Ohio State game.

Tennessee gives up 153 rushing yards per game in the run-heavy SEC East but limits opponents to just 3.8 yards per carry. They've seen a number of strong rushing attacks this season, coming into this matchup battle-tested. Purdue will need to find ways to get the ground game going. They've used Jackson Anthrop in the backfield some late in the season. With the sixth-year senior playing his final game, expect that to continue. Purdue will have its work cut out for it to move the ball on the ground.

What a season it has been for Aidan O'Connell. The fifth-year senior earned second-team All-Big Ten honors for his performance after stepping into the starting role a third of the way through the season. Though turnovers were a bit of an issue early on, O'Connell has been clean as can be lately, completing 73% of his passes for 23 touchdowns and eight interceptions. He has attempted 222 passes without an interception dating back to the fourth quarter of the Wisconsin game on Oct. 23. No Purdue quarterback in history has had a longer streak without throwing a pick.

O'Connell has announced that he will return for the 2022 season, so expect him to be extra eager to put an exclamation point on his great season. Yet, he'll have to do it without his security blankets: David Bell and Milton Wright. Bell will not play in the bowl game in order to begin preparations for the NFL Draft and Wright did not make the trip.

So, look for Purdue to try to work its short-passing game with the likes of Jackson Anthrop and its tight ends Payne Durham and Garrett Miller. Tennessee is dead last in time of possession, and the Boilermakers figure to have to control the clock on offense to have a chance of pulling the upset.

The Tennessee defense has been vulnerable through the air this season, and they'll be playing the bowl game without a few starters in their secondary. This should provide Purdue with a good opportunity to put up points - something they'll need to do to combat the strong Tennessee offense. If Purdue can continue the success it's had all season, this one could turn into one heck of a shootout.

Even though there were some mid-season struggles, Mitchell Fineran turned in a nice season at kicker, making 20 of his 25 field-goal attempts. He hasn't shown too much in terms of kicking from distance, with his only attempt longer than 40 yards coming in the season opener vs. Oregon State, but his solid presence has helped this team. Purdue will continue to look for strides from freshman punter Jack Ansell, who was reliable for the most part this season but would like to see more distance on his punts. The return game continues to be a non-factor for Purdue, which hasn't ran a kickoff back for six since 2013.

Tennessee hasn't relied on kicker Chase McGrath too much this year, as he enters with 11 makes on just 14 tries. He, like Fineran, hasn't attempted a kick longer than 48 yards on the season. Punter Paxton Brooks does a nice job, averaging 44 yards per boot.

Watch out for Velus Jones, Jr. who has returned a kickoff all the way this season, as he's a weapon returning both kicks and punts for the Vols. He is considered one of the best return men in the SEC and ranks second in the nation in punt returns (16.0). The Boilermakers must be disciplines and vigilant in the return game.

Tennessee is thrilled to be bowl-bound in Josh Heupel's first season, and from all pre-game accounts it is focused. It's been as successful as Vol fans could have hoped for after the Jeremy Pruitt-era ended poorly with NCAA investigations and less on-field success than the fan base had hoped for. It's a virtual home game for Tennessee. They're the dominant brand in the state, and playing the game in Nashville should allow for a sea of orange to make its way to the Music City.

Purdue was in this same game three years ago, but it was whipped by 49 points in a beat down that Purdue players certainly haven't forgotten. It's been a great year for Purdue, which won eight games in the regular season for the first time since 2006. Now, it has the opportunity to win nine games for the first time since 2003. Even without four key players, the Boilers should be highly motivated and ready to go.

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