Number Crunching: Purdue football Week 11
More: Still time to 'change whole course of season' | Purdue may pass more | First look: Iowa
Here's our look at some of the numbers, sometimes on the trivial side, of Purdue football heading into its 11th game of the season.
3 - Consecutive times Purdue has held an opponent under 100 yards rushing dating back to the Nebraska game. No Purdue team had done it three straight weeks since 2004 when it did it against Notre Dame, Penn State and Wisconsin in consecutive weeks. The "record" (in the same season, dating back to 2000) is five straight weeks, set in the first five games of the 2003 season. But it actually is nine because defensive coordinator Brock Spack's unit also held the last four opponents of the 2002 season under the century mark in single-game rushing.
23 - Points scored by the opposition the last two times Purdue had a quarterback attempt 60 passes in a game. Northwestern had that point total in Saturday's 10-point win when Elijah Sindelar completed 37 passes, and Ohio State equaled it in a 16-point win at Purdue on Oct. 6, 2007 when junior quarterback Curtis Painter completed 31.
1-9 - Purdue's record all-time when it has an individual attempt 60 passes. The lone victory came when Drew Brees was 39-of 65 for 455 yards in a 31-27 win over Ohio State in 2000. His last pass of the day was a 64-yard game winner to Seth Morales, the most famous pass in Purdue football history.
8 years, 11 months, 28 days - Since Purdue had a a passer complete 37 or more passes in a game. Joey Elliott was 39-of-55 in a gut-wrenching 40-37 home loss to Michigan State on Nov. 14, 2009. Brees, Kyle Orton, Brandon Kirsch, Painter and Sindelar join Elliott as the only ones to do it since 2000, with Painter the only one to meet or exceed the 37-completion mark more than once during that period.
11 - Receptions for Jared Sparks against Northwestern, the most by a Boilermaker receiver in a game since DeAngelo Yancey caught 11 passes at Indiana in 2013. Coincidentally, of the 26 times a Purdue receiver has caught 11 or more passes in a game since 2000, Yancey and Sparks were the only freshmen to do it. Sparks' 130 receiving yards is the most of the Jeff Brohm Era at Purdue and best by a Boilermaker since Yancey had 155 receiving yards against Wisconsin last year (11 games ago).
9 & 4 - The Boilermakers have nine fumble recoveries in 2017 but haven't secured one in the last four games. Purdue hasn't recovered 10 fumbles in a single season since 2012.
26 - Consecutive games that tight end Cole Herdman has appeared and has caught at least one pass. It's the longest streak for a Boilermaker tight end since Justin Sinz ended his Boilermaker career in 2014 with a catch in 24 straight games.
3 of 10 - After Saturday, Purdue will have faced three of the 10 most-tenured coaches in the country in 2017, with Iowa's Kirk Ferentz being first in his 19th season at Iowa, Frank Solich 13 years at Ohio and Pat Fitzgerald 12 at Northwestern. Mark Dantonio, who is in his 11th year at Michigan State ranks eighth nationally, but isn't on the Boilermakers' schedule.
2 - Victories Ferentz needs to catch Hayden Fry (1979-98) and become Iowa's all-time winningest coach. The Boilermakers didn't have much luck beating Fry in Iowa City with wins in '79 and '92 but has less success against Ferentz with the lone win in 2012.
7 for 11 - There are seven Big Ten teams that are currently bowl eligible, with a max of 11 able to reach the six wins necessary for postseason. Only Illinois is eliminated from getting to six wins, but Rutgers, Purdue, Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska need two more wins and Minnesota just one more. The rub is Rutgers plays Indiana and Maryland, and Purdue plays Indiana, so no more than two teams can make it from that group.
.000000001 - Purdue's chance of earning a bowl bid with a 5-7 record. It is possible, though not overly likely, that a 5-7 Big Ten team could qualify for the postseason if there are not enough 6-6 teams to fill the 39 bowls. Of those bowl fringe teams, Minnesota, Maryland and Indiana (in that order) have the league's highest APR. Purdue ranks 13th of 14 schools in Big Ten APR so has virtually no chance of qualifying with a 5-7 record.
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