Number crunching: Purdue football Week 3
Here's a look at some of the numbers relevant to Purdue football this week.
4 — Touchdown passes thrown by Len Dawson in his first college game (1954) and Mark Herrmann in his last college game (1980), both Boilermaker victories over Missouri.
44 — One-play scoring drives for Purdue, dating back to 2003. That includes the two the Boilermakers had against Ohio Friday night. Purdue has had multiple single-play touchdown drives in a game five times, the most recent before Friday coming in Purdue's 2009 victory over Michigan in the Big House.
93 — Expected temperature at kickoff for Saturday's game in Columbia. The last time Purdue played a game in temps surpassing 90 degrees at kickoff was Sept. 10, 2011 at Rice when the game-time temperature in Houston was 94.
.846 — Quarterback David Blough's completion percentage against Ohio (11-of-13), one of four Boilermaker quarterbacks in the last 15 years to complete more than 80 percent of his passes (minimum 10 completions). Caleb TerBush (14-of-17 vs. Southeast Missouri 2011) Curtis Painter (24-of-30 at Iowa 2008) and Kyle Orton (31-of-36 vs. Ball State 2004) are the only others to do it. Both Blough and Painter came off the bench in their efforts.
38.5 — How much better than the spread Purdue has done in its first two games in 2017. (The Boilers were 26.5 underdogs to Louisville and lost by 7 and were four-point favorites against Ohio and won by 23). It is the best the Boilermakers have fared since 2008 with they were 60.5 points better than the spread in a loss at Iowa and a win over IU in Coach Joe Tiller's final two games.
184 — Best combined receiving effort (in yards) by Cole Herdman and Brycen Hopkins in a single game. No, it wasn't last Friday vs. Ohio, but last year against Iowa when Hopkins had 104 and Herdman 80 in a 49-35 loss to the Hawkeyes. The duo combined for 172 against the Bobcats. With cursory research, we can't find any Purdue tight end duo to beat 184 in a single game in Boilermaker annals.
24.3 — Yards per catch by Herdman, tops among Power Five tight ends. Hopkins is tied for third with 17.0 per grab.
8 — Victories by Purdue over teams in the current Power Five in the last 50 years on their home field. They are: Arizona (2005), Notre Dame (2004, 1974 1968), Wake Forest (2003), West Virginia (1995), Stanford (1970) and Texas Christian (1969).
.555 — Boilermakers' winning percentage against Power Five teams that have Gold and Black as their primary school colors. Purdue is 30-27 vs. Iowa, 6-2 vs. Missouri, 4-1 vs. Wake Forest and 0-2 vs. Vanderbilt, adding up to 40-32 overall.
35 — Different Boilermakers to have rushed for 142 yards or more in a game, a club Tario Fuller joined with his effort against Ohio. Fuller's performance is the best against an FBS opponent since Markell Jones' 157 against No. 2 Michigan State in 2015.
9/23/67 — Date when Purdue last faced a current SEC team in the regular season. On that date, the Boilermakers defeated Texas A&M, 24-20, in the Cotton Bowl. The Aggies were part of the Southwest Conference 50 years ago. The last team that was a member of the SEC when Purdue faced it was Vanderbilt in 1942.
9 — Elijah Sindelar and Blough are a combined 9-of-12 passing for five TDs in the red zone so far this season. The Boilermakers are 9-for-9 in the red zone with six touchdowns and three field goals in their first two games. Blough and Sindelar have combined for eight TD passes, the best effort by Boilermaker quarterback(s) since Curtis Painter had 10 all by himself in 2007.
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