Purdue’s bowl game destination was announced today. The Boilermakers will head down to Orlando to play LSU in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, Monday January 2nd at 1:00 pm on ABC.
The Citrus Bowl is known as the best non-New Year’s Six bowl game in college football. The last three seasons, the loser of the Big Ten Championship Game has gone to Orlando.
This will be Purdue’s 21st bowl game appearance in school history, with the Boilermakers holding an 11-9 record in those games.
Jeff Brohm is 2-1 at Purdue in bowl games and 5-1 as a head coach overall. Since 2017, Brohm has topped Arizona in the Foster's Farm Bowl and Tennessee in the Music City Bowl last season. Between those two wins was a lopsided loss to Auburn in the Music City Bowl in 2018.
It remains to be seen if any key Boilermakers will skip the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl to prepare for the NFL Draft. Last season David Bell and George Karlaftis did not play in the Music City Bowl. A few of those names this year are Aidan O'Connell, Charlie Jones, Payne Durham and Cory Trice. Announcements regarding who will play should come in the next couple of weeks.
It could also be a look into the future as the NCAA Transfer Portal officially opens December 5th. There figures to be a number of players putting their names in the portal which will impact Purdue's roster for the bowl game.
Purdue has played in the Citrus Bowl (which has had several different names) just once in school history. In 2004, the Boilermakers faced off against Georgia in what was then called the Capital One Bowl, losing 34-27 to the Bulldogs. Purdue has played another bowl game in Orlando however, falling to Maryland in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl.
Purdue missed out on a return to the Rose Bowl with a loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Championship Game last night. A win would have secured the first trip to Pasedena since Joe Tiller and Drew Brees led the Boilermakers to “The Granddaddy of Them All” during the 2000 season.
Sneak peek at LSU:
The Boilermakers’ opponent comes into the bowl game on the heels of a loss to Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. LSU is 9-4 on the season overall and finished first in the SEC West with a 6-2 conference record.
Brian Kelly and LSU have been ranked since the first week of November and climbed to as high as No. 6 in the country. The Tigers have marquee wins over Ole Miss and Alabama this season.
During his tenure at Notre Dame, Kelly was a perfect 5-0 against the Boilermakers in the Shillelagh Trophy game.
Since both schools began playing college football in the late 1800s, Purdue and LSU have never played on the gridiron before. The Boilermakers and Tigers will face off for the first time at Camping World Stadium next month.
