But they have lost those 4 games by a combined 18 points, and 3 of those losses came against BCS opponents (Oregon by 2, Notre Dame by 3, NWestern by 6). I doubt I'm the first person to say that this is the best 1-4 football team in the country. I fully expect them to be the best 1-5 football team in the country after playing our Gophers this weekend, so let's take a look at how that might happen.
We know this: Purdue can score.
Points per game:
Boilers: 30.2
Gophers: 25.4
It also may be worth noting that those 30.2 pts/game are nearly all offensive points, no defensive points, and one special teams touchdown, whereas the Gophers 25.4 pts/game include two defensive touchdowns this season.
Offensive points per game:
Boilers: 29
Gophers: 23
It appears that the story of this game will likely come down to the Boilers offense vs. the Gophers defense.
So here are some head-to-head stats of this match-up to get your mind going heading into this game:
Boilers yards/game: 411.8
Gophers yards allowed/game: 377
Boilers Passing yards/game: 258.2 (3rd in Big Ten)
Gophers Passing defensive (Yds allowed/game): 202.4 (4th in Big Ten)
Boilers Rushing yards/game: 153.6
Gophers Rush defense (Yds allowed /game): 174.6 (10th in Big Ten)
Purdue individual stats:
QB Joey Elliott...Passing yards: 1276 yds, 255 yds/game (both 1st in Big Ten)
Passing TD: 10 (1st in Big Ten)
Interceptions: 7 (tied for most in Big Ten)
RB Ralph Bolden
Rushing yards: 541 yds, 108.2 yds/game (both 2nd in Big Ten)
Yards/carry: 5.6
Rushing TD's: 4
Rushing attempts: 97 (2nd most in Big Ten)
Purdue has played from behind most of the season, so the passing yards could be a bit skewed because of that. Nevertheless, it is a concern. Ralph Bolden is also a concern, especially considering the fact that he's put up the kind of numbers that he has while playing from behind most of the year.
Another good test for our defense, but I expect our defense to rise to the challenge.
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