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Purdue Football: Up for the challenge of new Big 10 Rivals
BY KEN THOMPSON
PHOTOS PROVIDED
The second year of the Ryan Walters era may be more challenging than an injury-filled 2023 season that saw Purdue football finish 4-8.
The Big Ten welcomes former Pac-12 Conference schools USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. The expansion to 18 schools forced the Big Ten to abandon the East and West divisions. Now, the top two teams in the standings will meet in the Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 7 in Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Indianapolis Colts.
Of the four newcomers, only Oregon is on Purdue’s schedule. The Oct. 18 game at Ross-Ade Stadium will be one of two Friday night contests for the Boilermakers. The other is a trip to Michigan State on Nov. 22.
The trip to Oregon State on Sept. 21 also will be a night game. The Beavers and the return of Notre Dame to the Boilermaker schedule are why Athlon Sports has rated Purdue’s non-conference schedule fourth-toughest in the Big Ten.
CBS will televise Notre Dame’s return to West Lafayette for the first time since 2013, a 31-24 Fighting Irish victory. Purdue has lost eight in a row to Notre Dame since a 33-19 victory in 2007. Notre Dame is coached by former Purdue defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman.
Indiana State, which finished 1-10 last season, comes to Ross-Ade Stadium to open the 2024 season on Aug. 31. Purdue gets a week off before hosting Notre Dame on Sept. 14.
Purdue opens Big Ten play Sept. 28 against Nebraska in Ross-Ade Stadium.
Only 17 scholarship players out of the NCAA-permitted 85 remain from the Jeff Brohm era as NCAA rules allowed Walters to make over the roster without restrictions during his first 18 months. Center Gus Hartwig and linebacker Kydran Jenkins are among four Brohm recruits using an extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Quantity may be lacking in the Brohm 17 but not quality. Including Hartwig and Jenkins, nine could start against Indiana State.
Running back Devin Mockobee, who has gained 1,775 yards in two seasons, hopes to become Purdue’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Kory Sheets in 2008. Tight end Max Klare was enjoying a breakout redshirt freshman year before an injury ended his 2023 season.
Yanni Karlaftis, the former West Lafayette High School standout, may start alongside Jenkins at inside linebacker. Offensive linemen Marcus Mbow and Mahamane Moussa are returning starters.
End Joseph Anderson and nose tackle Cole Brevard are among a deep group of defensive linemen. Another former West Lafayette High School star and Brohm recruit, Mo Omonode, backs up Brevard.
Freshman All-American safety Dillon Thieneman is a returning starter as is cornerback Markevious Brown.
Quarterback Hudson Card passed for 2,387 yards and 15 touchdowns after transferring from Texas. He’ll have to break in a new set of receivers with the transfers of top four pass catchers Deion Burks (Oklahoma), T.J. Sheffield (Connecticut), Abdur-Rahman Yaseen (South Florida) and Garrett Miller (Texas A&M).
The biggest blow to Purdue was the transfer of Big Ten sacks leader Nic Scourton to Texas A&M for a significant Name Image Likeness (NIL) deal.
Walters hopes a recruiting class ranked 27th in the nation by the 247Sports Composite and 19 transfers will fill the voids. Among the players to watch from this group are defensive backs Koy Beasley, Tarrion Grant, Luke Williams and Nyland Green (Georgia transfer) plus rush ends CJ Madden (Georgia) and Shitta Sillah (Boston College).
Offensive linemen D.J. Wingfield (New Mexico), Corey Stewart (Ball State), Joshua Sales (Indiana) and Joey Tanona (Notre Dame) hope to shore up an injury-plagued unit in 2023. Others to watch on offense are running back Reggie Love (Illinois), wide receivers CJ Smith (Georgia), De’Nylon Morrissette (Georgia) and Kam Brown (UCLA), punter Keelan Crimmins (Mississippi State) and freshman kicker Spencer Porath. ★
2024 Purdue football schedule:
Aug. 31 Indiana State
Sept. 14 Notre Dame
Sept. 21 at Oregon State
Sept. 28 Nebraska
Oct. 5 at Wisconsin
Oct. 12 at Illinois
Oct. 18 Oregon
Nov. 2 Northwestern
Nov. 9 at Ohio State
Nov. 16 Penn State
Nov. 22 at Michigan State
Nov. 30 at Indiana
