The 2016 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Boilermakers were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana. They were led by fourth-year head coach Darrell Hazell until he was fired on October 16, 2016. Gerad Parker was named the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. They finished the season 3–9, 1–8 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.
Preseason In 2015, Purdue compiled a 2–10 record (1–7 in conference play) during the regular season, failing to qualify for a bowl game for the third straight season.
Purdue had a coaching shake up prior to the season, when defensive coordinator Greg Hudson, offensive coordinator / quarterbacks coach John Shoop and defensive line coach Rubin Carter were fired on November 29, 2015. On December 22, 2015, it was announced that tight ends coach Terry Malone would be promoted to offensive coordinator in addition to his tight end coaching duties. Purdue hired former Syracuse Orange football offensive coordinator Tim Lester as quarterbacks coach. On December 30, 2015, Purdue hired Miami Hurricanes football defensive line coach Randy Melvin to coach the defensive line. Just two days later, Purdue announced that they had completed their coaching staff with the hiring of Lincoln Southwest High School assistant Ross Els as the defensive coordinator.
Purdue suffered attrition when offensive line coach Jim Bridge left to take the role of assistant head coach, special teams coordinator and tight ends coach with the Duke Blue Devils football team, and running backs coach Jafar Williams took the same position with Rutgers. Williams was replaced by Syracuse running backs coach DeAndre Smith, and Bridge was replaced by Akron offensive line coach Darrell Funk.
Recruiting
Position key BackBCenterCCornerbackCBDefensive backDBDefensive endDEDefensive linemanDLDefensive tackleDTEndEFullbackFBGuardGHalfbackHBKickerKKickoff returnerKROffensive tackleOTOffensive linemanOLLinebackerLBLong snapperLSPunterPPunt returnerPRQuarterbackQBRunning backRBSafetySTight endTEWide receiverWR
Recruits
Purdue's recruiting class consisted of 23 recruits, including three that enrolled early. Purdue's recruiting class was ranked 84th by Scout, 74th by Rivals, and 61st by ESPN.
Schedule Purdue announced its 2016 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2016 schedule consisted of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Boilermakers hosted Big Ten foes Iowa, Northwestern, Penn State, and Wisconsin, and traveled to Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota, and Nebraska.
The team also hosted all of the three non–conference games which were against the Cincinnati Bearcats from the American Athletic Conference (AAC), the Eastern Kentucky Colonels from the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC), and the Nevada Wolf Pack from the Mountain West Conference.
Schedule source:
Radio Radio coverage for all games will be broadcast statewide on The Purdue Sports Network and on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. The radio announcers are Tim Newton with play-by-play, Pete Quinn with color commentary, and Kelly Kitchel with sideline reports.
Game summaries
Vs. Eastern Kentucky
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 1–0 September 1, 2012 Purdue, 48–6
To begin the season, Purdue hosted the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. This was the first meeting between the teams since 2012, which saw Purdue defeat Eastern Kentucky 48–6.
Purdue won the game 45–24. Purdue opened the scoring in the first quarter with a 3-yard touchdown rush and added to its lead with a 1-yard run by David Blough. Purdue would increase their lead even more with a 78-yard interception return by Gelen Robinson. After Missouri transfer Maty Mauk struggled in his first drive, Eastern Kentucky opened their scoring near the end of the first quarter with a 10-yard pass to Dan Crimmins from Bennie Coley and added a two-point conversion with a Neiko Creamer rush. Purdue responded to Eastern Kentucky touchdown with a 35-yard touchdown pass to DeAngelo Yancey from David Blough. On the ensuing drive, Eastern Kentucky added 3 points with a 35-yard field goal by Lucas Williams. The Colonels would add a 10-yard touchdown run by Ethan Thomas to draw the score 28–18 at halftime. After both teams failed to score any points in the third quarter, Purdue opened the scoring in the fourth with a 1-yard run by David Blough. J. D. Dellinger added a 30-yard field goal and a 48-yard run by Brian Lankford-Johnson. Eastern Kentucky closed out the scoring with a 2-yard pass to Cameron Fogle from Tyler Swafford.
Purdue's 45 points scored were the second most in the Darrell Hazell era.
Vs. Cincinnati
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 1–1 August 31, 2013 Cincinnati, 42–7
After its game against Eastern Kentucky, Purdue will faced Cincinnati. Cincinnati defeated Purdue 42–7 in the previous meeting.
Purdue was defeated 38–20 by Cincinnati. Cincinnati opened the scoring with a 5-yard pass to Nate Cole from Hayden Moore. Cincinnati increased their lead with a 9-yard Moore run to make the score 14–0. Purdue got on the board with a 19-yard Domonique Young pass to David Blough. Cincinnati closed out the first half scoring with a 20-yard D. J. Dowdy pass from Moore to make the score 21–7. The only scoring during the 3rd quarter was a 26-yard field goal by Andrew Gantz. Cole scored again for the Bearcats on a 28-yard pass from Moore. Purdue's comeback attempt started with a 4-yard Richie Worship run. Purdue scored again on a 36-yard pass from DeAngelo Yancey from Blough. After Blough was intercepted by Mike Tyson on their next drive, Cincinnati capped the scoring on a 23-yard run by Moore.
Vs. Nevada
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 0–0 First meeting N/A
After playing Cincinnati, Purdue hosted the Nevada Wolf Pack. This was the first ever meeting between the two teams.
Purdue overcame an 11-point second quarter deficit to defeat the Nevada Wolf Pack 24–14. Purdue began the game with the loss of both of their starting offensive tackles, Martesse Patterson and Matt McCann for personal and injury reasons. Nevada opened up the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Stewart. Purdue answered back in the second quarter with a 36-yard field goal from J. D. Dellinger. After an exchanging of punts, Nevada increased their lead with a 6-yard touchdown pass to James Butler from Stewart. Purdue scored one more time before the half on a 48-yard pass to Bilal Marshall from David Blough to make the score 14–10 at the half. Purdue took the lead with the only score in the 3rd quarter with a 5-yard Markell Jones run. Purdue closed out the scoring with a 51-yard touchdown reception by Brycen Hopkins from Blough.
The win for the Boilermakers marked the 600th win in program history.
At Maryland
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 0–1 December 29, 2006 Maryland, 24–7
Following its game against Nevada, Purdue began its Big Ten portion of the schedule when it traveled to the Maryland Terrapins. Maryland defeated Purdue 24–7 in the 2006 Champs Sports Bowl.
Purdue lost in a blowout, 50–7. The scoring began with an 11-yard pass to Teldrick Morgan from Perry Hills, on the ensuing point after attempt, Maryland ran a swinging gate and saw a matchup that they liked completing the 2-point conversion with Caleb Rowe's pass to Kenneth Goins. Maryland added to its lead on a 62-yard run by Lorenzo Harrison III, an 8-yard run by Ty Johnson and an 11-yard Hills run to make the score 29–0 in favor of Maryland at half-time. Maryland's lead grew larger with another touchdown pass to Morgan from Hills in the third quarter. Purdue cut into Maryland's lead with a 4-yard Cole Herdman touchdown from David Blough. Maryland closed out the scoring with two fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 48-yard run by Johnson and a Jake Funk 9-yard touchdown reception from Tyrrell Pigrome.
At Illinois
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 44–42–6 November 7, 2015 Illinois, 48–14 After its game against Maryland, Purdue traveled to Champaign to face its rival, the Illinois Fighting Illini, for the Purdue Cannon. Illinois defeated Purdue 48–14 in the previous season.
Purdue defeated Illinois in an offensive battle, 34–31 in overtime. Illinois began the scoring with a 20-yard field goal by Chase McLaughlin. Following an exchange of punts, Purdue took their first lead of the game on a nine-yard run by David Blough. Another field goal by McLaughlin cut Purdue's lead to one, but Purdue answered back the following drive with a 32-yard run by Brian Lankford-Johnson. Purdue looked to be taking charge of the game with a 3rd down stop, but it was nullified by a roughing the passer hit on Wes Lunt by Danny Ezechukwu, injuring Lunt to the point where he would not return to the game. Chayce Crouch, who had been rotating in with Lunt at quarterback was now the full-time quarterback for Illinois. Crouch's running ability on the zone-read proved difficult for Purdue to stop as Crouch lead the Fighting Illini to a 26-yard touchdown run. Purdue responded with a 45-yard pass from Blough to Malik Kimbrough. Just before the half, McLaughlin made another field goal to give Purdue just a 21–16 halftime lead. Crouch opened up the second half scoring with a 3-yard run, giving Illinois their second lead of the game. Purdue regained the lead once again with a 37-yard J. D. Dellinger field goal just before the end of the third quarter. Kendrick Foster's 3-yard run just gave Illinois their largest lead of the game with 12:34 to play. On Purdue's ensuing drive Richie Worship scored on a 6-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Illinois would get a chance for the win when McLaughlin lined up for a field goal with seconds left. Darrell Hazell chose to use all three of his remaining timeouts in an attempt to ice McLaughlin. McLaughlin's kick would fall no good after hitting the right upright forcing overtime. Purdue won the toss and chose defense. Crouch fumbled on Illinois' first possession, recorded by Leroy Clark of Purdue. After a first down run by Worship, Dellinger kicked a 28-yard field goal to give Purdue the victory.
Vs. Iowa
Sources:
Overall record Previous meeting Previous winner 46–37–3 November 21, 2015 Iowa, 40–20
Following its clash with Illinois, Purdue hosted the Iowa Hawkeyes for its homecoming game. The 2015 season saw Iowa defeat Purdue 40–20.
Iowa defeated the Boilermakers in a shootout, 49–35. Iowa opened up the scoring with a 1-yard run by LeShun Daniels. Iowa increased their lead with a 3rd down scramble for a 15-yard touchdown run by C. J. Beathard. After a quick 3-and-out by Purdue, Iowa scored again on a 42-yard Beathard pass to Riley McCarron, closing out the first quarter scoring. After several exchanges of punts, Iowa scored again on a 4-yard run by Daniels. Purdue scored their first points of the game with a 25-yard pass from David Blough to Brycen Hopkins. After the kickoff after the Hopkins touchdown, Iowa scored on its first play with a 75-yard Akrum Wadley touchdown run to bring the halftime score to 35–7 in favor of Iowa. Purdue opened up the second half scoring with a 53-yard Blough pass to Cole Herdman. Iowa responded with a 5-yard Noah Fant touchdown reception from Beathard. Purdue scored again on a 7-yard pass from Blough to Bilal Marshall. After a 3-and-out by Iowa, who had put in their reserves, Purdue scored again on a 54-yard Blough pass to DeAngelo Yancey. After yet another 3-and-out, Iowa put in their starting defensive unit. Blough was intercepted by Desmond King, who returned the interception 41-yards for an Iowa score, increasing their lead to 21 again. Purdue scored once more with another Hopkins touchdown reception from Blough for 37-yards.