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1953 Purdue

2–⁠7 (2–⁠4 Big Ten), coached by Stuart Holcomb.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1953, game by game: lost at Missouri 7–14; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 7–37; lost at No. 8 Duke 14–20; lost vs. Wisconsin 19–28; won vs. No. 2 Michigan State 6–0; lost at No. 4 Illinois 0–21; lost vs. Iowa 0–26; lost at Ohio State 6–21; won at Indiana 30–0+30−30Lost 7–14 at Missouri-7MissouriLost 7–37 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-30No. 1 Notre DameLost 14–20 at No. 8 Duke-6No. 8 DukeLost 19–28 vs. Wisconsin-9WisconsinWon 6–0 vs. No. 2 Michigan State+6No. 2 Michigan StateLost 0–21 at No. 4 Illinois-21No. 4 IllinoisLost 0–26 vs. Iowa-26IowaLost 6–21 at Ohio State-15Ohio StateWon 30–0 at Indiana+30Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 26atMissouriL 7–⁠1451%
Oct 3vs1Notre DameL 7–⁠3737%
Oct 10at8DukeL 14–⁠2021%
Oct 17vsWisconsinL 19–⁠2842%
Oct 24vs2Michigan StateW 6–⁠022%
Oct 31at4IllinoisL 0–⁠2126%
Nov 7vsIowaL 0–⁠2656%
Nov 14atOhio StateL 6–⁠2125%
Nov 21atIndianaW 30–⁠049%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Indiana 30–⁠0; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 83rd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1953.

Record
2–⁠7
Conference
2–⁠4 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
89–⁠167
Coach
Stuart Holcomb
Elo
1474 −68 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
6.3 No. 41 of 110 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Tom Bettis and John Kerr
Most valuable player
Tom Bettis

Drafted in 1954

The 1954 draft
Rd 6Ken Panfil OTLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 1953 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1953 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State5–⁠19–⁠13
Illinois5–⁠17–⁠1–⁠17
Wisconsin4–⁠1–⁠16–⁠2–⁠115
Ohio State4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠320
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠19
Minnesota3–⁠3–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue2–⁠42–⁠7
Indiana1–⁠52–⁠7
Northwestern0–⁠63–⁠6

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.