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1954 Purdue

5–⁠3–⁠1 (3–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Stuart Holcomb.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1954, game by game: won vs. Missouri 31–0; won at No. 1 Notre Dame 27–14; tied vs. No. 6 Duke 13–13; lost at No. 2 Wisconsin 6–20; won at Michigan State 27–13; won vs. Illinois 28–14; lost at No. 12 Iowa 14–25; lost vs. No. 2 Ohio State 6–28; won vs. Indiana 13–7+31−22Won 31–0 vs. Missouri+31MissouriWon 27–14 at No. 1 Notre Dame+13No. 1 Notre DameTied 13–13 vs. No. 6 Duke0No. 6 DukeLost 6–20 at No. 2 Wisconsin-14No. 2 WisconsinWon 27–13 at Michigan State+14Michigan StateWon 28–14 vs. Illinois+14IllinoisLost 14–25 at No. 12 Iowa-11No. 12 IowaLost 6–28 vs. No. 2 Ohio State-22No. 2 Ohio StateWon 13–7 vs. Indiana+6Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 25vsMissouriW 31–⁠052%
Oct 2at1Notre DameW 27–⁠1419%
Oct 9vs6DukeT 13–⁠1345%
Oct 16at2WisconsinL 6–⁠2028%
Oct 23atMichigan StateW 27–⁠1330%
Oct 30vsIllinoisW 28–⁠1465%
Nov 6at12IowaL 14–⁠2543%
Nov 13vs2Ohio StateL 6–⁠2844%
Nov 20vsIndianaW 13–⁠777%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Indiana 13–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 39th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 19
  2. Wk 4: 5
  3. Wk 5: 5
  4. Wk 6: 13
  5. Wk 7: 9
  6. Wk 8: 8

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 1954.

Led the nationLen Dawson: passing touchdowns (15 TD)

Record
5–⁠3–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠3 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 5
Points
165–⁠134
Coach
Stuart Holcomb
Elo
1570 +88 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
17.7 No. 9 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Tom Bettis and John Kerr
Most valuable player
Tom Bettis

Drafted in 1955

The 1955 draft
Rd 1Tom Bettis LBGreen Bay Packers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

  • John KerrEAP-2; UP-2; INS-2; Ed-2
  • Joe KrupaOTINS-2

From Wikipedia’s 1954 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1954 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠010–⁠01
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠29
Michigan5–⁠26–⁠315
Minnesota4–⁠27–⁠2
Iowa4–⁠35–⁠4
Purdue3–⁠35–⁠3–⁠1
Indiana2–⁠43–⁠6
Michigan State1–⁠53–⁠6
Northwestern1–⁠52–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠61–⁠8

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