1956 Purdue
3–4–2 (1–4–2 Big Ten), coached by Jack Mollenkopf. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest upsetBeat No. 18 Notre Dame 28–14Oct 13
Notre Dame was ranked No. 18, above it.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 29 | vs Missouri | W 16–7 | 75% |
| Oct 6 | at Minnesota | L 14–21 | 42% |
| Oct 13 | at 18Notre Dame | W 28–14 | 29% |
| Oct 20 | at Wisconsin | T 6–6 | 49% |
| Oct 27 | vs 12Iowa | L 20–21 | 56% |
| Nov 3 | vs Illinois | T 7–7 | 64% |
| Nov 10 | at 4Michigan State | L 9–12 | 23% |
| Nov 17 | at Northwestern | L 0–14 | 65% |
| Nov 24 | vs Indiana | W 39–20 | 69% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Indiana 39–20; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.
In program history: The 58th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).
AP poll, week by week
- Wk 5: 17
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 1956.
- Record
- 3–4–2
- Conference
- 1–4–2 tied for 7th in Big Ten
- AP final
- Unranked peak No. 17
- Points
- 139–122
- Coach
- Jack Mollenkopf
- Elo
- 1533 −1 this season
- SP+ rating
- —
- SRS
- 11.6 No. 25 of 111 major-college teams
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captains
- Bob Clasey, Len Dawson and Lamar Lundy
- Most valuable player
- Lamar Lundy
Drafted in 1957
The 1957 draft| Rd 1 | Len Dawson QB | Pittsburgh Steelers |
| Rd 4 | Lamar Lundy E | Los Angeles Rams |
All-Big Ten
1 first team, 2 second teamFirst team
Mel DillardFBAP-1; UP-1
Second team
Len DawsonQBAP-2
Lamar LundyEAP-2; UP-2
From Wikipedia’s 1956 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).
1956 Big Ten standings
Conference page| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 5–1 | 9–1 | 3 |
 Michigan | 5–2 | 7–2 | 7 |
| Minnesota | 4–1–2 | 6–1–2 | 12 |
| Michigan State | 4–2 | 7–2 | 9 |
 Ohio State | 4–2 | 6–3 | 15 |
| Northwestern | 3–3–1 | 4–4–1 | |
| Purdue | 1–4–2 | 3–4–2 | |
| Illinois | 1–4–2 | 2–5–2 | |
| Wisconsin | 0–4–3 | 1–5–3 | |
| Indiana | 1–5 | 3–6 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.