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1959 Purdue

5–⁠2–⁠2 (4–⁠2–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Jack Mollenkopf.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1959, game by game: tied at UCLA 0–0; won vs. No. 8 Notre Dame 28–7; won vs. No. 9 Wisconsin 21–0; lost at Ohio State 0–15; won vs. No. 15 Iowa 14–7; tied at Illinois 7–7; lost at Michigan State 0–15; won vs. Minnesota 29–23; won at Indiana 10–7+21−15Tied 0–0 at UCLA0UCLAWon 28–7 vs. No. 8 Notre Dame+21No. 8 Notre DameWon 21–0 vs. No. 9 Wisconsin+21No. 9 WisconsinLost 0–15 at Ohio State-15Ohio StateWon 14–7 vs. No. 15 Iowa+7No. 15 IowaTied 7–7 at Illinois0IllinoisLost 0–15 at Michigan State-15Michigan StateWon 29–23 vs. Minnesota+6MinnesotaWon 10–7 at Indiana+3Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 18atUCLAT 0–⁠057%
Oct 3vs8Notre DameW 28–⁠759%
Oct 10vs9WisconsinW 21–⁠059%
Oct 17atOhio StateL 0–⁠1556%
Oct 24vs15IowaW 14–⁠755%
Oct 31atIllinoisT 7–⁠756%
Nov 7atMichigan StateL 0–⁠1554%
Nov 14vsMinnesotaW 29–⁠2381%
Nov 21atIndianaW 10–⁠757%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Indiana 10–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 19th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 4: 7
  3. Wk 5: 6
  4. Wk 6: 14
  5. Wk 7: 11
  6. Wk 8: 14
Record
5–⁠2–⁠2
Conference
4–⁠2–⁠1 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
109–⁠81
Coach
Jack Mollenkopf
Elo
1629 +21 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
12.7 No. 19 of 112 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Len Jardine and Sam Joyner
Most valuable player
Len Jardine

Drafted in 1960

The 1960 draft
Rd 3Ross Fichtner DBCleveland Browns
Rd 5Bob Jarus RBCleveland Browns
Rd 7Leonard Wilson BPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Jerry Beabout OTBaltimore Colts

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1959 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1959 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin5–⁠27–⁠36
Michigan State4–⁠25–⁠4
Purdue4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠2–⁠2
Illinois4–⁠2–⁠15–⁠3–⁠113
Northwestern4–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa3–⁠35–⁠4
Michigan3–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana2–⁠4–⁠14–⁠4–⁠1
Ohio State2–⁠4–⁠13–⁠5–⁠1
Minnesota1–⁠62–⁠7

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