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1987 Purdue

3–⁠7–⁠1 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Fred Akers.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1987, game by game: lost at No. 12 Washington 10–28; tied vs. Louisville 22–22; lost vs. No. 8 Notre Dame 20–44; lost at Minnesota 19–21; won vs. Illinois 9–3; lost vs. No. 17 Ohio State 17–20; lost at Iowa 14–38; won vs. Wisconsin 49–14; lost at No. 15 Michigan State 3–45; won vs. Northwestern 20–15; lost at No. 20 Indiana 14–35+35−42Lost 10–28 at No. 12 Washington-18No. 12 WashingtonTied 22–22 vs. Louisville0LouisvilleLost 20–44 vs. No. 8 Notre Dame-24No. 8 Notre DameLost 19–21 at Minnesota-2MinnesotaWon 9–3 vs. Illinois+6IllinoisLost 17–20 vs. No. 17 Ohio State-3No. 17 Ohio StateLost 14–38 at Iowa-24IowaWon 49–14 vs. Wisconsin+35WisconsinLost 3–45 at No. 15 Michigan State-42No. 15 Michigan StateWon 20–15 vs. Northwestern+5NorthwesternLost 14–35 at No. 20 Indiana-21No. 20 Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 12at12WashingtonL 10–⁠2819%
Sep 19vsLouisvilleT 22–⁠2267%
Sep 26vs8Notre DameL 20–⁠4426%
Oct 3atMinnesotaL 19–⁠2122%
Oct 10vsIllinoisW 9–⁠349%
Oct 17vs17Ohio StateL 17–⁠2027%
Oct 24atIowaL 14–⁠3819%
Oct 31vsWisconsinW 49–⁠1455%
Nov 7at15Michigan StateL 3–⁠4519%
Nov 14vsNorthwesternW 20–⁠1568%
Nov 21at20IndianaL 14–⁠3525%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Indiana 35–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 110th-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 1987.

Record
3–⁠7–⁠1
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
197–⁠285
Coach
Fred Akers
Elo
1403 −16 this season
SP+ rating
-8.1 No. 74 of 101; offense No. 78, defense No. 65
SRS
−4.8 No. 66 of 104 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Stanley
Defensive coordinator
Phil Bennett
Captains
Mike Connors, Anthony Hardy and Fred Strickland
Most valuable player
Anthony Hardy

Drafted in 1988

The 1988 draft
Rd 2Fred Strickland LBLos Angeles Rams
Rd 5Cris Dishman DBHouston Oilers

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

  • Anthony HardyWRUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1987 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1987 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠18
Iowa6–⁠210–⁠316
Indiana6–⁠28–⁠4
Michigan5–⁠38–⁠419
Ohio State4–⁠46–⁠4–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠56–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7–⁠1
Illinois2–⁠5–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠62–⁠8–⁠1
Wisconsin1–⁠73–⁠8

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