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1988 Purdue

4–⁠7 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Fred Akers.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1988, game by game: lost vs. No. 20 Washington 6–20; won vs. Ohio 33–10; lost at No. 8 Notre Dame 7–52; won vs. Minnesota 14–10; lost at Illinois 0–20; won at Ohio State 31–26; lost vs. Iowa 7–31; won at Wisconsin 9–6; lost vs. Michigan State 3–48; lost at Northwestern 7–28; lost vs. Indiana 7–52+23−45Lost 6–20 vs. No. 20 Washington-14No. 20 WashingtonWon 33–10 vs. Ohio+23OhioLost 7–52 at No. 8 Notre Dame-45No. 8 Notre DameWon 14–10 vs. Minnesota+4MinnesotaLost 0–20 at Illinois-20IllinoisWon 31–26 at Ohio State+5Ohio StateLost 7–31 vs. Iowa-24IowaWon 9–6 at Wisconsin+3WisconsinLost 3–48 vs. Michigan State-45Michigan StateLost 7–28 at Northwestern-21NorthwesternLost 7–52 vs. Indiana-45Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 10vs20WashingtonL 6–⁠2039%
Sep 17vsOhioW 33–⁠1073%
Sep 24at8Notre DameL 7–⁠5217%
Oct 1vsMinnesotaW 14–⁠1046%
Oct 8atIllinoisL 0–⁠2038%
Oct 15atOhio StateW 31–⁠2629%
Oct 22vsIowaL 7–⁠3135%
Oct 29atWisconsinW 9–⁠660%
Nov 5vsMichigan StateL 3–⁠4837%
Nov 12atNorthwesternL 7–⁠2852%
Nov 19vsIndianaL 7–⁠5229%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Indiana 52–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 6th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The tied 121st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 6th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
124–⁠303
Coach
Fred Akers
Elo
1351 −84 this season
SP+ rating
-15.7 No. 91 of 102; offense No. 100, defense No. 66
SRS
−12.3 No. 85 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Stanley
Defensive coordinator
Phil Bennett
Captains
Bruce Crites and Marc Foster
Most valuable player
Marc Foster

Drafted in 1989

The 1989 draft
Rd 4Jerrol Williams LBPittsburgh Steelers

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Marc FosterDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1988 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1988 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠0–⁠19–⁠2–⁠14
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Illinois5–⁠2–⁠16–⁠5–⁠1
Iowa4–⁠1–⁠36–⁠4–⁠3
Indiana5–⁠38–⁠3–⁠120
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠7
Ohio State2–⁠5–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Northwestern2–⁠5–⁠12–⁠8–⁠1
Wisconsin1–⁠71–⁠10
Minnesota0–⁠6–⁠22–⁠7–⁠2

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