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1989 Purdue

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Fred Akers.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 1989, game by game: won vs. Miami (OH) 27–10; lost at No. 15 Washington 9–38; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 7–40; lost at Minnesota 15–35; lost vs. No. 16 Illinois 2–14; lost at Ohio State 3–21; lost vs. Michigan State 21–28; lost at No. 4 Michigan 27–42; won vs. Northwestern 46–15; lost vs. Iowa 0–24; won at Indiana 15–14+31−33Won 27–10 vs. Miami (OH)+17Miami (OH)Lost 9–38 at No. 15 Washington-29No. 15 WashingtonLost 7–40 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-33No. 1 Notre DameLost 15–35 at Minnesota-20MinnesotaLost 2–14 vs. No. 16 Illinois-12No. 16 IllinoisLost 3–21 at Ohio State-18Ohio StateLost 21–28 vs. Michigan State-7Michigan StateLost 27–42 at No. 4 Michigan-15No. 4 MichiganWon 46–15 vs. Northwestern+31NorthwesternLost 0–24 vs. Iowa-24IowaWon 15–14 at Indiana+1Indiana
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 9vsMiami (OH)W 27–⁠1065%
Sep 16at15WashingtonL 9–⁠3822%
Sep 30vs1Notre DameL 7–⁠4016%
Oct 7atMinnesotaL 15–⁠3534%
Oct 14vs16IllinoisL 2–⁠1436%
Oct 21atOhio StateL 3–⁠2122%
Oct 28vsMichigan StateL 21–⁠2829%
Nov 4at4MichiganL 27–⁠427%
Nov 11vsNorthwesternW 46–⁠1563%
Nov 18vsIowaL 0–⁠2439%
Nov 25atIndianaW 15–⁠1418%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Indiana 15–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 123rd-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 1989.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
172–⁠281
Coach
Fred Akers
Elo
1346 −55 this season
SP+ rating
-5.2 No. 71 of 103; offense No. 90, defense No. 44
SRS
−5.8 No. 73 of 106 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Bob Stanley
Defensive coordinator
Phil Bennett
Captains
Dennis Dotson, Bill Hitchcock and Calvin Williams
Most valuable player
Calvin Williams

Drafted in 1990

The 1990 draft
Rd 5Calvin Williams WRPhiladelphia Eagles

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

  • Shawn McCarthyPAP-1; UPI-1
  • Freshman of the Year: Eric HunterOther awardsAP

Second team

  • Darrin TriebLBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Derrick KelsonDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1989 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1989 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠27
Illinois7–⁠110–⁠210
Ohio State6–⁠28–⁠424
Michigan State6–⁠28–⁠416
Minnesota4–⁠46–⁠5
Iowa3–⁠55–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠6
Purdue2–⁠63–⁠8
Wisconsin1–⁠72–⁠9
Northwestern0–⁠80–⁠11

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