CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2021 Purdue

9–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Jeff Brohm.

Schedule and results

Purdue in 2021, game by game: won vs. Oregon State 30–21; won at UConn 49–0; lost at No. 12 Notre Dame 13–27; won vs. Illinois 13–9; lost vs. Minnesota 13–20; won at No. 2 Iowa 24–7; lost vs. Wisconsin 13–30; won at Nebraska 28–23; won vs. No. 5 Michigan State 40–29; lost at No. 6 Ohio State 31–59; won vs. Northwestern 32–14; won vs. Indiana 44–7; won vs. Tennessee 48–45+49−28Won 30–21 vs. Oregon State+9Oregon StateWon 49–0 at UConn+49UConnLost 13–27 at No. 12 Notre Dame-14No. 12 Notre DameWon 13–9 vs. Illinois+4IllinoisLost 13–20 vs. Minnesota-7MinnesotaWon 24–7 at No. 2 Iowa+17No. 2 IowaLost 13–30 vs. Wisconsin-17WisconsinWon 28–23 at Nebraska+5NebraskaWon 40–29 vs. No. 5 Michigan State+11No. 5 Michigan StateLost 31–59 at No. 6 Ohio State-28No. 6 Ohio StateWon 32–14 vs. Northwestern+18NorthwesternWon 44–7 vs. Indiana+37IndianaWon 48–45 vs. Tennessee+3Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4vsOregon StateW 30–⁠2158%
Sep 11atUConnW 49–⁠067%
Sep 18at12Notre DameL 13–⁠2719%
Sep 25vsIllinoisW 13–⁠968%
Oct 2vsMinnesotaL 13–⁠2050%
Oct 16at2IowaW 24–⁠713%
Oct 23vsWisconsinL 13–⁠3051%
Oct 30atNebraskaW 28–⁠2341%
Nov 6vs5Michigan StateW 40–⁠2939%
Nov 13at6Ohio StateL 31–⁠5916%
Nov 20vsNorthwesternW 32–⁠1463%
Nov 27vsIndianaW 44–⁠777%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvsTennesseeMusic City BowlW 48–⁠4554%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Tennessee 48–⁠45 in the Music City Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 30th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 135 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 8: 25

Consensus All-AmericanDavid Bell, WR

Record
9–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 tied for 5th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 25
Points
378–⁠291
Coach
Jeff Brohm
Elo
1591 +145 this season
SP+ rating
10.3 No. 35 of 130; offense No. 44, defense No. 25
SRS
9.6 No. 22 of 130 in FBS
Returning
90% of last season’s EPA, No. 26 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 72 roster talent No. 46 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Brian Brohm and JaMarcus Shephard
Defensive coordinators
Brad Lambert, Ron English and Mark Hagen
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense50th of 130
  • Defense30th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted37th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted27th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1746%1.1250th of 130
Defense0.0840%1.3030th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.19 off
0.08 def		47% off
39% def		—37th off
27th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.9own 2815% allowed
Defense3.5own 2918% caused

CORE rating 6.7, 42nd of 130 (offense 3.1, defense -3.5).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsAidan O’Connell QB3,712 yds
Passing touchdownsAidan O’Connell QB28 TD
Rushing yardsKing Doerue RB533 yds
Rushing touchdownsAlexander Horvath RB3 TD
Receiving yardsDavid Bell WR1,286 yds
Receiving touchdownsMilton Wright WR7 TD
TacklesJaylan Alexander LB113 tkl
SacksKydran Jenkins DE5 sacks
InterceptionsCam Allen DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2021 class

Yanni Karlaftis LB★★★★No. 273
Jah’von Grigsby S★★★No. 707
Deion Burks WR★★★No. 809
Preston Terrell WR★★★No. 819
Jaelin Alstott-VanDeVanter OT★★★No. 937

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2021 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Receivers33.00.857
Offensive line43.00.855
Defensive line13.00.841
Linebackers33.30.863
Defensive backs23.00.851
Athletes and specialists23.00.828
Whole class153.10.852

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2022

The 2022 draft
Rd 1George Karlaftis DEKansas City Chiefs
Rd 3David Bell WRCleveland Browns
Rd 7Zander Horvath FBLos Angeles Chargers

Roster 108

The 2021 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2021 line; 65 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 8

The 2021 portal
Joseph Anderson SDE★★★from South Carolina
Octavius Brothers OLB★★★from Auburn
C.J. McWilliams CB★★★from Florida
Damarjhe Lewis DL★★★from Indiana
Dylan Downing RB★★★from UNLV
Tyler Witt OG★★★from Western Kentucky
Broc Thompson WR★★from Marshall
Christian Gelov QBfrom TCU

Transfers out 8

Amad Anderson Jr. WR★★★to Temple
Maliq Carr WR★★★★to Michigan State
Tirek Murphy RB★★★★no new school on file
Da’Joun Hewitt RB★★★no new school on file
Geovante’ Howard CB★★★to Charlotte
Kelvin Stokes DE★★★no new school on file
Steven Faucheux DL★★★to Marshall
Jared Sparks WR★★to UL Monroe

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2021 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2021 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠112–⁠23
Ohio State8–⁠111–⁠26
Michigan State7–⁠211–⁠29
Iowa7–⁠210–⁠423
Wisconsin6–⁠39–⁠4
Minnesota6–⁠39–⁠4
Purdue6–⁠39–⁠4
Penn State4–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠55–⁠7
Maryland3–⁠67–⁠6
Rutgers2–⁠75–⁠8
Northwestern1–⁠83–⁠9
Nebraska1–⁠83–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠92–⁠10

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