Purdue Boilermakers 2025 College Football Preview
Posted July 28, 2025
2024 Recap
Record –1-11
ATS – 3-9
It’s hard to believe, but Purdue might have been worse than Florida St last year ****. BOILER UP won the season opener over something referred to as Indiana St and then lost the next 11 (!) games in a row. That’s good times, yo. The season was a heaping pile of hippo doo-doo but at least they gave a very good Illinois team a run for their money in a 50-49 overtime loss. On a positive note, the Ryan Walters era came to a merciful conclusion and Purdue make a good choice in hiring former UNLV/Missouri boss Barry Odom to lead the charge into the future.
**** Fact check – Probably an unnecessary cheap shot.
Purdue Boilermakers 2025 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Purdue offense was disgusting LY as they put up a mere 16 PPG (#130) and 299 YPG (#127) and they were shutout not once, not twice, but THREE times over the course of the campaign. The QB situation is interesting as LY’s backup Ryan Browne is the logical choice to take the reins but we’d love to see what former WOO PIG backup QB Malachi Singleton could do if given a chance to start. The RB room is the clear strength of the team heading into the season as they retain #1 option Devin Mockobee who’s one of the most underrated RBs in the country (team’s leading rusher 2022, 2023, 2024) and they’ve got decent options behind him on the depth chart. We don’t use the phrase PURE FILTH lightly, but it’s very appropriate when describing the outlook for the WR/TE group in 2025. Some players that offer hope are Georgia transfer WR NITRO Tuggle, USC transfer WR Charles Ross, and sophomore TE George Burhenn who FLASHED during the spring. It’s impossible to know what to expect from the offensive line but we know that they’ll have five (!) new starters and that Barry Odom and company added almost a dozen OL transfers to the roster.
DEFENSE
As bad as the offense was last season, the defense might have been worse (40 PPG, #131; 453 YPG, #124). Purdue has added almost two dozen (!) transfers to the stop unit in an effort to shore things up. The DL appears to be the teeth of the defense as they’ve added experience and size, and we’re particularly excited about the addition of DE CJ Nunnally from Akron (13 sacks L2Y) and the ability of DT Jamarrion Harkless (6-3, 340) to plug the middle. The LB lacks depth BIGLY but at least they’ve got a pair of useful specimens in UNLV transfer Mani Powell and Tennessee St transfer Sanders Ellis who was a TFL machine with the Tigers in 2024 (15.5). It’s stings to lose star safety Dillon Thieneman (Oregon) as he’s one of the best at his position in the nation so BOILER UP will be relying heavily on, you guessed it, transfers to step up and do the job. A couple of players to keep an eye on are senior CB Tony Grimes (UNLV) and safety Crew Wakley (BYU).
SPECIAL TEAMS
Barry Odom is known for having his teams BUTTONED UP when it comes to special teams and he’s got a lot of work to do in West Lafayette. Purdue finished a ghastly #117 and #131 in the Phil Steele rankings over the L2Y so we aren’t expecting miracles in 2025.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Purdue should be able to slither out of non-conference play with a record of 2-1 (have fun at Notre Dame) but the Big Ten schedule is gonna be a challenge to navigate. How about this November schedule? Michigan (A), Ohio St (H), at Washington (A), Indiana (H). Yikes.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nov 15 (at Washington)
BOILER UP will be coming off back-to-back beatings at the hands of Michigan and Ohio St and then have to make the long trip out to the communist outpost of Seattle to play a scrappy Huskies squad. This doesn’t look like an ideal situation to back the road underdog.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 28
Over 3.5 +180
Under 3.5 -230
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Under
The price is tough to swallow but if you like that kind of SWEET ACTION it’s really hard to find four wins on that schedule, even after considering they’ll start 2-0.
Note – Our official list of season win total investments will be posted in the blog section of the website.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Purdue’s only appearance in the Big Ten Championship game came back in 2022 when they were pasted by Michigan (L 43-22).
Head coach Barry Odom was 20-13 ATS (61%) as a home favorite during his time with Missouri and UNLV. DEGENERATE NATION, be advised.
THE SPOILERMAKERS have the most wins (9) of any program over AP ranked #1 or #2 teams. The last time they turned the trick was back in 2021 when they drilled #2 Iowa on the road (W 24-7).
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
It’ll be a long and winding road for the Boilermakers to get back into the Big Ten mix but HC Barry Odom knows what it takes to build a winning program. The overall talent level on this year’s squad is sketchy but with so many new faces on board it’s likely that a small handful of transfers will work out. The schedule is kind early in the season (Ball St, Southern Illinois), they’ve got a few winnable games in October, and then comes the NOVEMBER NIGHTMARE as noted above. Hopefully Purdue can show some GREEN SHOOTS of growth and give fans hope for 2025.
BOILER UP!