Purdue Football Opens as the Underdog in Upcoming Road Matchup Against Illinois
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue football heads into its upcoming road matchup with Illinois following two straight losses, one before and one after its bye week. Both teams are looking for a victory in the race toward the top of the Big Ten West.
The two programs are scheduled to kick off at noon ET at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill. It will be the 98th meeting between both teams, with the Boilermakers owning a 46-45-6 advantage. They have won the last two games against the Fighting Illini, including a 13-9 win last season.
Saturday's game will also be the 71st edition with the Cannon Trophy at stake, and Purdue has a 38-30-2 record in Cannon Trophy matchups.
Illinois is coming off a 23-15 loss at home against Michigan State, dropping to 7-2 on the season and 5-2 in Big Ten play. Entering the matchup, Purdue is a 6.5-point underdog, according to SISportsbook.com. The over/under is 46.5 points as of Monday morning.
"It's time to get back to work," Purdue coach Jeff Brohm said. "Obviously, there's a lot of things to work on. We understand that. When you're faced with challenges, we got to respond. So our team needs to respond and we've got a lot of work to do against a really good opponent who's playing at a really high level. They've beaten the last two teams that beat us, both Iowa and Wisconsin."
Before this past weekend, Illinois' only previous loss came during the second week of the 2022 season, falling to Indiana on the road 23-20. The Fighting Illini turned the defeat into six straight wins that propelled them into the national rankings.
Illinois ranks first among all Football Bowl Subdivision programs in both scoring and total defense. The stingy unit is allowing just 10.4 points and 232.2 yards per game entering the matchup, while the offense is led by junior running back Chase Brown, who leads the Big Ten with 1,344 yards rushing to go along with five touchdowns on the ground.
"He's one of the best in the country," Brohm said of Brown. "Their offensive line is big and physical. They've done a good job running the football, and that's kind of their strength. No. 1 in the country in defense, a really sound running game and just been efficient enough in the passing game, with a couple of good speed receivers. That's why they're playing well."
A win for Purdue would move the team into a tie atop the Big Ten West standings while simultaneously earning bowl eligibility for the fourth time in six seasons under Brohm. The Boilermakers have won the last five games at Memorial Stadium and are 2-1 in conference road games so far this season.
"Going to their place is always going to be difficult," Brohm said. "So we got our hands full. Our guys understand that. That's life in our conference, and we have to dig deep and work hard to improve and not feel sorry for ourselves. We got to dig ourselves out of a hole and work hard to get better."
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