It's Been How Long Since Purdue Football's Last 3-0 Start?
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Purdue is off to a strong start to the 2025 college football season, opening with wins over Ball State (31-0) and Southern Illinois (34-17). This weekend, the Boilermakers are looking to improve to 3-0 on the year, but the challenge is much tougher, facing off against Big Ten foe USC (3:30 p.m. ET, CBS).
With last week's win over SIU, Purdue secured its first 2-0 start since 2021. So, that got me wondering, when is the last time the Boilermakers started a season 3-0? It's been a while.
Purdue last opened a season 3-0 in 2007, Joe Tiller's second-to-last year in West Lafayette. That season, the Boilermakers posted wins over Toledo, Eastern Illinois, and Central Michigan.
Tiller's team actually began that year 5-0, getting wins over Minnesota and Notre Dame in the next two games. The Boilers suffered their first loss on Oct. 6, falling 23-7 to Ohio State.
That 2007 squad ended the year with an 8-5 record, defeating Central Michigan in the Motor City Bowl.
It's been nearly two decades since Purdue last started a season with a 3-0 record. Can the Boilers end that ugly drought with an upset win over USC on Saturday?
Who was the last Purdue coach to start 3-0?
With last week's win over Southern Illinois, Barry Odom became the first coach at Purdue to start his career with a 2-0 record since Cleo O'Donnell, who accomplished the feat in 1916. Who was the last Purdue coach to start 3-0?
That was Albert Herrnstein, who actually started 4-0 in 1905. Purdue posted wins over Wendell Phillips High School, Beloit College, Wabash College, and Illinois to start that year. Purdue then tied Indiana to end the winning streak.
Herrnstein coached at Purdue for just one season, finishing with a 6-1-1 record. He then coached at Ohio State from 1906-09, posting a 28-10-1 record.
Odom could join some elite company with a win over USC.
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Dustin Schutte is the publisher of Purdue Boilermakers on SI and has spent more than a decade working in sports journalism. His career began in 2013, when he covered Big Ten football. He remained in that role for eight years before working at On SI to cover the Boilermakers. Dustin graduated from Manchester University in Indiana in 2010, where he played for the men's tennis team.
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