Notre Dame 2025 Opponent Overview: Purdue Boilermakers

HEAD COACH - Barry Odom

Overall Record: 45-33 (7th season) 

Barry Odom accepted the Boilermaker's head coaching position on December 9, 2024. He is coming from UNLV where he had an extremely successful two seasons. Prior to his time with the Rebels, he was at Missouri for four years and had a combined record of 25-25. In his first year with UNLV in 2023 he went 9-5, a big turnaround from their 5-7 season in 2022. Odom's second year with the program came with a big step forward as they went 11-3 and finished the year 6-1 in conference play and finished the season ranked No. 24 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. That success landed him the Purdue job, with the expectation of coming in and turning around a struggling Big Ten program. 

PURDUE OFFENSE

Offensive Coordinator: Josh Henson (1st season) 

Starters Lost: QB Hudson Card, WR CJ Smith, WR Jahmal Edrine, WR Jaron Tibbs, TE Max Klare, LT Corey Stewart, LG Mahamane Moussa, C Gus Hartwig, RG DJ Wingfield, RT Marcus Mbow

Starters Returning: RB Devin Mockobee

Turnover management was the name of the game for Purdue's offseason. They lost 10 of their 11 starters on offense with the lone returning being running back Devin Mockobee, one of the most decorated running backs in Boilermaker history. Purdue had 16 players total leave their offense via the transfer portal while other players like center Gus Hartwig departing due to being out of eligibility. However, they have added 13 players via the transfer portal on offense to help offset the attrition. 

Josh Henson, first year offensive coordinator will have his work cut out for him. He will be handed the reigns of an offense that lost it's starting quarterback, entire arsenal of pass catchers, and their entire offensive line. Henson was the offensive coordinator at USC from 2022-2024 before accepting the position at Purdue. He's coached all throughout college football in his 26 years of coaching. He's made stops at Oklahoma State, LSU, Missouri, Texas A&M, USC, and now West Lafayette. He will also take on the role as tight ends coach, which is fitting as they lose their top receiving target from 2024 in tight end Max Klare who had 51 rec., 685 yards, and four receiving touchdowns. De'Nylon Morrissette is the only returning wide receiver from the 2024 roster for the Boilermakers who had meaningful production. 

They're bringing in three quarterbacks via the transfer portal with the most experienced being Malachi Singleton a transfer from Arkansas. As a true freshman with the Razorbacks, he appeared in five games, racked up 358 passing yards, 71 rushing yards, one passing touchdown and three rushing touchdowns. They also added a handful of wide receivers with the most proven being Isaiah Myers from Charlotte. He appeared in seven games in 2024 and tallied 13 rec., 237 yards, 18.2 YPC, and three touchdowns. They only took three transfer portal offensive lineman, two guards and a tackle, so it looks like they will be going with a mixture of young talent and portal additions to fill out the trenches for 2025. 

PURDUE DEFENSE

Defensive Coordinator: Mike Scherer

Starters Lost: DE Joe Anderson, NT Cole Brevard, DE Jeffrey M'Ba, LB Will Heldt, LB Yanni Karlaftis, LB Kedran Jenkins, LB Jireh Ojata, CB Botros Alisandro, CB Kyndrich Breedlove, SS Antonio Stevens, FS Dillon Thieneman

Starters Returning: NB Smiley Bradford

Identical to the offensive side of the ball, Purdue only returns one starter from the 2024 team, nickelback Smiley Bradford. All other players either graduated or entered the transfer portal. Big names like Dillon Thieneman, who committed to Oregon, Cole Brevard, who committed to Texas, and Will Heldt, who committed to Clemson, will leave holes for first year defensive coordinator Mike Scherer to fill. Coach Scherer followed Odom to Purdue from UNLV where he was his defensive coordinator for both years in Las Vegas. 

Scherer's defense was very disruptive between 2023 and 2024. They forced a total of 50 turnovers including 34 interceptions during his tenure with the Rebels, something that would be a change of pace for the Boilermakers who ranked No. 133 in the country in 2024 with a total of five turnovers gained, four of them being interceptions. With a completely new look defense outside of Bradford, Coach Scherer will be relying on 12 transfer additions on defense as well as the incoming freshman class made up of eight defensive players to fill out this side of the ball. Hudson Miller who was not a starter but was a key rotational piece also remained in West Lafayette for 2025. He finished the year sixth on the team in tackles and will be a key piece for this upcoming season. 

Now, opposite of the offensive side of the ball, the Boilermakers added a lot of proven production via the transfer portal on defense. Linebacker Mani Powell and defensive back Tony Grimes followed Scherer from UNLV to West Lafayette, both were starters on the Rebels defense. The addition of CJ Nunnally IV from Akron was a big pick up for the defensive line. In 2024, he tallied 56 total tackles, six sacks, and two forced fumbles for the Zips. Purdue also picked up commitments from a pair of Arkansas linebackers, a corner from Boston College, Ryan Turner, who recorded an interception in 2024, and a safety from TCU to the class. 

RETURNING PRODUCTION

Rushing: RB Devin Mockobee - 138 att., 687 yards, 5.0 YPC, 4 TD; RB Transfer Malachi Thomas (UVA) - 43 att., 165 yards, 3.8 YPC, 1 TD; QB Transfer Malachi Singleton (Arkansas) - 17 att., 71 yards, 3 TD

Passing: QB Transfer Malachi Singleton (Arkansas) - 21-28, 75%, 358 yards, 12.8 YPA, 1 TD; QB Transfer EJ Colson (UCF) - 9-16, 56.3%, 64 yards, 4.0 YPA, 1 TD, 1 INT

Receiving: WR De'Nylon Morrissette - 11 rec., 106 yards, 9.6 YPC, 2 TD; WR Transfer Isaiah Myers (Charlotte) - 13 rec., 237 yards, 18.2 YPC, 3 TD; WR Transfer EJ Horton (FAU) - 10 rec., 201 yards, 20.1 YPC, 1 TD; WR Transfer Chauncey Magwood (UCF) - 5 rec., 102 yards, 20.4 YPC

Tackles: LB Transfer Mani Powell (UNLV) - 58; DL Transfer CJ Nunnally IV (Akron) - 56; S Transfer Crew Wakley (BYU) - 44; LB Hudson Miller - 42; 

Tackles For Loss: DL Transfer CJ Nunnally IV (Akron) - 11.0; LB Transfer Mani Powell (UNLV) - 9.0; LB Hudson Miller - 1.0

Interceptions: S Transfer Crew Wakley - 2; CB Transfer Ryan Turner (Boston College) - 1