# 1997 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1997 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Joe Tiller, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 9–3 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing in a three-way tie in the Big Ten. Purdue had its best season since 1980. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 6 | 6:00 pm | at Toledo* | | Glass BowlToledo, OH | | L 22–36 | 27,700 |
| September 13 | 2:30 pm | No. 12 Notre Dame* | | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN (rivalry) | ABC | W 28–17 | 68,789 |
| September 20 | 1:00 pm | Ball State* | | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 28–14 | 45,947 |
| September 27 | 11:30 am | Northwestern | | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ESPN | W 21–9 | 42,112 |
| October 11 | 6:00 pm | at Minnesota | | Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeMinneapolis, MN | ESPN Plus | W 59–43 | 37,821 |
| October 18 | 1:00 pm | No. 24 Wisconsin | | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | | W 45–20 | 54,252 |
| October 25 | 1:00 pm | at Illinois | No. 22 | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (rivalry) | | W 48–3 | 45,122 |
| November 1 | 12:30 pm | at No. 15 Iowa | No. 18 | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA | ESPN2 | L 17–35 | 70,397 |
| November 8 | 12:30 pm | Michigan State | No. 23 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ESPN2 | W 22–21 | 55,539 |
| November 15 | 12:00 pm | No. 6 Penn State | No. 19 | Ross–Ade StadiumWest Lafayette, IN | ESPN | L 17–42 | 52,156 |
| November 22 | 1:00 pm | at Indiana | No. 23 | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket) | | W 56–7 | 46,599 |
| December 30 | 8:00 pm | No. 24 Oklahoma State* | No. 17 | AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl) | ESPN | W 33–20 | 55,552 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time ||||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AP | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 22 | 18 | 23 | 19т | 23 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 15 |
| Coaches | — | | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 23 | 18 | 24 | 20 | 25 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 |

## Personnel
### Coaching staff

* Head coach: Joe Tiller
* Assistants: Tim Burke, Jim Chaney, Scott Downing, Gary Emanuel, Danny Hope, Larry Korpitz, Tim Lappano, Randy Melvin, Greg Olson, Brock Spack

### Starters

* Offense: WR Brian Alford, WR Gabe Cox, LT Mark Fischer, WR F Chesti, LG Brian Nicely, C Jim Niedrach, RG Chukky Okobi, RT Dan Maly, TE Jon Blackman, WR Isaac Jones, QB Billy Dicken, RB Edwin Watson, K Shane Ryan
* Defense: LE Chukie Nwokorie, LT Leo Perez, RT Greg Smith, RE Rosevelt Colvin, WLB Willie Burroughs, MLB Willie Fells, SLB Mike Rose, LCB Michael Hawthorne, FS Adrian Beasley, SS Lee Brush, RCB Lamar Conrad, P Brandon Kaser

## Game summaries
### Toledo

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 7 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 22 |
| • Toledo | 21 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 36 |
Joe Tiller's first game as Purdue head coach

### Notre Dame

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Notre Dame | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| • Purdue | 7 | 7 | 0 | 14 | 28 |
In Joe Tiller's first home game, Purdue snapped an 11-game losing streak to Notre Dame as fans tore down the goalposts after the victory. Edwin Watson, who had two touchdown runs, had said earlier in the week that former head coach and new Irish offensive coordinator Jim Colletto "was used to losing here (Purdue), so it would be nothing new for him."

### Ball State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Ball State | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Purdue | 3 | 10 | 15 | 0 | 28 |

### Northwestern

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Northwestern | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| • Purdue | 7 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 21 |
* Kendall Matthews 29 rushes, 152 yards

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 17 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 59 |
| Minnesota | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15 | 43 |
* Purdue's first win in Minneapolis since 1983.

### Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wisconsin | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| • Purdue | 21 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 45 |
With the win over Wisconsin, Purdue is off to its best start since 1978 and produced their first five-game winning streak since 1980.

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 14 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 48 |
| Illinois | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
* Kendall Matthews 16 rushes, 177 yards

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Purdue | 10 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| • Iowa | 0 | 14 | 21 | 0 | 35 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Michigan State | 7 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 21 |
| • Purdue | 0 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 22 |
* Edwin Watson 24 rushes, 115 yards

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Penn State | 0 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| Purdue | 0 | 9 | 0 | 8 | 17 |
* Edwin Watson 19 rushes, 133 yards

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 | 56 |
| Indiana | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
* Edwin Watson 18 rushes, 163 yards

### Oklahoma State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Purdue | 7 | 3 | 20 | 3 | 33 |
| Oklahoma State | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 20 |

## Awards

* All-Americans: Brian Alford (Football News)
* All-Big Ten: Brian Alford (1st), Rosevelt Colvin (2nd), Billy Dicken (1st)