2011 Purdue Boilermakers football team The 2011 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season . Under third - year head coach Danny Hope , Purdue compiled a record of 7 – 6 and finished in third place in the newly - formed Leaders Division of the Big Ten Conference . They played their home games at Ross – Ade Stadium in West Lafayette , Indiana and are members of the Big Ten Conference . Highlights of Purdue ' s 2011 season included a 21 – 14 victory over # 21 Illinois , a 26 – 23 overtime victory over Ohio State , and the first bowl game since 2007 . Purdue ' s season ended with a 37 – 32 victory against Western Michigan in the 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl . The Special teams unit for the 2011 season was a key factor in many of the Boilermakers games as they averaged a school - record 28 . 7 yards per kick - off return . The team title was the first since the 1954 Boilermakers led the NCAA in any yardage category for an entire season , and is merely the third team title in school history ( also passing defense in 1941 ) . True freshman Raheem Mostert was a key contributor , as he averaged 33 . 5 yards a return , capped off with a 99 - yard touchdown return in the bowl game . He finished the season with seven returns of 39 or more yards , including an 81 - yarder at Indiana and a 74 - yarder at Wisconsin . Against the Badgers , he racked up 206 yards on five kickoff returns to break 42 - year old school records for total yardage and average yards per return . Before the season . The Boilermakers are looking to improve on a 4 – 8 record ( 2 – 6 in conference play ) in 2010 , in which they finished 9th in the Big Ten conference . The offense will be aided by the return of junior running back , Ralph Bolden , who is returning from a torn ACL but lead the team in rushing yards back in 2009 . Their running back depth will be tested , as the running back with the most amount of yards who was still had elgibility remaining , Al - Terek McBurse transferred out of Purdue . Rob Henry was named the starting quarterback in the preseason , but tore his ACL on August 23 , and will miss the entire 2011 season . The quarterback play will be split between Robert Marve and Caleb TerBush . The receiving core returns its 2010 leader in touchdowns , Antavian Edison , as well as O . J . Ross who saw significant playing time during the 2010 season as a true freshman . On the defense the departure of Ryan Kerrigan , who was selected in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft , will be a tough hole to fill , but will be aided by the return of Kawann Short , the team ' s top returning sack man . The linebacking group returns all three starters from a season ago , which includes 2 of the teams top 3 tacklers in 2010 , Dwayne Beckford and Joe Holland . The secondary also returns all its starters , lead by 2010 leading tackler , Logan Link and Ricardo Allen . The Boilermakers are looking to return to a bowl game for the first time since 2007 . Game notes . Middle Tennessee State . In the opening game of the season , Purdue hosted the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders . It was the first time that the two universities have played each other in football . There was a great bit of uncertainty going into the game as Purdue was going into their first game without starting quarterback , and captain , Rob Henry , and backup quarterback Robert Marve was still not healthy from an ACL injury . This led to redshirt junor , Caleb TerBush making the first start of his career . TerBush had not played since 2009 when he was the backup to Joey Elliott , and he missed the 2010 season with academic problems . The Blue Raiders got off to an early lead when Logan Kilgore found Malcolm Beyah for a 26 - yard touchdown pass . Carson Wiggs added a field goal as Purdue ' s response score to make it 7 – 3 at the end of the 1st quarter . Purdue grabbed its first lead of the game when Caleb TerBush ' s rollout pass found Jared Crank for a 2 - yard score . The touchdown pass was the first of TerBush ' s career . The Blue Raiders responded two possessions later , as Logan Kilgore ' s wide receiver screen pass to Sancho McDonald was taken 21 - yards for a score after McDonald was able to dodge a defender . The first half ended with the Boilermakers trailing 14 – 10 . After no one scored in the 3rd quarter , Middle Tennessee St . , opened up the 2nd half scoring with a 42 - yard field goal by Alan Gendreau . Purdue responded with a 30 - yard touchdown run by Akeem Shavers to tie the game at 17 . The Blue Raiders responded quickly as they capped a 60 - yard drive , with a 2 - yard draw run by Benny Cunningham to reclaim the lead . Purdue was able to get another field goal as Carson Wiggs connected on a 47 - yarder to make it 24 – 20 with 5 : 57 remaining in the game . The Boilermaker defense was able to force a punt , which allowed Purdue to get the ball back with 3 : 53 left in the game . TerBush lead the Boilers down the field and eventually found Antavian Edison with a 35 - yard crossing route to give Purdue the lead , 27 – 24 with 49 seconds remaining . The Blue Raiders drove the ball down to the Purdue 30 yard line , and took a shot with a deep pass . Kilgore ' s pass hit off the fingertips of Beyah and fell harmlessly out of bounds with 5 seconds remaining . The Blue Raiders then decided to go for the tie , but Gendreau ' s 47 - yard attempt was blocked by Ricardo Allen as time expired . Rice . The Owls started the scoring in the first quarter with a 33 - yard field goal by Chris Boswell . Purdue responded with an 80 yard drive , capped off with a 5 - yard Caleb TerBush run , to give Purdue the lead . Rice responded with a 2 - yard touchdown run by Turner Petersen to start the second quarter scoring . Carson Wiggs added a 28 - yard field goal to make the score even at 10 . After a quick 3 and out by Rice , Purdue scored on a 19 - yard reception by Crosby Wright to regain the lead . Rice then scored on a 4 - yard touchdown pass by Taylor McHargue to Luke Willson as time expired to tie the game at 17 . Rice received the ball to start the 2nd half , and scored on a 19 - yard run by Sam McGuffie to finished off an 11 play , 80 yard drive , and gave the Owls ' their first lead since the 1st quarter . Later in the quarter , Purdue had driven down to the Rice 1 - yardline , but could not get the ball in the endzone and turn it over on downs . The first play after Rice took over , Purdue tackled Charles Ross in the endzone for a safety to make the score 24 – 19 in favor of Rice . Wiggs added a 27 - yard field goal with 7 : 56 remaining in the game . Purdue ' s defense remained strong on the next 2 drives , forcing Rice to punt each time . The Boilermakers got the ball on their own 48 with 1 : 52 remaining , and three long runs by Ralph Bolden moved them inside the 20 . With 31 seconds remaining , Purdue ran Akeem Shavers to center the ball in the middle of the field . This setup a 4 & 10 on the Rice 14 yard line . Without a timeout remaining , Purdue was able to run out the special teams unit and get set without any of the players being rushed . Rice ' s Justin Allen then blocked Wiggs ' 31 - yard field - goal attempt as time expired , to clinch a 24 – 22 victory over Purdue . SE Missouri St . . In the first ever meeting between the Redhawks and the Boilermakers , the Boilermakers did not have much trouble as they were able to defeat the Redhawks 59 – 0 . The Purdue offense came out with early struggles , as they punted on their first possession and lost an O . J . Ross fumble on their second . Their 3rd drive was better , as they got their scoring started with a 19 - yard Carson Wiggs field goal . After that , the Boilermakers power run game took over as Akeem Shavers scored twice in the first quarter on runs of 8 and 1 yards , Ralph Bolden scored twice in the seconds quarter on runs of 1 and 6 yards , and Akeem Hunt had two more scores on runs of 13 and 3 yards in the 4th . The team also welcomed back Robert Marve , who was returning to action for the first time since the 4th game of 2010 , when he left the game after tearing his ACL . Marve delivered a touchdown on his first drive as he threw a 5 - yard score to Gary Bush . Antavian Edison also added a 15 - yard touchdown run in the 3rd quarter , as the Purdue offense ran for 393 yards ( A Danny Hope era high ) . Michigan . Purdue scored its only points of the first half when Caleb TerBush threw a 48 - yard TD pass to Gary Bush . Michigan dominated the game following the Purdue score . The Wolverines responded to Purdue ' s touchdown with a touchdown of their own , a 2 - yard run by Denard Robinson , which was its fifth consecutive opening drive TD . In the second quarter , Michigan scored a safety when Mike Martin tackled Caleb TerBush in the end zone . A few minutes later , Michigan ' s Brendan Gibbons kicked a 37 - yard field goal . Michigan added more points with a 2 - yard TD run by Fitzgerald Toussaint . The final score of the first half was a 22 - yard Michigan field goal with no time left on the clock . After the intermission , Michigan scored the only points of the third quarter when Fitzgerald Toussaint scored his second TD of the game , this time on a 59 - yard rush . The teams traded scores in the final quarter . First Michigan ' s Michael Shaw ran in a TD from 37 yards out , which was followed by Robert Marve throwing a 19 - yard TD pass to O . J . Ross . With the win , Michigan ' s record against Purdue improved to 43 – 14 . After the season . Comments . At the conclusion of the regular season , Purdue had clinched its first bowl appearance since the 2007 season . Their 6 – 6 record ( 4 – 4 in the Big Ten ) placed them 7th in the conference and earned a spot in the 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl against Western Michigan . Awards . 2nd Team All - Big Ten ( Coaches vote ) Honorable Mention All - Big Ten ( Coaches vote ) 2nd Team All - Big Ten ( Media vote ) Honorable Mention All - Big Ten ( Media vote ) Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Honoree Source