2012 Purdue Boilermakers football team The 2012 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented the Purdue University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Boilermakers played in the Leaders Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Ross - Ade Stadium in West Lafayette , Indiana . The team was led by head coach Danny Hope , who was in his fourth season and was fired after the end of the regular season . The season finished with a won - loss record of 6 – 7 overall , 3 – 5 in Big 10 Leaders Division , finishing in 4th place , and the team invited the 2013 Heart of Dallas Bowl , where they defeated by Oklahoma State , 14 – 58 . Preseason . In 2011 , the Boilermakers became bowl eligible in their twelfth game , and played in the 2011 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl against Western Michigan , defeating the Broncos 37 – 32 . Purdue returns fifteen out of twenty - two starters — eight on offense and seven on defense . Purdue will be forced to replace captains Offensive tackle Dennis Kelly , Linebacker Chris Carlino , as well as starters Defensive end Gerald Gooden Jr . , Linebacker Joe Holland , Safety Albert Evans , Safety Logan Link Offensive tackle Nick Mondek , Kicker Carson Wiggs and Wide receiver Justin Siller , and key contributor Fullback Jared Crank . Several players left the Purdue program in 2012 for a variety of reasons . The most significant was Running back Reggie Pegram decided to tranfer from the program following the bowl game . He ended up transferring to North Texas . Other ' s that left the program were running backs Doug Gentry and Devin Hill , kicker Ryan Ullrich and defensive tackle LaSalle Cooks . Three Boilermakers were named to preseason watchlists . Raheem Mostert was named to the preseason Jet Award watch list , an award given to the top return specialist in the NCAA . Ricardo Allen was named to the preseason Jim Thorpe Award watchlist , an award given to the top defensive back in the NCAA . and Kawann Short was named to the preseason Lombardi Award watchlist , an award given to the to lineman in the NCAA . and Allen as well as Short have both been named to the Chuck Bednarik Award , which is given to the top defensive player in the NCAA . Schedule . The schedule is as follows : Game notes . vs . Eastern Kentucky . To open the season , Purdue hosted the Eastern Kentucky Colonels . This game was be the first ever meeting between the two teams . This will be coach Danny Hope ' s first ever game against a team that he was formerly the head coach of . Following its game against Eastern Kentucky , Purdue traveled to Notre Dame , IN and faced the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame . In the previous meeting , Notre Dame won 38 – 10 . Following its game against Notre Dame , Purdue returned home to face the Eastern Michigan Eagles of the Mid - American Conference . In 1991 , their most recent meeting , Purdue won 49 – 3 . Following its game against Eastern Michigan , Purdue stayed home to face the Marshall Thundering Herd of Conference USA . This was the first ever meeting between the two schools in a football game . After its game against Marshall , Purdue hosted the visiting Michigan Wolverines to open Big Ten Conference play with an out of division game . In the previous meeting , Michigan defeated Purdue and won by a score of 36 – 14 . After its game against Michigan , Purdue hosted the Wisconsin Badgers to open up Leaders Division play . In the previous meeting , Wisconsin dominated Purdue and won by a score of 62 – 17 . After its game against Wisconsin , Purdue traveled to Columbus to take on the Ohio State Buckeyes . In the previous meeting , Purdue defeated Ohio State by a score of 26 – 23 in overtime . After its game against Ohio State , Purdue traveled to Minneapolis , Minnesota to play the Minnesota Golden Gophers . In the previous meeting , Purdue defeated Minnesota by a score of 45 – 17 . After its game against Minnesota , Purdue returned home to play the Penn State Nittany Lions . In last years meeting , Penn State defeated Purdue and won by a score of 23 – 18 . vs . Iowa . After its game against Penn State , Purdue travels to Iowa City , Iowa to play the Iowa Hawkeyes . In last years meeting , Iowa defeated Purdue by a score of 31 – 21 . After its game against Iowa , Purdue traveled to Champaign , Illinois to play the Illinois Fighting Illini . In last years meeting , Purdue defeated Illinois by a score of 21 – 14 . vs . Indiana . After its game against Illinois , Purdue returned home to play the Indiana Hoosiers in the " Battle for the Old Oaken Bucket " . In last years meeting , Purdue defeated Indiana by a score of 33 – 25 . Roster . The preliminary roster is based on the previous season ' s roster and eligibility , along with incoming recruits . All numbers are from www . purduesports . com who late updated the football roster on March 6 , 2012 .