Purdue University The Purdue Boilermakers football team is the intercollegiate football program of the Purdue University Boilermakers . The program is classified in the NCAA ' s Division I Bowl Subdivision , and the team competes in the Big Ten Conference . The Boilermakers have an all - time record of 571 - 487 - 48 . Stadium . The Boilermakers have called Ross - Ade Stadium home since 1924 . It replaced Stuart Field , which was home to the Boilermakers since 1892 . It is named for David E . Ross and George Ade , the principal benefactors . Ross – Ade Stadium opened on November 22 , 1924 with a seating capacity of 13 , 500 and standing room for an additional 5 , 000 people . A series of additions and renovations pushed the seating capacity to almost 68 , 000 ( 70 , 000 with standing room ) . In 2001 Purdue University began a $ 70 million renovation , which led to a reduced seating capacity of 62 , 500 . Culture . Marching band . The Purdue All - American Marching Band is the marching band of Purdue University . The Purdue " All - American " Marching Band ( AAMB ) is the primary source of auxiliary entertainment for Purdue University football games . AAMB does many service performances for high schools , junior high schools , and elementary schools , and has been the host band of the Indianapolis 500 race every year the race has been held since 1927 . The band has grown from an original 5 members to 373 members , making it one of the largest marching bands in the world . The two most distinctive features of the AAMB are the World ' s Largest Drum and solo baton twirler the Purdue Golden Girl . In 1886 the Purdue Student Army Training Corps produced 5 men who provided music for the Army trainees to listen to during their morning conditioning runs . While operating without a director until 1904 , the band had started playing at Purdue football games and had grown to over 50 members . In 1904 , Paul Spotts Emrick , joined the band . His experience as a conductor resulted in his election as band president and director the next year . During his senior year at Purdue , the marching band , under Emrick , became the first band to break ranks and form a letter on the field — the famous Block " P " . Emrick stayed on as director after his graduation in 1908 . In 1921 Emrick commissioned Leedy to construct the World ' s Largest Drum , and it has been a part of the marching band ever since . In 1935 , during a Purdue football game at Northwestern University the band donned lights on their uniforms while performing at halftime . With the stadium lights turned off for the performance , the band drew such awe from radio broadcaster Ted Husing , he referred to them as a " truly All - American marching band , " hence the current title of the band . Mascot . Boilermaker Special . The Boilermaker Special is the official mascot of Purdue University in West Lafayette , Indiana . It resembles a Victorian - era railroad locomotive and is built on a truck chassis . It is operated and maintained by the student members of the Purdue Reamer Club . Purdue University is a land - grant university ( or Agricultural and Mechanical ( A & M ) university ) created through the Morrill Act of 1862 . In the 1890s , Purdue became a leader in the research of railway technology . For many years Purdue operated the " Schenectady No . 1 " , and later the " Schenectady No . 2 " , on a dynamometer in an engineering laboratory on the West Lafayette campus . These were 4 - 4 - 0 type steam locomotives manufactured by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . The Schenectady was a classic Victorian - era design similar in construction to the Western and Atlantic Railroad No . 3 ( see The General ( locomotive ) on display at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History ) . Purdue even operated its own railroad to connect the campus to a main rail line . In the 1930s the dynamometer was decommissioned and the Schenectady No . 2 was retired as the railroad industry in the United States converted from steam to diesel - electric locomotives . Purdue did not have a mascot . In 1939 , Purdue student Israel Selkowitz suggested the school adopt an official mascot to represent Purdue ' s engineering heritage . He originally proposed a " mechanical man " . After much debate , it was decided to build a locomotive on an automobile chassis . This choice allowed the mascot to build on Purdue ' s engineering and railroading heritage , as well as represent the school ' s nickname " Boilermakers " in a meaningful way . The " Boilermaker " nickname came about during the early years of Purdue football . There had been rumors the university enrolled burly boilermakers from the Monon Railroad shops in Lafayette , Indiana as students / football players to help beef up the scrawny football team . When a railroad operated an extra train independent of the scheduled timetable , it was known as a " special " . Thus , the trains which carried Purdue ' s sporting teams and their fans to other cities for athletic contests were known as " Boilermaker Specials " . It was a perfect match . Financial and moral support for the first Boilermaker Special was provided by key members of the Purdue University graduating class of 1907 , and members of the Purdue Reamer Club from the graduating classes of 1940 and 1941 . Purdue Pete . Purdue Pete was first designed as a logo by the University Bookstore in 1940 . They would put it on their products and portray him dressed up in different clothes for the different majors . He got the Purdue part of his name from Purdue University . The owners of the bookstores gave him the name “ Pete ” , yet no one officially knows why this was chosen to be his name . He was given a physical identity in 1956 as he came out and helped the students cheer at a pep rally . Over the years , the appearance of Purdue Pete has gone under several drastic changes as well as several minor changes . His original head was made of paper - mâché , pasted onto a chicken wire frame . This was very inconvenient for the person who would be underneath because it would limit his movements , yet he was still expected to move around and do stunts . This head was changed to a giant fiberglass head where the person inside would use a harness to support it . This was unpractical due to the sheer size of it . In the 1980s , Purdue Pete acquired the appearance he is now associated with . Proposals to switch to a soft - sculpture costume were rejected in 2006 and 2011 . Rivalries . Purdue ' s major rival has always been Indiana University , with whom they play for the Old Oaken Bucket , but during the Joe Tiller era the rivalry with Notre Dame in football has become the most heated and most competitive with Joe Tiller led teams going 5 - 7 vs . Notre Dame . Danny Hope picked up the Purdue - Notre Dame rivalry with a 24 - 21 loss in his first season as head coach . In addition , Purdue has a long - standing rivalry with Illinois , with whom they play for the Purdue Cannon trophy . Due to having an odd number of teams from 1993 to 2010 , the Big Ten utilized a rotating system of conference games . Every school was designated two official rivals , whom they played every year . The official rivals for Purdue were Indiana and Northwestern . However , after the expansion of the Big Ten to 12 schools , Purdue and Northwestern were placed into separate conference divisions and will no longer play each other on an annual basis . Beginning in 2011 , Purdue ' s new designated cross - division rival will be Iowa . This matchup has been mocked by fans of both teams . The other cross - divisional rivalries set up by the Big Ten had some history or a trophy behind the pairing , but Purdue and Iowa were left over . The fans of Iowa and Purdue have taken this in stride and both now refer to each other , jokingly , as " OMHR " ( " Our Most Hated Rival " ) , or " The Rivalry Jim Delany Forced On Us . " Logos and uniforms . Purdue ' s colors are Old Gold and Black , as are their uniforms . Home uniforms are black with white numerals and old gold outline . On the sleeve is the player ' s number in white , outlined in old gold , along with two outer old gold stripes and a black one inside at the end of the sleeve . The pants are old gold with two black stripes along both sides . The away uniform is white with black numerals and old gold outline . Both home and away jerseys sport the Purdue slant " P " logo in the center front of the collar , surrounded by a patch of black fabric . The away pants are black with two old gold stripes . Since the arrival of Joe Tiller in 1997 , Purdue players have not worn names on the backs of their jerseys . This is the first year under Danny Hope that the players will wear their names on the backs of their jerseys . The helmet is old gold with the Purdue " P " in black with a white outline on both sides . There are three stripes down the middle ; two outer black ones , and one thick inner white one . The facemask is black . Before Tiller , the team wore uniforms that sported the school ' s name across the front of the jersey , and the old gold color was more pronounced , with almost a copper hue . In Tiller ' s first season , the helmet color was lightened substantially , as was the gold used on the rest of the uniform . Purdue ' s Pride sticker ( given out for good performances ) was the Purdue logo ( locomotive ) . This was changed in 2006 to a sledgehammer with the slant " P " in the hammer ' s head ( like the one wielded by mascot Purdue Pete ) . In the 2006 game against the Indiana State Sycamores , Purdue wore a throwback uniform from 1966 , in honor of the 40th anniversary of the school ' s first Rose Bowl team . It featured a white jersey with two outer black stripes on the shoulder and one inner gold stripe . The numerals were black with no outline . They wore gold pants with two black stripes on the sides , and the helmets were old gold with black numbers and one black stripe down the middle . The gold in the throwback uniforms was more yellow in hue than that in the regular 1997 – present uniforms . In 2002 , Purdue changed from its black home jersey to an old gold jersey . The old gold uniforms had white numerals and black outline for home games , and white uniforms with old gold numbers and back outline for away games . Some complained that the numerals on the jersey were too hard to see , so in 2003 they changed to an old gold jersey with black numerals outlined in white , and white pants with two black stripes down the sides . After losing their opening game at home to Bowling Green , Tiller and the team decided to dump the gold jerseys and go back to the black uniforms . After they changed back to the black uniforms , the team came out to Back in Black by AC / DC for every home game in 2003 . Since then , Purdue has stayed with the black uniforms . In one game against Wisconsin in 2006 , the Boilermakers wore the black jersey with black pants . They hadn ' t sported an all - black look at home since the last game of the season in 1996 against Indiana . In 2009 , Purdue also wore the Black on Black in a night game against Notre Dame on the Purdue Blackout , and then wore them for the remainder of their home games . In 2010 , the Black on Black remained the normal home uniform with the exception being the Homecoming game against Minnesota where the team donned Throwback Uniforms for the 2001 Rose Bowl team . While the original jerseys were made by Champion , the replicas were Nike branded . " Spoilermakers " . Purdue has knocked off the # 1 ranked football team in college football seven times over the years — the third most of all the Division I teams in college football . Only Notre Dame and Oklahoma have accomplished this more times . Purdue has had twelve Heisman Trophy finalists , an award given to the best player in college football .