Purdue opens its season Friday night at Ross-Ade Stadium against Indiana State, and the Boilermakers are facing a familiar in-state opponent that has been in West Lafayette three times since 2022. Both teams are trying to reset, and Purdue will be looking for the kind of clean, lopsided result that gets a season pointed the right way fast.
Indiana State comes in with Curt Mallory in his 10th year running the program. Mallory, the son of former Indiana head coach Bill Mallory, has given the Sycamores a hard-nosed identity over nearly a decade in Terre Haute, but the results have been rough. He is 27-65 at Indiana State, and 2026 is a major year for his future with the program.
The Sycamores were 3-9 last season, and the defense was a big part of the problem. They finished last in the Missouri Valley Football Conference in points allowed at 39.6 per game. That vulnerability showed up again in their opener, when Southeast Missouri quarterback Braylen Ragland threw for 274 yards while completing 26-of-36 passes.
That sets up a good early test for Ryan Browne, who should get a chance to settle in before Purdue’s Week 2 and Week 3 games against Wake Forest and UCLA. Friday night gives him a chance to find a rhythm against a defense that has already shown some cracks.
On the other side, Indiana State’s offense runs heavily through Elijah Owens. The redshirt junior is a dual-threat quarterback who rushed for 645 yards in 2024, though his season was derailed by a collarbone injury that kept him out for eight games. In his return against Southeast Missouri State, Owens passed for 288 yards, threw two touchdowns and one interception in a 23-21 loss.
He’s the name Purdue has to key on, and he’s the top player on the Boilermakers’ scouting report. That dual-threat challenge could also help Purdue’s defense as it gets ready for quarterbacks such as Gio Lopez and Nico Iamaleava in the weeks ahead.
Indiana State also showed plenty of new faces in its season opener. Eight new starters were in the lineup, including redshirt freshman Andy Hertlein on the offensive line and redshirt junior receiver BJ Wuest in a different role. The Sycamores also added transfers Prinz Guitian from Wagner, Ashton Hayes from Nevada and Tyler Nansel from Drake.
Defensively, Devin Johnson and Mason Keifer returned and moved into starting roles, while Anthony Walk Jr. came over from Wayne State to help shore up the secondary.
Purdue and Indiana State are both working through new pieces and new roles, but the bigger question Friday is how quickly the Boilermakers can put it all together. Indiana State has not beaten an FBS opponent since Sept. 19, 2014, when it upset Ball State 27-20, and under Mallory the Sycamores have been outscored 382-85 in nine games against FBS teams. Two of those came against Purdue, and Indiana State was shut out 105-0 in those meetings.
The series still belongs entirely to Purdue, which is 7-0 all-time against the Sycamores. Another commanding win would do exactly what the Boilermakers want: get the season moving in the right direction.
In Other News...
Purdue Volleyball Already Looks Ready For A Bigger Early Test
The early season already has given Purdue volleyball a useful measuring stick, and the Boilermakers passed it with plenty to spare. They swept Texas A&M and then outlasted Georgia in five sets during the Big Ten-SEC Volleyball Challenge, a sturdy start that showed why this group entered the year with real expectations. Dave Shondell also reached a school-record 514 wins, moving him atop the Purdue record book, while Mimi Mambu, Addy Tindall, Ryan McAleer and Taylor Anderson all had a hand in getting the results across the line.
What makes the weekend more interesting is that Purdue did not just win cleanly once and fade the next day. It handled one opponent in straight sets, then found a way in a longer, more demanding match that asked for different answers at different moments. Addy Tindall was a major source of offense across the two wins, and Taylor Anderson was involved in the decisive finish against Georgia, signs that Purdue already has multiple ways to settle tight points as the schedule starts to sharpen. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Odoms First Purdue Test Is About More Than The Score
Barry Odoms first game at Purdue arrives with the kind of backdrop that rarely feels simple, even when the opponent suggests it should be. The Boilermakers open against Indiana State, and the discussion around the matchup has centered as much on what the score should look like as on what the new coach is trying to establish in his first real turn at the controls.
There is plenty of confidence around Purdue handling the game, but the opener is also being treated as an early reading on something bigger than one Saturday afternoon. Beyond the Xs and Os, the more interesting question hanging over the program is whether Odom has the kind of backing needed to build something lasting in West Lafayette, and how quickly that support will become visible. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Got The Wake-Up Call It Needed In A Sloppy Escape
Purdue got the kind of test that can sharpen a team in a hurry, even if it did not always look clean along the way. The Boilermakers battled Georgia in a five-set volleyball match and came away with a win that moved them to 2-1 on the season and kept them unbeaten in the Big Ten-SEC Challenge at 2-0. The match was tight throughout, with Purdue edging the first set and then having to keep finding answers as the rallies got longer and the pressure kept building.
McAleer helped steady things in the back row with 27 digs and nine assists, while Heaney supplied 15 kills and 16 digs in a performance that gave Purdue a needed lift on both sides of the ball. For a team still trying to settle in early, a sloppy escape like this can be more useful than a comfortable sweep, especially when the margin for error keeps shrinking against a good opponent. [Read more 🡒]