Purdue heads into its season opener with a favorable matchup on paper, but the Boilermakers are also carrying a heavy Friday-night burden into the game against Indiana State.
The numbers have been ugly for a while. Purdue has lost six straight Friday night games, with the last win coming in 2017 against Ohio during Jeff Brohm’s first season.
The current skid stretches back to 2019, and five of those defeats came against Big Ten opponents. The lone non-conference loss in that run was to Nevada on Aug.
30, 2019.
Barry Odom will be the one trying to change that pattern. He has coached in just one Friday night game at Purdue, a 56-3 loss to Indiana in the regular-season finale in 2025. Before him, Brohm went 1-2 in Friday games, while Ryan Walters finished 0-3.
Friday nights have never been especially kind to Purdue in the larger picture, either. The Boilermakers have played 16 Friday night games in program history and own a 5-10-1 record in those contests, a .3125 winning percentage. Their wins on that day are scattered across the program’s history: Missouri in 1904, Notre Dame in 1905, Miami in 1949 and Indiana in 1995, when Purdue rolled to a 51-14 win over the Hoosiers.
Still, the opener gives Purdue a real chance to stop the bleeding. The Boilermakers are 7-0 against Indiana State and have not had much trouble with the Sycamores in past meetings.
That said, Friday night won’t be a one-time issue this season. Purdue is also set to host Washington at Ross-Ade Stadium on Oct. 16 in a Big Ten matchup, and that one figures to be a much tougher test for Odom’s team.
Purdue’s only Friday night win against a Big Ten opponent came in that 1995 victory over Indiana, and the Boilermakers have not beaten a league foe on a Friday since. Overall, they are 1-5 against Big Ten teams on that day.
So the question is simple enough: can Purdue finally turn Friday night back into something more like a lights-on kind of night?
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 Opens Barry Odom Era With One Thing Fans Need To See
Purdue opens the Barry Odom era at Ross-Ade Stadium against Indiana State, and it is the kind of season opener that should offer a first real look at how the Boilermakers want to look under their new coach. The Sycamores arrive with Curt Mallory in his 10th season and a roster still sorting through new starters, including a defense that has had trouble holding up in pass coverage. For Purdue, the priority is straightforward: play cleanly, look organized and start building some early momentum in front of a home crowd.
There is also a familiar layer to this matchup, because Indiana State has had to lean on reshuffling pieces and getting key contributors back into the mix as it tries to stabilize. That makes the opener less about drama on paper and more about whether Purdue can impose itself the way a program introducing a new era wants to do, especially against an opponent that has spent recent years searching for answers. The test on Saturday is not just winning, but showing the kind of baseline performance fans can point to as the season unfolds. [Read more 🡒]