Jacobo Echeverria Lozano keeps giving Purdue a steady answer when drives stall, and on Saturday that reliability earned him a Big Ten award.
After connecting on three field goals in Purdue’s 24-17 win over Illinois in Champaign, the true freshman was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week. It’s the first time a Boilermaker has picked up the honor since Sept. 8, 2025, when former Purdue kicker Spencer Porath was recognized.
Echeverria Lozano was right in the middle of Purdue’s early scoring. The Boilermakers moved the ball on their first two possessions, but both trips ended inside the red zone.
Purdue turned to its kicker, and he delivered from 30 yards and 34 yards to help build a 13-7 halftime lead. He also added his lone PAT attempt.
The freshman wasn’t done there. On Purdue’s first drive of the second half, a 13-play, 74-yard march that ended at the Illinois 15-yard line, Echeverria Lozano drilled a 33-yard kick to push the Boilermakers in front by two scores.
By the end of the game, he had accounted for 10 of Purdue’s 24 points.
Echeverria Lozano won the kicking job in fall camp after beating out Seth Turner, who remains the team’s kickoff specialist. Through five games, the freshman has been as dependable as Purdue could have hoped, missing just one field goal and making all 15 of his PAT attempts.
For the season, he is 11-for-12 on field goals. He has been perfect from 20-29 yards and from 30-39 yards, going 5-for-5 in each range.
From 40-49 yards, he is 1-for-2, with a long of 47 yards. His only miss came on a 49-yard attempt against Wake Forest.
Purdue would like more touchdowns, especially with Big Ten play now in full swing, but having a kicker this consistent has already become a real weapon.
The Boilermakers are back on the field Saturday, Oct. 10, against Minnesota. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network.
In Other News...
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Mackey Arena keeps showing up in the kind of conversations Purdue fans already know it belongs in. During Big East Media Days, several current players and coaches pointed to the Boilermakers home floor as one of the toughest places to play in college basketball, a nod to the atmosphere that has made West Lafayette such a difficult trip for visiting teams.
The buzz comes with the practical proof to match it. Purdue has sold out its last 105 home games, and tickets for the 2026-27 season are already nearly all gone, a sign that the demand around the program is not easing anytime soon. That next season will open with a road game at Gonzaga before the Boilermakers return home for a matchup with Valparaiso, another chance for Mackey to remind the country why it gets mentioned so often. [Read more 🡒]
Purdue Women Just Took Another Brutal Preseason Roster Hit
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The timing makes the blow especially difficult for a team still building toward the 2026-27 season, when Purdue now has just 12 available players. For a program trying to establish depth and continuity before the games start to count, losing two players before the season even gets rolling changes the margin for error in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Barry Odom Sees One Big Test For Purdue's New Momentum
Barry Odom likes the direction Purdue is building after the win over Illinois, and the Boilermakers are taking some good feelings into a matchup with Minnesota. Speaking with the media, Odom praised defensive coordinator Kevin Kane for his leadership and for the way the defense played in the victory, a sign that Purdues recent progress is showing up on a side of the ball that has helped steady the team.
The bigger next step, though, is turning that optimism into cleaner finishes once Purdue gets inside the red zone. Odom pointed to touchdown conversion there as an area that still needs work, and Minnesota offers a useful measuring stick for whether the Boilermakers can turn momentum into something more durable as conference play keeps tightening. [Read more 🡒]