Purdue hosts reeling Maryland as both fight for a Big Ten win
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Purdue (3-5, 2-3) hosts Maryland (2-6, 0-5) at Ross-Ade Stadium, with Purdue a 6-point favorite.
Purdue needs a win to keep bowl hopes alive; Maryland has lost six straight.
Background
Purdue is a Big Ten football program coached by Barry Odom, now in his second year, sitting at three wins with four games left and fighting for bowl eligibility. Maryland is reeling after losing six in a row and firing coach Mike Locksley midseason; Aazaar Abdul-Rahim is now interim coach. The game matters because a Purdue win keeps its bowl hopes alive, while a home loss to a struggling Maryland team would undercut the progress Purdue made earlier in the season. Purdue has won the last two meetings between the schools.
How it unfolded
- 2006Maryland beat Purdue 24-7 in the Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando.
- 2016Maryland beat Purdue 50-7 in College Park.
- 2019Purdue beat Maryland 40-14 in West Lafayette.
- 2022Purdue beat Maryland 31-29 in College Park.
- Oct 31, 2026Maryland lost 20-17 to Illinois at SECU Stadium in College Park in its first game under interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim, its sixth straight loss.
- Nov 6, 2026Hammer and Rails staff predictions for Purdue (3-5, 2-3) vs. Maryland (2-6, 0-5) included Purdue 35-21, 27-17, 34-24 and 35-31.
- Nov 7, 2026Maryland vs. Purdue kicks off at 12:30 p.m. ET at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind., airing on BTN and streaming on FOX One in CFB Week 10; BetMGM lists Purdue as a 6-point favorite with an over/under of 56.5.
Key terms
- Big Ten
- A major U.S. collegiate athletic conference, the oldest in NCAA Division I, originally named for its ten member universities.
- bowl eligibility
- In NCAA Division I FBS college football, the standard that makes a team available for selection to postseason bowl games.
- BTN
- An American sports television network dedicated to collegiate sports of the Big Ten Conference.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- IndyStar's Nathan Baird calls it arguably the most important game of the Barry Odom tenure so far, saying Purdue must win to keep bowl eligibility hopes alive.
- Bulls
- Hammer and Rails' Ledman expects Purdue's offense to come back to life against a Maryland defense he calls bad, and Ryan trusts Ryan Browne and company more at home.
- Caution
- Hammer and Rails' Kyle says Purdue needs a complete performance on both sides, must establish the run and avoid turnovers against a Maryland team that can make plays through the air with Chris Durr Jr.
- Party
- Maryland interim coach Aazaar Abdul-Rahim said the team is either in a storm, coming out of one or about to go back into another, and that he thinks they're on the right track.
Still unverified
A Yahoo live page listed the score as Maryland 0, Purdue 0 in the first quarter, an in-progress score.