1991 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1991 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by first-year head coach Jim Colletto, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a mark of 3–5 in conference play, tying for sixth place the Big Ten. Purdue suffered its seventh consecutive losing season. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

1991 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jim Colletto (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Bobby Turner (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Moe Ankney (1st season)
MVP	Jim Schwantz
Captain	Bob Dressel, Frank Kmet, Rick Smith
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 10 Iowa	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	1
Ohio State	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Illinois	4	–	4	–	0			6	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Minnesota	1	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 7	1:00 pm	Eastern Michigan*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 49–3	40,684
September 14	3:00 pm	at California*	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA		L 18–42	39,000
September 28	1:00 pm	No. 8 Notre Dame*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		L 20–45	68,943
October 5	1:00 pm	at Northwestern	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL		W 17–14	26,814
October 12	1:30 pm	at Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN		L 3–6	31,939
October 19	1:00 pm	Wisconsin	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 28–7	43,650
October 26	4:00 pm	No. 11 Iowa	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN	L 21–31	33,461
November 2	12:30 pm	at No. 2 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN	L 0–42	105,401
November 9	1:00 pm	Illinois	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)		L 14–41	34,582
November 16	1:00 pm	Michigan State	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 27–17	30,774
November 23	1:00 pm	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	WTTV	L 22–24	51,596
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[1]

Personnel

1991 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Mike Anderson OL David Bratton WR Tedman Brown OL Elvin Caldwell WR Ernest Calloway OL Denny Chronopoulos RB Earl Coleman FB Arlee Connors So WR 21 Rodney Dennis Jr C Bob Dressel (C) Sr RB Rob Forester TE Scott Green OL Ryan Grigson RB Jeff Hill So QB 9 Eric Hunter Jr OL Kevin Janiak RB Houston Malden QB George Ogorek QB 11 Matt Pike RB Corey Rogers Fr WR Jermaine Ross OL Derick Schmidt TE Tony Simmons RB Luis Smikle WR Burt Thornton	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB Tank Adams LB Eric Beatty DL James Cole LB Trent Decatur LB Don Delvy DB Ikee Dozier DL Eric Gray DL Robert Hardin DB Pat Johnson DL Frank Kmet (C) LB Nick Mamula LB Peyton Minter LB 48 Jim Schwantz Sr DB Rick Smith (C) LB Kevin Strickland DB Jimmy Young DL Jeff Zgonina	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 15 Eric Bruun K Joe O'Leary	Head coach Jim Colletto Coordinators/assistant coaches Tim Salem (Quarterbacks) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Game summaries

Eastern Michigan

Eastern Michigan Eagles (0–0) at Purdue Boilermakers (0–0)

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
E. Michigan	0	3	0	0	3
Purdue	14	7	14	14	49

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

• Date: September 7, 1991
• Game time: 1:00 p.m.
• Game attendance: 40,684

• Most points scored by Purdue since 1987 vs. Wisconsin
• Most rushing yards in a game since 1983 vs. Indiana
• Jim Colletto first Purdue coach to win first game since Alex Agase (1973)^[2][3]

External videos
Full game

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
E. Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Purdue	Passing	Eric Hunter	4/11, 59 Yds
	Rushing	Arlee Connors	7 Rush, 68 Yds
	Receiving

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP EMU PU 1 14:06 Purdue Interception returned 66 yards for touchdown by Jim Schwantz, kick good 0 7 1 3:38 7 84 Purdue Eric Hunter 27-yard touchdown run, kick good 0 14 2 7 35 Purdue Earl Coleman 1-yard touchdown run, kick good 0 21 2 E. Michigan 43-yard field goal by Jim Langeloh 3 21 3 5:34 15 80 Purdue Corey Rogers 1-yard touchdown run, kick good 3 28 3 4:17 Purdue Eric Hunter 8-yard touchdown run, kick good 3 35 4 Purdue Earl Coleman 2-yard touchdown run, kick good 3 42 4 5:36 Purdue Luis Smikle 1-yard touchdown run, kick good 3 49 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 3 49

At California

Notre Dame

At Northwestern

External videos
Full game

At Minnesota

• Jeff Hill 12 rushes, 110 yards

Wisconsin

Iowa

At Michigan

Illinois

• Corey Rogers 20 rushes, 146 yards

Michigan State

Indiana

• Jeff Hill 16 rushes, 116 yards

External videos
1991 Purdue at Indiana – TV broadcast

References

1. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 92. Retrieved February 3, 2023.
2. "Purdue 49, Eastern Michigan 3". UPI Archives. September 7, 1991. Retrieved January 28, 2023.
3. Youmans, Matt (September 9, 1991). "Boilermakers, Coletto claim opening day win". Retrieved January 28, 2023.