Purdue went into Champaign as a 9.5-point underdog and left with the Cannon Trophy, beating Illinois 24-17 on Saturday for its first Big Ten win in 1,043 days. Minnesota visits Ross-Ade Stadium next.
It took 1,043 days, 19 tries, and a trip across the state line, but Purdue finally won a Big Ten game again.
The Boilermakers never trailed Saturday at Gies Memorial Stadium, beating Illinois 24-17 in front of a homecoming sellout crowd of 60,670 to end the conference losing streak that swallowed the entire 2024 and 2025 seasons. Purdue (2-3, 1-1 Big Ten) hadn’t beaten a Big Ten or Power Four opponent since the 2023 Old Oaken Bucket game against Indiana. It is Barry Odom’s first conference win in West Lafayette, and it sends the Cannon Trophy back to the Boilermaker trophy cabinet after two years in Champaign.
“I was pretty high on the field,” said Odom after the game when asked about how he was feeling. “I was pretty emotional because I know what has gone into this.”
How Purdue Built Its Lead in Champaign
Slow starts have hurt Purdue at times this season. Saturday was not one of those times. Purdue took the opening kickoff and held the ball for 15 plays, 64 yards and 8:12 before Jacobo Echeverria Lozano hit a 30-yard field goal. The true freshman kicker has been outstanding so far in his Boilermaker career and has been relied on heavily this season.
After a missed field goal attempt from Illinois, a 61-yard strike from Ryan Browne to Asaad Waseem set up a 34-yard Lozano kick, pushing Purdue’s lead to 6-0. Then, a defensive stand set up Browne well to hit Tra’Mar Harris from 21 yards out to make it 13-0 with 4:16 left in the first half, Purdue’s largest lead since the opener against Indiana State.
Illinois finally got on the board with 21 seconds before halftime on a Katin Houser touchdown pass. Midway through the third quarter, Lozano's third field goal extended Purdue’s lead to 16-7. Lozano is now 11-for-12 this season, and while his accuracy and production are not a concern, how often Purdue has had to rely on him is. The Boilermakers rank in the bottom third of the Big Ten in red zone touchdown efficiency on offense, meaning they have had to rely on their field goal unit more than most of the rest of the conference. If Barry Odom and Co. want to win more conference games, they will need to find the painted endzones more often as the conference schedule beefs up.
Kevin Kane’s Defense Has Its Best Day of the Season
The bigger story was the defense. Purdue walked into Champaign last in the Big Ten in scoring defense (39.5 points per game) and total defense (446.0 yards per game). Illinois (2-3, 0-2 Big Ten) entered the day averaging 34.0 points and nearly 420 yards on offense. The Fighting Illini finished with 17 points and 345 yards.
What changed was the situational football. Opponents had scored on all 18 of their red zone trips against Purdue this season until Illinois missed a 32-yard field goal on its first possession. Late in the third quarter, with the Illini at the Purdue 17-yard line and the opportunity to make it a one-score game, defensive tackle Wisdom Simms knocked down a fourth-down pass. One series later, after a holding call wiped out an Illinois touchdown, Charles Correa and Keyshawn Burgos combined for a third-down sack that pushed the Illini out of field goal range. Former Illinois linebacker Jojo Hayden led Purdue with six tackles against his old team.
Nobody needed it more than defensive coordinator Kevin Kane, whose return to Purdue this offseason was not a popular hire. Kane, a former Illinois assistant whose family stayed in West Lafayette while he spent last season as an analyst at Minnesota, got a moment with Odom as the clock ran out.
“I was happy for him,” Odom said. “He’s been in the business a long time, and for him, who worked here, to be able to come back here in this spot and get a win, and the way the defense played, I just wanted to make sure he knew I was excited for him.”
Ryan Browne Stays Hot Against Illinois, Antonio Harris Finishes the Job
Browne has made a habit of this. He went 18-of-27 for 255 yards and a touchdown, and in three career starts against Illinois, he has thrown for 854 yards and five touchdowns with no interceptions.
The biggest throw came after Illinois kicked a 54-yard field goal to make it 16-10 with 8:11 left. Browne completed four of five passes on the next drive, the last a 31-yarder to Chauncey Magwood down to the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Antonio Harris pushed it across the goal line, and Browne ran in the two-point conversion for a 24-10 lead with 4:29 to go.
Harris is one of the homegrown players on a portal-heavy roster. The junior from Chandler, Indiana and Castle High School has become the clear No. 2 running back behind Fame Ijeboi, who ran for 65 yards.
“(Harris is) tough,” Odom said. “It means something. Purdue means something to him, and he’s not afraid to work, he’s not afraid to get dirty.”
John Slaughter intercepted Houser at the Purdue 8-yard line on the next possession, almost sealing the game. Purdue stalled on their next drive and punted to Illinois, who then went on a drive to score a touchdown with 1:26 left in the game. Bisi Owens recovered a tough onside kick, and the Boilermakers closed out the game in the victory formation.
The smiles, cheers, and happy tears from the players, staff, and fans followed as the team rushed to claim the Cannon Trophy, parading it around the stadium and celebrating with the Purdue faithful who made the trip to Champaign.
Looking Ahead: Purdue Hosts Minnesota at Ross-Ade Stadium
There isn’t much time to admire the Cannon. Purdue returns home on Saturday to face Minnesota (4-1, 2-0 Big Ten) at 8 p.m. ET on Big Ten Network, the first of two straight night games at Ross-Ade. Washington visits on Friday, Oct. 16. The Golden Gophers open as 2.5-point favorites and lead the all-time series 42-35-3. P.J. Fleck, now in his 10th year in Minneapolis, is 5-3 against Purdue, with two of those losses coming at Ross-Ade.
Minnesota arrives hot after wins over Washington in Seattle and at home against Michigan. It is also the same team that lost by 25 at home to Mississippi State in week two.
What to Watch For Against Minnesota
The first question is whether Purdue can stack wins. Its last Big Ten winning streak came in 2022, when it won its final three conference games to take the Big Ten West.
There is also unfinished business. Purdue led Minnesota at halftime last fall in Minneapolis and was up a touchdown entering the fourth quarter before the Gophers tied it, then returned a Browne interception for the winning score in a 27-20 final. That was as close as Odom came to a Big Ten win in 2025. Browne has thrown one interception in five games this season, one of the several signs this Purdue team is better than the couple before them.
And for the second straight week, Kane knows the other sideline. He got a firsthand look last year at quarterback Drake Lindsey, who drew attention from NFL scouts in his first season as a starter, and worked alongside offensive coordinator Greg Harbaugh Jr., who still calls the plays. Ijeboi gets his old team, too, after running for 441 yards as a Gopher freshman.
“We needed that first one, right?” Odom said. “We needed a conference win, and it’s a long streak. I was ready to break down the wall. So, glad we did it. Now we’ve got to go 1-0 this next week against a really good Minnesota team that’s coming to Ross-Ade.”
One streak is over. Saturday night is a chance to start a better one.
