Fall camp is over in West Lafayette. With special teams jobs settled and key players returning from injury, we turn to the 2026 schedule, and where Purdue can actually find wins.
Purdue football enters game week closing the book on a fall camp that revealed plenty about this rebuilt roster. With the foundational storylines already established, like Ryan Browne’s command of the offense, the freshmen pushing up front, and a longer, more aggressive defense, the final week of camp was about settling the last few jobs and getting healthy for Indiana State on Sept. 4. Here’s what changed in the home stretch, and a look at the season that awaits.
Final Camp Updates: Special Teams Settled, Bodies Returning
The kicking competition has a winner. True freshman Jacobo Echeverria Lozano, a Bogota, Columbia native who grew up in Pittsburgh, claimed the placekicking job over Seth Turner, who will return to his kickoff role. “He is extremely talented; we’ve known that,” said special teams coordinator James Shibest, though he admitted he hopes “the first one is a PAT to put things at ease.” Buffalo transfer Dylan Drennan, an engineering major who chose Purdue partly for the academics, won the punting job, and Travis Terrell and Xavier Townsend will handle returns, where Shibest believes Purdue “can be more explosive.”
The injury news trended positively, too. Barry Odom noted that not a single player got hurt in a live tackling situation all camp. Left tackle Joey Tanona (ankle) and linebacker Anthony Speca are on track for game week, and safety Smiley Bradford returned to practice after stepping away for a personal matter. Up front, Ian Jeffries seized an extended audition during TJ Lindsey’s ACL recovery and now looks like the leader of the defensive line.
The September Gauntlet Will Define the Season
After the opener against Indiana State, an FCS program who lost by 49 points during Purdue’s dismal 1-11 season during their last matchup in 2024, the Boilermakers face 11 consecutive Power Four opponents. Purdue hasn’t beaten a Power Four team since 2023 and carries an 18-game Big Ten losing streak, which makes the next two games enormous.
Wake Forest visits Sept. 12 as arguably the most winnable Power Four game on the schedule. The Demon Deacons won nine games in head coach Jake Dickert’s debut season, but they lost four starting offensive linemen and both of their game-breaking playmakers, and they’re betting their season on quarterback Gio Lopez recapturing his South Alabama form after a lost year at North Carolina. If Purdue can catch this rebuilt offense early, and before it finds a rhythm, the Boilermakers have a real chance.
Then comes the 11 p.m. ET kickoff at UCLA on Sept. 19, a 2,000-mile trip to face Bob Chesney’s retooled Bruins and quarterback Nico Iamaleava. UCLA is following the Indiana blueprint, importing a proven FCS-turnaround coach and a wave of James Madison transfers, but Chesney’s system will still be settling in by week three. Purdue needs one of these two games, because national championship favorite Notre Dame, who is riding a 10-game winning streak in the series and led by Heisman contender CJ Carr, visits Ross-Ade on Sept. 26.
Where Are the Big Ten Wins?
Circle three home games. Minnesota (Oct. 10) nearly lost to Purdue in Minneapolis last year before a fourth-quarter pick-six flipped a 20-13 Boilermaker lead, and the Gophers enter 2026 with lingering offensive line problems. Maryland (Nov. 7) went 1-8 in the Big Ten last year and is banking almost entirely on internal improvement, with Mike Locksley coaching for his job. Wisconsin (Nov. 21) has lost its way under Luke Fickell, going 4-8 last season and failing to qualify for a bowl game in two consecutive years, and while Purdue hasn’t beaten the Badgers since 2003, this is the most vulnerable Wisconsin team in a generation.
The other Friday night home date is a story unto itself: Washington visits Oct. 16 in a nationally televised game on FOX, bringing former Purdue head coach Ryan Walters back to Ross-Ade as the Huskies’ defensive coordinator. Washington throttled Purdue 49-13 in Seattle last November, but long Friday road trips bit the Huskies last year.
The road slate is where the schedule turns cruel: Illinois, Penn State (where Purdue hasn’t won since Kyle Orton was under center in 2004), Iowa, and a season-ending trip to Bloomington to face defending national champion Indiana, which has outscored Purdue 122-3 across the last two meetings.
The Verdict on 2026
The honest projection is progress measured in competitiveness, not bowl eligibility. But the path to respectability is visible: handle Indiana State, split Wake Forest and UCLA, and cash in one or two of those November home games against wounded programs. Three to five wins, a snapped conference losing streak, and a foundation Odom can sell. That’s what the realistic version of success looks like for this program.
“We understand we’ll go through adversity at some point,” Odom said, “and I think they’re going to look adversity in the eye, and they’re going to go swing back. I’m excited about their competitive spirit.”
That spirit gets its first test Friday night against Indiana State, Sept. 4, under the lights in Ross-Ade.
