The 2022 college football season continues this week after a handful of games in week 0. It’s a Big Ten showdown in week one as the Purdue Boilermakers host the Penn State Nitty Lions tonight on Fox at 8 PM EST. Penn State leads the series 15-3-1, winning the last nine contests. Thursday’s contest will be the third time in Boilermaker history since 1904.
Purdue finished last year 9-4, including two wins over AP top-5 teams and a Music City Bowl win against Tennessee 48-45. Head coach Jeff Brohm enters his sixth season as the head coach. He’s 28-29 as the Purdue coach (58-39 overall) and will look to win his third straight season opener as the coach. The Boilermakers have won 22 of their last 24 home openers.
Quarterback Aidan O’Connell, a former walk-on, returns after one of the best passing seasons in Boilermaker history. He threw for 3,712 yards and 28 touchdowns with a 71.8% completion rate. He did this only starting nine games and playing in 12. O’Connell earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors from the conference coaches and media. O’Connell will have to find a new number one target to throw to as Wide Receiver David Bell was drafted in the 2022 draft in the third round by the Cleveland Browns.
Penn State and head coach James Franklin are looking for better consistency this year. In 2020 they lost their first five games and followed that up last year, losing six of their last eight. The rushing game last year only managed 3.2 yards a carry. They return their leading rusher from last year, Keyvone Lee (108 attempts, 530 yards, and 2 TDs).
Penn State also has their QB returning in Sean Clifford. Clifford threw for 3,107 yards and 21 touchdowns. Purdue also lost defensive playmaker George Karlaftis to the Kanas City Chiefs, who drafted him in the first round. Somebody on the defensive line will have to step up to replace the production of Karlaftis.
Head coach Franklin enters his ninth season with a 67-34 record at Penn State (91-49 overall). He’s 2-0 against the Boilermakers. Penn State has won 17 of 20 season openers. They’ll look to improve on their 7-6 record of a year ago, including a loss in the Outback Bowl 24-10.
Written by Garin Turner
