1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season.

1978 Purdue Boilermakers football
Peach Bowl champion
Peach Bowl, W 41–21 vs. Georgia Tech
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 13
1978 record	9–2–1 (6–1–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jim Young (2nd season)
MVP	Keena Turner
Captains	Tim Eubank Willie Harris
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1978 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Michigan State +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2			1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance
September 16	Michigan State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 21–14	60,355
September 23	Ohio*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 24–0	55,172
September 30	at Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (Shillelagh Trophy)	L 6–10	59,075
October 7	Wake Forest*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 14–7	54,362
October 14	No. 16 Ohio State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 27–16	69,465
October 21	at Illinois	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL	W 13–0	50,918
October 28	at Iowa	No. 17	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 34–7	57,640
November 4	Northwestern	No. 14	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 31–0	64,232
November 11	at Wisconsin	No. 12	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	T 24–24	78,986
November 18	at No. 7 Michigan	No. 15	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 6–24	106,410
November 25	Indiana	No. 18	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 20–7	69,918
December 25	vs. Georgia Tech	No. 17	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	W 41–21	20,277
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Starters

Offense: se Burrell, lt Feil, lg Schwan, c Quinn, rg LeFeber, rt McKenzie, te Eubank/Young, qb Herrmann, fb Macon, tb Pope, fl M. Harris, k Sovereen

Defense: le Floyd, lt Clark, mg Loushin, rt Jackson, re Turner, lb Motts/Johanson, cb W. Smith/Moss, ss Supan, fs W. Harris, p Eagin

[1]

Staff

Head coach: Jim Young

Assistants: Bob Bockrath, Leon Burtnett, Mike Hankwitz, Randy Hart, Doug Redmann, Bob Spoo, Larry Thompson, Ed Zaunbrecher

[1]

Game summaries

Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total Michigan State 14 0 0 0 14 • Purdue 0 0 14 7 21 Date: September 16 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN Game attendance: 60,355

Scoring summary 1 MSU Kirk Gibson 4 yard pass from Ed Smith (Morten Andersen kick) MSU 7-0 1 MSU Ed Smith 3 yard run (Morten Andersen kick) MSU 14-0 3 PUR Dave Young 1 yard pass from Mark Herrmann (Scott Sovereen kick) MSU 14-7 3 PUR Russell Pope 62 yard run (Scott Sovereen kick) Tied 14-14 4 PUR John Macon 33 yard run (Scott Sovereen kick) PUR 21-14

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Notre Dame

Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total Ohio St 0 7 3 6 16 • Purdue 3 0 14 10 27 Date: October 14 Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN Game attendance: 69,465

Scoring summary Q1 PUR Sovereen 28 yard field goal PUR 3–0 Q2 OHST Volley 49 yard run (Janakievski kick) OHST 7–3 Q3 PUR Macon 1 yard run (Sovereen kick) PUR 10–7 Q3 OHST Atha 42 yard field goal Tie 10–10 Q3 PUR Pope 11 yard run (Sovereen kick) PUR 17–10 Q4 PUR Sovereen 41 yard field goal PUR 20–10 Q4 OHST Gerald 60 yard pass from Schlichter (pass failed) PUR 20–16 Q4 PUR Harris 19 yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) PUR 27–16

[3]

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total • Purdue 10 7 0 17 34 Iowa 0 0 7 0 7 Date: October 28 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game attendance: 57,460

Scoring summary 1 PUR Sovereen 39 yard field goal Purdue 3–0 1 PUR Pope 11 yard run (Sovereen kick) Purdue 10–0 2 PUR Young 25 yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 17–0 3 IOWA Reid 57 yard run (Schilling kick) Purdue 17–7 4 PUR Burrell 11 yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 24–7 4 PUR Sovereen 27 yard field goal Purdue 27–7 4 PUR Eubank 3 yard pass from Herrmann (Sovereen kick) Purdue 34–7

[4]

Statistics

Passing

Player	Comp	Att	Yards	TD	INT
Herrmann	152	274	1,904	14	12

[1]

Awards

All-Big Ten

• Ken Loushin (1st)
• Keena Turner (1st)
• Mark Herrmann (2nd)
• Marcus Jackson (2nd)
• John LeFeber (2nd)
• John Macon (2nd)
• Steve McKenzie (2nd)
• Dale Schwan (2nd)
• Scott Sovereen (2nd)

Big Ten Coach of the Year: Jim Young

[1]

References

1. 2010 Purdue football information guide
2. "Macon's Run Lifts Purdue Over Spartans." Palm Beach Post. 1978 Sept 17.
3. Eugene Register-Guard. 1978 Oct 15.
4. "Purdue cuts down Iowa again." Milwaukee Journal. 1978 Oct 29.