1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team

American college football season

1972 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob DeMoss (3rd season)
MVP	Otis Armstrong
Captain	Otis Armstrong, Dave Butz
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1971 1973 →

1972 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0	10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0	9	–	2	–	0
Purdue	6	–	2	–	0	6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	2	–	1	5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0	5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0	3	–	8	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	1	3	–	7	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0	4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0	2	–	9	–	0

+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University during the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by Bob DeMoss in his third and final season as head coach, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing third in the Big Ten. Purdue played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

This was the first season in which Purdue played an 11-game schedule. Every Big Ten team except the Boilermakers and Ohio State added an 11th game for the first time in 1971. The Buckeyes did not play an 11-game slate until 1974.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Bowling Green*	No. 18	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 14–17	51,859
September 23	No. 15 Washington*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 21–22	60,102
September 30	at No. 10 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 14–35	59,075
October 7	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 24–0	54,576
October 14	at Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 28–3	37,287
October 21	Northwestern		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 37–0	63,049
October 28	Illinois		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 20–14	61,754
November 4	at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 12–22	58,649
November 11	Wisconsin		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 27–6	53,507
November 18	at No. 3 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 6–9	88,423	^[1]
November 25	Indiana		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 42–7	65,605
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[2]

Roster

1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`18`	Gary Danielson	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Bob DeMoss

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Game summaries

Washington

Gary Danielson 16 rushes, 213 yards

At Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Purdue	0	7	14	7	28
Minnesota	0	3	0	0	3

Date: October 14
Location: Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota
Game attendance: 37,287

Scoring summary

2	PUR	Armstrong 5-yard run (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 7-3

2	MINN	Golberg 25-yard field goal	Purdue 7-3

3	PUR	Armstrong 97-yard kickoff return (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 14-3

3	PUR	Carter 45-yard fumble return (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 21-3

4	PUR	Bobrowski 4-yard run (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 28-3

^[3]

Otis Armstrong 25 rushes, 152 yards

Northwestern

Otis Armstrong 32 rushes, 233 yards

Wisconsin

Otis Armstrong 19 rushes, 169 yards

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	0	7	0	0	7
• Purdue	7	7	7	21	42

Date: November 25
Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN
Game attendance: 65,065

Scoring summary

1	PUR	Otis Armstrong 2-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 7-0

2	PUR	Darryl Stingley 79-yard pass from Gary Danielson (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 14-0

2	IND	Dennis Cremeens 2-yard run (Sven Chris Gartner kick)	PUR 14-7

3	PUR	Otis Armstrong 71-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 21-7

4	PUR	Gary Danielson 5-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 28-7

4	PUR	Otis Armstrong 53-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 35-7

4	PUR	Bo Bobrowski 5-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 42-7

Otis Armstrong carried 32 times for 276 yards, breaking his own single-game school rushing record (233) and passing Wisconsin's Alan Ameche for most career rushing yards in the Big Ten with 3,316.^[4]

References

^ "Whew! M Stays Perfect, 9–6: Last-Minute FG Downs Purdue". Detroit Free Press. November 19, 1972. p. 1E, 4E – via Newspapers.com.
^ "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 89. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
^ Eugene Register-Guard. 1972 Oct 15.
^ "Purdue Thrashes Indiana To Win Old Oaken Bucket." Palm Beach Post. 1972 Nov 26.

v t e Purdue Boilermakers football
Venues	Stuart Field (1892–1924) Ross–Ade Stadium (1924–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Chicago (defunct) Illinois Indiana: Old Oaken Bucket Notre Dame
Culture & lore	Boilermaker Special Cradle of Quarterbacks Purdue Pete Purdue Wreck "Hail Purdue!" All-American Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024