Purdue football on the West Coast
Purdue is headed West. And that hasn’t been a good thing the last 45 years.
Since a 1979 trip to play at UCLA, the Boilermakers are 1-7 on the West Coast. (See chart below) The good news: That one victory came in Purdue’s last trip to the Coast, when it beat Arizona in the Foster Farm’s Bowl in Santa Clara, Calif.
(The last time Purdue won on the home field of a West Coast school? You have to go back to 1970, when the Boilermakers knocked off No. 3 Stanford and eventual Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett, 26-14, in Palo Alto, Calif.)
This week, the Boilermakers (1-1) will look to make it two wins in a row on the West Coast when they travel 2,229 miles to play at Oregon State (2-1). It will be Purdue’s first junket to Corvallis–roughly 60 miles south of Portland on I-5–as this is a return trip after the Beavers opened the 2021 season in West Lafayette with a loss to the Boilers.
This Saturday’s game in Reser Stadium will kickoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on The CW. That means Purdue won’t arrive back to West Lafayette until Sunday morning.
“Then the challenge will be the next week,” said Purdue coach Ryan Walters. “We get back I think around 6:30 our time on Sunday morning. So, that’s a quick turnaround from an internal clock and from a recovery standpoint.”
To help acclimate to the three-hour time difference, Purdue will fly to Oregon on Thursday after it practices in West Lafayette that morning.
“You only have a week of prep, right, before you head out there,” said Walters. “Obviously, the biggest challenge is just the three-hour time difference. Usually you travel on a Friday to an away game. We’ll leave Thursday after our morning practice so that we can try to get as acclimated as possible.”
These trips to the West Coast will become more commonplace with Oregon, Washington, USC and UCLA now in the Big Ten. So, this will be a preview of things to come for the program.
“So, you know, it will be an interesting learning experience moving forward,” said Walters. “I know this is our only trip out West this season, but next year we’ll have to take another one, so … “
MORE PURDUE-OREGON STATE: First and 10 | First Look | Purdue’s Ryan Walters: ‘Fully expect us to respond the right way’ | The 3-2-1
Purdue doesn’t play a Big Ten game on the West Coast this season because of this pre-existing trip to Oregon State. But in 2025, the Boilermakers play at Washington. And a trip to UCLA looms in 2026, then Oregon (2027) and USC (2028).
Purdue will be looking to get on track at Oregon State coming off the worst defeat in program history: 66-7 loss to Notre Dame. The Beavers are coming off a lopsided defeat, too, losing 49-14 to Oregon on their home field. Maybe getting away is just what the Boilermakers need.
“Maybe there’s benefits to getting out on the road,” said Walters. “I just want to play again, and I know our guys want to play again.
“As far as the noise, it’s easy to have an opinion that is without consequence on social media. You know what I mean? Our guys have to do a good job of blocking that type of noise out. The only way you fix that and quiet that is you’ve got to go perform well. I’m excited to go do that, whether it be home or away. I want to go play again.”
Purdue on West Coast since 1979
NOTE: Purdue has had other non-bowl/non-conference trips west of the Mississippi River since 1979. It won 31-24 at Arizona in 2005; lost 42-35 at Hawaii in 2006; lost 24-22 at Rice in 2011; won 35-3 at Missouri in 2017; lost 34-31 at Nevada in 2019.
| Year | Opponent | Score |
| 1979 | UCLA | L, 31-21 |
| 1987 | Washington | L, 28-10 |
| 1989 | Washington | L, 38-9 |
| 1991 | Cal | L, 42-18 |
| 1998 | USC | L, 27-17 |
| 2001 | Washington (Rose Bowl)# | L, 34-24 |
| 2009 | Oregon | L, 38-36 |
| 2017 | Arizona (Foster Farms Bowl)* | W, 38-35 |
