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When Jeff Brohm arrived to coach Purdue, he knew the program had two Rose Bowl appearances, an incredible all-time roster of quarterbacks that included Bob Griese and Drew Brees, an equally impressive group of defensive ends, and a coaching list that included Joe Tiller and Jack Mollenkopf.

But he didn’t know much about the Spoilermakers.

Since the AP poll began in 1936, no unranked team has been more successful against the highest-ranked teams in the country. The Boilermakers have nine wins against AP No. 1 or No. 2 teams as an unranked squad, four more than any other program in the poll era. Purdue gets another opportunity Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, Fox), as it makes its first Big Ten championship game appearance and takes on Michigan, which is ranked No. 2 in both the AP poll and the College Football Playoff rankings.

Brohm, who coached Purdue to wins over No. 2 Ohio State in 2018 and No. 2 Iowa in 2021, thinks the Spoilermakers tradition stems from two sources.

“Without question, we’ve had some opportunities when you play in this conference, and then our nonconference schedule is normally pretty daggone good as well,” Brohm told ESPN. “And then Purdue is normally a blue-collar, hardworking school, and that’s our team approach. You just try to make the most of what you have, work hard and figure things out along the way, and see if you can pull some things out.”

Brohm credits his approach to his own college coach, Louisville’s Howard Schnellenberger, who was masterful in “getting his team to think that they’re better than they are,” Brohm said, and to believe anything is achievable. Schnellenberger, known for his immaculate mustache and pipe smoking, consistently communicated in ways to inspire confidence, both in the locker room and publicly “so everyone could hear.”

Although Brohm isn’t as bold with his public messaging, his closed-door directives are all about belief, especially in the 24 hours leading up to kickoff. He’ll take the same approach before Purdue takes on Michigan as an unranked, 17-point underdog.

“You can’t be in awe, you can’t lose confidence, you can’t listen to what everyone says and writes, which may be accurate,” he said. “You’ve got to believe that on any given day, if you prepare right and you play aggressive — not timid, not to keep the game close, but aggressive — that you can have a chance.”

Here’s a look at Purdue’s nine wins as an unranked team against the AP No. 1 or No. 2, with input from Brohm and Cory Palm, Purdue’s director of broadcast services, who is working on his second book on Boiler football history.

Purdue 24, No. 2 Iowa 7

Date: Oct. 16, 2021
Location: Iowa City, Iowa

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1:48

Purdue upsets No. 2 Iowa.

Iowa had earned its highest AP ranking since 1985 entering the game, after rallying to beat Penn State the week before. But the Hawkeyes were limited on offense, relying heavily on their superb defense and special teams to win games.

“We had to find a way to get a lead,” Brohm said.

Purdue jumped ahead 7-0 and then 14-7 behind quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who ran for a touchdown and threw for another. The Boilers defense then took control in the second half, holding Iowa to 15 net yards on its first three drives before recording interceptions on the next two possessions. Cam Allen had two of Purdue’s four interceptions, and the offense surged behind O’Connell (375 pass yards, two touchdowns) and wide receiver David Bell (240 receiving yards, one touchdown).

“We made plays in the passing game,” Brohm said. “You have to be aggressive in your approach, you have to be attacking. We made them throw the ball more than they wanted, and we were able to get interceptions. That’s not the formula they like to use. It’s running the football, a little bit of play-action, play defense and keep the game close. We got them off that formula.”


Purdue 49, No. 2 Ohio State 20

Date: Oct. 20, 2018
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

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3:28

Last week, College GameDay told Tyler Trent’s story and showed his love for the Boilermakers. See how much Purdue’s upset win over Ohio State meant to the sophomore and super-fan.

The most memorable night of Brohm’s tenure included an upset against Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes, and also the presence of Tyler Trent, the Purdue student and superfan fighting cancer. Trent, whose story was featured on “College GameDay” that morning, watched his beloved Boilers never trail Ohio State, hold the Buckeyes to six points through three quarters and reach the end zone four times in the fourth.

Freshman wide receiver Rondale Moore had a huge night (170 receiving yards, 58 return yards), along with quarterback David Blough and running back D.J. Knox, while Markus Bailey led the defense with 15 tackles and a 41-yard pick-six in the closing minutes. The 29-point winning margin was the third largest by an unranked team against an AP top-two opponent.

“There was a lot of motivation, not only playing a top team but the Tyler Trent story,” Brohm said, as Trent would die Jan. 1, 2019. “While Ohio State was really good, a couple teams had played it close with them. It was a matter of, ‘OK, how can we take that to the next step?’ We were just aggressive. We changed things up on defense. We had them on their heels a little bit on offense.”

Purdue blitzed Ohio State and showed different looks, turning away the Buckeyes in the red zone. Then, after a relatively quiet third quarter, the Boilers hit the gas with big plays.

“We extended the lead because we stayed aggressive,” Brohm said. “If you’re not going to do that and take chances, you’re going to find a way to screw it up against a good team. You want to make sure your players know, ‘We’re not sitting on a lead.'”


Purdue 28, No. 2 Ohio State 23

Date: Oct. 6, 1983
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Ohio State came into Ross-Ade Stadium with an offense led by several future NFL players: quarterback Mike Tomczak, running back Keith Byars and wide receiver Cris Carter. Boilers coach Leon Burtnett would call the Buckeyes “the best offensive football team we’ve faced.”

But Purdue had its own future NFL standouts, including quarterback Jim Everett, who completed 17 of 23 passes for 257 yards and three touchdowns. The Boilers had a big fourth quarter, scoring twice off Tomczak interceptions.

“They hung with Ohio State the whole game, and the cherry on top was a Rod Woodson pick-six late in the game that put it out of reach,” Palm said.

Purdue had opened the season by upsetting No. 8 Notre Dame in the first game played inside the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis. The Boilers also beat Michigan that fall and tied for second place in the Big Ten, but finished 7-5 after falling to Virginia in the Peach Bowl.


Purdue 16, No. 1 Michigan 14

Date: Nov. 6, 1976
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Bo Schembechler brought one of his most dominant teams to West Lafayette. Michigan had won its first eight games by a combined score of 352-58. The Wolverines had shut out four opponents, including the previous two before Purdue, and handed Navy the worst defeat (70-14) in team history.

“That one was as big a shock as any of them,” Palm said. “The [Purdue] head coach, Alex Agase, was on his way out, they’d lost three in a row. Michigan, they were looking like world-beaters.”

But Purdue turned to running back Scott Dierking, who logged a team-record 38 carries and rushed for 162 yards against the Big Ten’s top run defense. Michigan scored on its first possession but would score only once more, as Purdue stifled quarterback Rick Leach. Down 14-13, Purdue methodically drove downfield and turned to Rock Supan, a defensive back with 11 tackles in the game, for a 23-yard field goal. He made it and Purdue won after Michigan missed a 37-yard attempt to the left.

It would be Michigan’s only regular-season loss. The Wolverines would rise all the way back up to No. 2 after beating Ohio State later in the year but fell 14-6 to No. 3 USC in the Rose Bowl. Purdue went on to finish 5-6, its fourth straight losing season, and fired Agase.


Purdue 31, No. 2 Notre Dame 20

Date: Sept. 28, 1974
Location: South Bend, Indiana

Notre Dame had won the national championship in 1973, going undefeated under coach Ara Parseghian, and opened the season with easy road wins over Georgia Tech and Northwestern. Purdue lost its opener by 14 points to Wisconsin and then tied Miami (Ohio), missing three field goal attempts down the stretch.

As a result, the Boilers came in as 35-point underdogs.

“Agase spoke about taking umbrage with the fact they were such big underdogs,” Palm said. “They certainly showed up in that game.”

Purdue surged for 24 points in the first quarter, the most ever scored against Notre Dame in the first 15 minutes. The surge included a Purdue fumble recovery on Notre Dame’s second play, a 52-yard Pete Gross touchdown run and a pick-six by linebacker Bob Mannella.

The (Lafayette) Journal and Courier headline for Sept. 30 read: “Spoilermakers Strike Again!”


Purdue 23, No. 1 Minnesota 14

Date: Nov. 12, 1960
Location: Minneapolis

Purdue had a fascinating season in 1960, finishing 4-4-1 but ranking No. 19 in the final AP poll. Six of the Boilers’ nine opponents entered games ranked in the AP top 20, and Purdue twice faced No. 1 teams, falling to Iowa but beating Minnesota, which would go on to win the Rose Bowl and the national championship.

The Boilers surged to a 14-0 lead behind quarterback Bernie Allen, who would go on to play 12 seasons in Major League Baseball. Allen kicked a field goal in the second half and Purdue held off Minnesota. Defensive end Forest Farmer had two sacks and four receptions, earning national lineman of the week honors.

Purdue also beat No. 3 Ohio State and No. 12 Notre Dame that season, while opening with a tie against No. 8 UCLA.


Purdue 20, No. 1 Michigan State 13

Date: Oct. 19, 1957
Location: East Lansing, Michigan

Purdue stumbled into the game at 0-3, while Michigan State was beginning its surge under Hall of Fame coach Duffy Daugherty. The Spartans came in as 21-point favorites over the Boilers, who had several players missing because of the flu. Michigan State held a significant edge in first downs (19-7) and completions (10-2) but lost five fumbles, including one in the second quarter that led to Purdue’s first touchdown.

It was another play in the second quarter that would haunt Michigan State, though. A Walt Kowalczyk touchdown was nullified by a late hit penalty. Rather than correctly enforcing the penalty after the play, officials took away the touchdown and assessed the penalty, leading to a missed field goal attempt.

Daugherty in 1984 discussed the play, saying the official who called the penalty was replacing a more experienced official, who had to leave after his wife had a heart attack. The Big Ten later apologized to MSU for the officiating snafu.

“That call changed the complexion of the game and we probably would have routed Purdue,” Daugherty said.

MSU wouldn’t lose another game but finished No. 3 in the final poll. Purdue would lose only once more, to No. 6 Ohio State, to go 5-4 on the season.


Purdue 6, No. 2 Michigan State 0

Date: Oct. 24, 1953
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana

Michigan State had won the national championship in 1952 and came to Purdue on a 28-game win streak, the longest in the nation. The Boilers were 0-4 and banged up, but turned to a fullback named Dan Pobojewski, who had started his career at MSU but couldn’t make the team.

Pobojewski provided the game’s only points, scoring from a yard out early in the fourth quarter.

“I went to school there for two years and wasn’t good enough to make their club,” Pobojewski told reporters afterward. “When I finally scored and rolled into the end zone, I just wanted to lie there and cry.”

Michigan State hadn’t been shut out in 59 games. Purdue was shut out in its next two games and dropped a third, 21-6 to Ohio State, before finishing the season with its only other victory, a 30-0 pummeling of rival Indiana.


Purdue 28, No. 1 Notre Dame 14

Date: Oct. 10, 1950
Location: South Bend, Indiana

From 1946 to 1949, Notre Dame didn’t lose a game, tying just twice (against Army in 1946 and USC in 1948). Coach Frank Leahy’s team won AP national titles in 1946, 1947 and 1949, and opened the 1950 season with a win against North Carolina.

Purdue wasn’t known for quarterbacks back then, but Dale Samuels, a first-year starter who stood just 5-foot-9, began to shape the team’s tradition. He completed nine passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns. The Boilers jumped ahead 21-0, but Notre Dame came back with two scores before Samuels found Mike Maccioli for a 56-yard touchdown pass. Notre Dame had not lost at home since 1942.

“The party on campus lasted two days,” Palm said. “They canceled class on the following Monday. There was a pep rally and everybody came out. Nobody was in a learning mood.”

The hangover seemingly impacted the team, as Purdue lost its next six games before finishing with a win over Indiana. The (Lafayette) Journal and Courier reported that 40 million people learned about the outcome through radio or newsreels. Among them: a high school student in Ohio who was an aspiring pilot and engineer. His name: Neil Armstrong.

“He credits hearing those highlights on the radio as one of his first exposures to Purdue,” Palm said. “He graduated in ’55.”

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Buffs coach: Stars ‘should be going 1-2’ in draft

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Buffs coach: Stars 'should be going 1-2' in draft

BOULDER, Colo. — For the horde of NFL talent evaluators and some bleachers full of fans, Colorado coach Deion Sanders said Friday that they all got to see the top two players available in this year’s NFL draft.

Quarterback Shedeur Sanders and Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter were among the 16 Colorado players who took part in the school’s showcase event for scouts, coaches and personnel executives from every NFL team. And Deion Sanders said the two marquee players confirmed what he has known for a long time.

“It’s tremendous,” Sanders said. “… They should be going 1-2 [in the draft], that’s the way I feel about it. They are the two best players in this draft. … The surest bets in this draft are those two young men, and I didn’t stutter or stammer when I said that.”

Neither Shedeur Sanders nor Hunter took part in most of the position drills or physical testing, but Sanders had a throwing session for just under an hour and Hunter was one of the wide receivers who participated. Neither player worked out at the scouting combine earlier this year, so it was the first time Sanders had thrown in such a setting since the end of the season. He showed some full seven-step drops and play-action from the shotgun and under center.

“I think I did pretty good, to my expectations,” said Sanders, who set the career FBS accuracy mark in his two years at Colorado (71.8%) to go with his 4,134 passing yards and 37 touchdowns last season. “I know I did the best in college football right now, for sure.”

Asked after the throwing session whether he believed he was the best quarterback in the draft, Sanders said: “I feel like I’m the No. 1 quarterback, and that’s what I know. But at the end of the day, I’m not stuck on that because it’s about the situation, so whatever situation, whatever franchise believes in me, I’m excited to go. … I’m comfortable in any situation.”

Players Hunter, who did not speak to the media after the workout, and Sanders met with the Cleveland Browns contingent, including team co-owner Jimmy Haslam, on Thursday night in Boulder.

“They got me really full,” Sanders said. “I definitely needed to go to the sauna after that. … It was a good vibe.”

Said Deion Sanders said: “[I] spoke to the owner, truly delightful. He was engaging. … I think one of those guys is going to be there [at No. 2].”

Hunter, the No. 1 player on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board, did not do any defensive drills Friday, but he ran a full assortment of routes.

Colorado safety Shilo Sanders, Shedeur’s brother, offered plenty of encouragement, shouting commentary and clapping after each throw, including “not a lot of quarterbacks can make that throw” after one deep completion.

The highly attended event — by NFL representatives as well as fans packing small bleachers — had a festive atmosphere. Deion Sanders named it the “We Ain’t Hard 2 Find Showcase,” complete with a large lighted “The Showcase” sign next to the drills.

Hunter, who has said he wants to play offense and defense in the NFL, won the Chuck Bednarik (top defensive player) and Fred Biletnikoff (top receiver) awards in addition to the Heisman. He said whether he will primarily be a wide receiver or a cornerback in the NFL depends “on the team that picks me.”

On Friday, Deion Sanders said “ain’t nobody like Travis.”

Hunter had 96 catches for 1,258 yards and 15 touchdowns as a receiver last season to go with 35 tackles, 11 pass breakups and 4 interceptions at cornerback. In the Buffaloes’ regular-season finale against Oklahoma State, he became the only FBS player in the past 25 years with three scrimmage touchdowns on offense and an interception in the same game, according to ESPN Research.

He played 1,380 total snaps in Colorado’s 12 regular-season games: 670 on offense, 686 on defense and 24 on special teams. He played 1,007 total snaps in 2023.

Shilo Sanders, who hoped to show teams more speed than expected, ran a 4.52 40-yard dash after he measured in at 5-foot-11⅞, 196 pounds. He did not participate in the jumps or bench press that opened the workout, citing a right shoulder injury.

With all NFL eyes on the Colorado campus to see Shedeur Sanders throw, one player who made the most of it was wide receiver Will Sheppard. Sheppard, who measured 6-2¼, 196 pounds, ran the 40 in 4.56 and 4.54 to go with a 40½-inch vertical jump and a 10-foot-11 broad jump.

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O’s Henderson off IL; will make ’25 debut vs. KC

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O's Henderson off IL; will make '25 debut vs. KC

Baltimore Orioles All-Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson was activated from the 10-day injured list and will make his season debut Friday night against the Kansas City Royals.

Henderson has been sidelined with a right intercostal strain and missed the first seven games of the big league campaign.

The 23-year-old Henderson will lead off and play shortstop against the host Royals.

Henderson was injured during a spring training game Feb. 27. He was fourth in American League MVP voting last season when he batted .281 and racked up career bests of 37 homers and 92 RBIs.

Henderson completed a five-game rehab stint at Triple-A Norfolk on Wednesday. He batted .263 (5-for-19) with two homers and four RBIs and played four games at shortstop and one as the designated hitter. He did commit three errors.

“I think everybody’s looking forward to having Gunnar back on the team,” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said Thursday. “The rehab went really, really well. I talked to him a couple days ago, he feels great swinging the bat. The timing came, especially the last few days. He just had to get out there and get some reps defensively and get some games in, and it all went well.”

Baltimore optioned outfielder Dylan Carlson to Triple-A Norfolk to open up a roster spot. The 26-year-old was 0-for-4 with a run and RBI in two games this season.

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Life after OMG: Can 2025 Mets replicate their 2024 vibes?

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Life after OMG: Can 2025 Mets replicate their 2024 vibes?

When New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns attempted to assemble the best possible roster for the 2025 season this winter, the top priority was signing outfielder Juan Soto. Next was the need to replenish the starting rotation and bolster the bullpen. Then, days before pitchers and catchers reported for spring training, the lineup received one final significant reinforcement when first baseman Pete Alonso re-signed.

Acquiring a player with a singing career on the side didn’t make the cut.

“No, that is not on the list,” Stearns said with a smile.

Stearns’ decision not to re-sign Jose Iglesias, the infielder behind the mic for the viral 2024 Mets anthem “OMG,” was attributed to creating more roster flexibility. But it also hammered home a reality: The scrappy 2024 Mets, authors of a magical summer in Queens, are a thing of the past. The 2025 Mets, who will report to Citi Field for their home opener Friday, have much of the same core but also some prominent new faces — and the new, outsized expectations that come with falling two wins short of the World Series, then signing Soto to the richest contract in professional sports history.

But there’s a question surrounding this year’s team that you can’t put a price tag on: Can these Mets rekindle the magic — the vibes, the memes, the feel-good underdog story — that seemed to come out of nowhere to help carry them to Game 6 of the National League Championship Series last season?

“Last year the culture was created,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “It’s a matter of continuing it.”

For all the success Stearns has engineered — his small-market Milwaukee Brewers teams reached the postseason five times in eight seasons after he became the youngest general manager in history in 2015 — the 40-year-old Harvard grad, like the rest of his front office peers knows there’s no precise recipe for clubhouse chemistry. There is no culture projection system. No Vibes Above Replacement.

“Culture is very important,” Stearns said last weekend in the visiting dugout at Daikin Park before his club completed an opening-weekend series against the Houston Astros. “Culture is also very difficult to predict.”

Still, it seems the Mets’ 2024 season will be all but impossible to recreate.

There was Grimace, the purple McDonald’s blob who spontaneously became the franchise’s unofficial mascot after throwing out a first pitch in June. “OMG,” performed under Iglesias’ stage name, Candelita, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Latin Digital Songs chart, before a remix featuring Pitbull was released in October. Citi Field became a karaoke bar whenever Lindor stepped into the batter’s box with The Temptations’ “My Girl” as his walk-up song. Alonso unveiled a lucky pumpkin in October. They were gimmicks that might have felt forced if they hadn’t felt so right.

“I don’t know if what we did last year could be replicated because it was such a chaos-filled group,” Mets reliever Ryne Stanek said. “I don’t know if that’s replicable because there’s just too many things going on. I don’t know if that’s a sustainable model. But I think the expectation of winning is really important. I think establishing what we did last year and coming into this year where people are like, ‘Oh, no, that’s what we’re expecting to do,’ makes it different. It’s always a different vibe whenever you feel like you’re the hunter versus being the hunted.”

For the first two months last season, the Mets were terrible hunters. Lindor was relentlessly booed at Citi Field during another slow start. The bullpen got crushed. The losses piled up. The Mets began the season 0-5 and sunk to rock bottom on May 29 when reliever Jorge Lopez threw his glove into the stands during a 10-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers that dropped the team to 22-33.

That night, the Mets held a players-only meeting. From there, perhaps coincidentally, everything changed. The Mets won the next day, and 67 of their final 107 games.

This year, to avoid an early malaise and to better incorporate new faces like Soto and Opening Day starter Clay Holmes, players made it a point to hold meetings during spring training to lay a strong foundation.

“At the end of the day, we know who we are and that’s the beauty of our club,” Alonso said. “Not just who we are talent-wise, but who each individual is as a man and a personality. For us, our major, major strength is our collective identity as a unit.”

Organizationally, the Mets are attempting a dual-track makeover: Becoming perennial World Series contenders while not taking themselves too seriously.

The commemorative purple Grimace seat installed at Citi Field in September — Section 302, Row 6, Seat 12 in right field — remains there as part of a two-year contract. Last week, the franchise announced it will feature a New York-city themed “Five Borough” race at every home game — with a different mascot competing to represent each borough. For a third straight season, USA Today readers voted Citi Field — home of the rainbow cookie egg roll, among many other innovative treats — as having the best ballpark food in baseball.

In the clubhouse, their identity is evolving.

“I’m very much in the camp that you can’t force things,” Mets starter Sean Manaea said. “I mean, you can, but you don’t really end up with good results. And if you wait for things to happen organically, then sometimes it can take too long. So, there’s like a nudging of sorts. It’s like, ‘Let’s kind of come up with something, but not force it.’ So there’s a fine balance there and you just got to wait and see what happens.”

Stearns believes it starts with what the Mets can control: bringing positive energy every day and fostering a family atmosphere. It’s hard to quantify, but vibes undoubtedly helped fuel the Mets’ 2024 success. It’ll be a tough act to follow.

“It’s fluid,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I like where guys are at as far as the team chemistry goes and things like that and the connections and the relationships. But it’ll continue to take some time. And winning helps, clearly.”

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