1954 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1954 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1954 Big Ten Conference football season. In their eighth season under head coach Stu Holcomb, the Boilermakers compiled a 5–3–1 record, finished in approximately sixth place in the Big Ten Conference with a 3–3 record against conference opponents, and outscored all opponents by a combined total of about 165 to 134.[1][2]

1954 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1954 record	5–3–1 (3–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Stu Holcomb (8th season)
MVP	Tom Bettis
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1954 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Ohio State $	7	–	0	–	0			10	–	0	–	0
No. 9 Wisconsin	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 15 Michigan	5	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota	4	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
Iowa	4	–	3	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Indiana	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Michigan State	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	0			1	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Notable players on the 1954 Purdue team included quarterback Len Dawson, guard Tom Bettis, and end John Kerr.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result
September 25	Missouri*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 31–0
October 2	at No. 1 Notre Dame*	No. 19	Notre Dame Stadium South Bend, IN (rivalry)	W 27–14
October 9	No. 6 Duke*	No. 5	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	T 13–13
October 16	at No. 2 Wisconsin	No. 5	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 6–20
October 23	at Michigan State	No. 13	Macklin Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 27–13
October 30	Illinois	No. 9	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Purdue Cannon)	W 28–14
November 6	at No. 12 Iowa	No. 8	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 14–25
November 13	No. 2 Ohio State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 6–28
November 20	Indiana		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 13–7
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1954 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 16 Len Dawson So	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Stu Holcomb Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Purdue Yearly Results (1950-1954)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
2. "1954 Purdue Boilermakers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 6, 2015.