1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University in the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by second-year head coach Jim Young, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 9–2–1 with a mark of 6–1–1 in conference play, placing third in the Big Ten. Purdue was invited to the Peach Bowl, where the Boilermakers defeated Georgia Tech. The team played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

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
Record	9–2–1 (6–1–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jim Young (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Leon Burtnett (2nd season)
MVP	Keena Turner
Captains	Tim Eubank Willie Harris
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	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	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Michigan State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 21–14	60,355	[1]
September 23	Ohio*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 24–0	55,172	[2]
September 30	at Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)		L 6–10	59,075	[3]
October 7	Wake Forest*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 14–7	54,362	[4]
October 14	No. 16 Ohio State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 27–16	69,465	[5]
October 21	at Illinois	No. 19	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)		W 13–0	50,918	[6]
October 28	at Iowa	No. 17	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA		W 34–7	57,640	[7]
November 4	Northwestern	No. 14	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 31–0	64,232	[8]
November 11	at Wisconsin	No. 12	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI		T 24–24	78,986	[9]
November 18	at No. 7 Michigan	No. 15	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI		L 6–24	106,410	[10][11]
November 25	Indiana	No. 18	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 20–7	69,918	[12]
December 25	vs. Georgia Tech	No. 17	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium Atlanta, GA (Peach Bowl)	CBS	W 41–21	20,277	[13]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

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Game summaries

Michigan State

Team	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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• John Macon 19 rushes, 120 yards

Ohio

At Notre Dame

Wake Forest

Ohio State

Team	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

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At Illinois

• John Macon 32 rushes, 126 yards
• Russell Pope 25 rushes, 118 yards

At Iowa

Team	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

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Northwestern

At Wisconsin

• John Macon 32 rushes, 117 yards

At Michigan

Indiana

• Mike Augustyniak 23 rushes, 135 yards

Peach Bowl (vs. Georgia Tech)

Personnel

1978 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Mike Augustyniak QB Steve Barr WR Bart Burrell RB Frank Doria TE Tim Eubank OT Henry Fiel WR Tony Gallivan RB Labraunt Harris WR Mike Harris G John LeFeber QB 9 Mark Herrmann So RB Wally Jones RB Ron Keith TE Neil Lucklanow FB John Macon RB Don McAfee RB Ben McCall OT Steve McKenzie RB Jim Meyer QB Chuck Oliver RB Russell Pope RB Robert Pruitt C Pete Quinn RB Dwight Robinson G Dale Schwan WR Ray Smith RB Robert Williams TE Dave Young	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT Calvin Clark DE Ruben Floyd S Willie Harris DT Marcus Jackson LB Mark Johnason MG Ken Loushin LB Mike Marks CB Rick Moss LB Kevin Motts CB Wayne Smith S Rock Supan DE Keena Turner	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Dave Eagin P Joe Linville K Scott Sovereen	Head coach Jim Young Coordinators/assistant coaches Bob Bockrath Leon Burtnett Mike Hankwitz Randy Hart Doug Redmann Bob Spoo Larry Thompson Ed Zaunbrecher Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

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

Statistics

Passing

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