Purdue 24-17 Illinois (Oct 3, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: Purdue · Illinois

Purdue2-324

Illinois2-317Final

Sat, Oct 3 · Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL), Champaign, Ill. · Crowd 60,670BTN

Purdue beat Illinois 24-17 as a 9.5-point underdog.

We had Illinois favored. Purdue won.

Next: Purdue beat Minnesota 41-13, Sat Oct 10

Next: Illinois beat Michigan State 38-37, Sat Oct 10

Top comment in the game thread

Broke: the reason we didn’t have live ref discussion was because it was all a CONSPIRACY Woke: we didn’t have life ref discussion because the technology sucked

Q4 4:29 · r/CFB game thread · Sat, Oct 3

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Purdue a 24% chance, and the closing betting line (Purdue was a 9.5-point underdog) put it at 22%.

FinalPurdue 24-17 IllinoisPurdue wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

The two plays that swung it

1Q2 14:57Moczulski 32-yd field goal no goodPurdue 27% → 37% (+10)
2Q2 0:21Houser 7-yd TD pass to Dixon, cuts it to 13-7Purdue 62% → 49% (−13)

The two plays that swung it

1Q2 14:57Moczulski 32-yd field goal no goodIllinois 73% → 63% (−10)
2Q2 0:21Houser 7-yd TD pass to Dixon, cuts it to 13-7Illinois 38% → 51% (+13)

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q2 3:30Officials flag Purdue for pass interference on Houser's throw to DixonJust keep running the most successful offensive play this season (debatable pass interference against Dixon)r/CFB game thread
Q3 0:13Illinois fans rip coach for going for it on fourth down instead of kicking a field goalWHY ARE WE NOT TAKING THE POINTSr/CFB game thread
Q4 7:22Purdue converts a first down as Illinois fans decry the defense's horrendous tacklingThis teams tackling is horrendous.r/CFB game thread
Q4 4:29Purdue fans mock Illinois offense and referees after Harris touchdownThis segment does not inspire any more confidence in the referees in this sportr/CFB game threadQuoted at the top of the page.
Q4 3:28Purdue's Slaughter intercepts Houser, sparking celebration of a likely conference winIf houser plays like this the rest of the season we aren’t winning another gamer/CFB game thread

Purdue’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Illinois -9.5), at 21% for Purdue (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Illinois or Purdue flair (308 and 548); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Purdue’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Purdue scored on 5 of its 10 drives; Illinois on 3 of its 9.

Purdue’s drives are teal, Illinois’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

From Illinois’s side

Illinois’s best moment: Houser 7-yd TD pass to Dixon, cuts it to 13-7 (Q2 0:21). It lifted Illinois’s win chance by 13 points.

How Illinois fans took it: “We are and it's a familiar feeling, like an old friend” r/CFB game thread

“illinois could be a national championship team and for some reason they’d come out against purdue looking like a MAC team”

A Purdue fan

When fans got loud

Busy

Fans saved the biggest reaction for the closing minutes.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was busy; the crowd was steady.

Two crowds, one game

The words each side’s fans used far more than the other side, from the game thread.

Illinois fans

houser“If houser plays like this the rest of the season we aren’t winning another game”

Both sets of fans kept coming back to: now, every, god, run.

Box score

Purdue 24, Illinois 17

Purdue covered +9.5 by 16.5. The total, 41, stayed under 62.5.

Team totals	Purdue	Illinois
Total yards	345	345
Passing	18 of 27, 255 yds	21 of 37, 225 yds
Rushing	33 for 90 yds	27 for 120 yds
First downs	19	26
Third down	5 of 11	7 of 13
Fourth down	0 of 0	0 of 1
Turnovers	0	1
Penalties	7 for 63 yds	4 for 46 yds
Time of possession	31:33	28:27

Purdue leaders

Passing Ryan Browne 18 of 27, 255 yds, 1 TD
Rushing Fame Ijeboi 19 for 65 yds; Antonio Harris 6 for 20 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Asaad Waseem 3 for 98 yds; Chauncey Magwood 4 for 53 yds

Illinois leaders

Passing Katin Houser 21 of 37, 225 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Aidan Laughery 12 for 49 yds; Katin Houser 8 for 42 yds
Receiving Collin Dixon 10 for 116 yds, 1 TD; Hudson Clement 4 for 72 yds

No rain through the game

72° at kickoff · no rain recorded

October game-day temperatures at Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 14:53 left3:17 p.m.

Purdue 0, Illinois 0 · Illinois 79% to win

no rain · 72°

Ijeboi 8-yd run

Where this weather comes from

Measured at Champaign - Willard airport, 5.1 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last 4 games

Purdue · 1-3

Rated 119th in our preseason ratings, 113th now.

1-3 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

L 10-49 vs Notre DameTop 25 #3 of 668

lost by 39 as a 27.5-point underdog

L 38-52 @ UCLATop 25 #48 of 668

lost by 14 as a 13.5-point underdog

L 36-38 vs Wake ForestTop 25 #80 of 668

lost by 2 as a 2.5-point underdog

W 44-19 vs Indiana State #226 of 668

won by 25 as a 35.5-point favorite

Last 4 games

Illinois · 2-2

Rated 70th in our preseason ratings, 59th now, up 11 spots.

2-2 in its last 4 — but nothing on this résumé beats a top-40 team yet.

L 19-42 @ Ohio StateTop 25 #2 of 668

lost by 23 as a 25.5-point underdog

W 48-10 vs Southern Illinois #154 of 668

won by 38 as a 34.5-point favorite

L 27-31 vs DukeTop 25 #67 of 668

lost by 4 as a 6-point favorite

W 42-23 vs UAB #55 of 668

won by 19 as a 25.5-point favorite

Week by week

Illinois

Wk 1Wvs UAB42-23
Wk 2Lvs Duke27-31
Wk 3Wvs Southern Illinois48-10
Wk 4Lat Ohio State19-42

Purdue

Wk 1Wvs Indiana State44-19
Wk 2Lvs Wake Forest36-38
Wk 3Lat UCLA38-52
Wk 4Lvs Notre Dame10-49

Power rating by week

Illinois is rated 4.7 points ahead as of week 4. Our power rating by week; higher is better.

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Illinois’s passing EPA against Purdue, 76 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Illinois’s EPA/play against Purdue’s defense
Illinois offense, 84th percentile · Purdue defense, 9th
Illinois’s passing EPA against Purdue’s defense
Illinois offense, 78th percentile · Purdue defense, 2nd
Illinois’s explosive plays against Purdue’s defense
Illinois offense, 60th percentile · Purdue defense, 1st

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

PurdueIllinois

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

The series

The series is tied 47-47-6

100 meetings since 1892 · Illinois has won the last 2

2025Illinois 43-27
2024Illinois 50-49
2023Purdue 44-19
2022Purdue 31-24
2021Purdue 13-9

Each line is Illinois’s chance to win through that meeting. Illinois is 1-3 in the meetings since 2018 that were still close in the fourth quarter.

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

Purdue fans are in a better mood than Illinois fans (39th vs 29th among FBS fanbases), even with Illinois favored.

Illinois favored by 9.5 · Total 62.5

How games like this usually go

Illinois by 9.5, on the usual path until Q2 14:57

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 385 games since 2025 with a favorite of 7.5 to 14.5 points.

The market

The spread moved 0.5 points toward Purdue.

The total rose 2 points.

The books’ cut: 4.3%, the margin built into the odds

Weather at kickoff

Mild and dry. Feels like 69° at kickoff.

Purdue at Illinois · Saturday, Oct. 3, 2026 · Memorial Stadium, Champaign

69°feels like at kickoff
Dryno rain at kickoff
100weather score, Ideal

At kickoff, Oct. 3, 2026.

Weather score: 0 to 100, higher is better, for the first 3 hours and 20 minutes of the game. Ideal is 100, Comfortable 90 to 99, Mixed 75 to 89, Rough 50 to 74, Harsh under 50.

Kickoff times that Saturday

Games in this time zone used 5 kickoff times that day, local time (kickoffs within 30 minutes of each other count as one). This game is ringed. At Memorial Stadium that day, a 2:30 pm or 6:45 pm kickoff would have scored 98, against 100 at 3:15 pm.

11 am: 100, Ideal
2:30 pm: 98, Comfortable
3:15 pm: 100, Ideal (this game)
6 pm: 99, Comfortable
6:45 pm: 98, Comfortable

Weather score at each kickoff time.

Tap a dot to read that kickoff time.

At kickoff, Oct. 3, 2026. Wind is not drawn here; gusts are in each score.

Home field

Illinois is worth +3.1 points (±4.1) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 31st percentile.

52% at home, 44% on the road against FBS opponents (26-24 home, 18-23 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -3.0 at home vs. away over 95 games — inside the ±6.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

The visitors travel about 73 miles to get here.

The story going in

Illinois fires Bobby HauckSep 27, 2026

Last meeting in our History pages

Purdue 34, Illinois 31Oct 8, 2016

Where next

Conference standings

Place in the conference, then conference record.

Illinois12th0-1
Purdue13th0-1

Full Big Ten standings

Purdue upsets Illinois 24-17