1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University during the 1972 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by Bob DeMoss in his third and final season as head coach, the Boilermakers compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 6–2 in conference play, placing third in the Big Ten. Purdue played home games at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

1972 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–5 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Bob DeMoss (3rd season)
MVP	Otis Armstrong
Captains	Otis Armstrong Dave Butz
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1972 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 6 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 9 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Purdue	6	–	2	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Michigan State	5	–	2	–	1			5	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Illinois	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Wisconsin	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	1	–	8	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

This was the first season in which Purdue played an 11-game schedule. Every Big Ten team except the Boilermakers and Ohio State added an 11th game for the first time in 1971. The Buckeyes did not play an 11-game slate until 1974.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	1:30 p.m.	Bowling Green*	No. 18	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 14–17	51,859
September 23		No. 15 Washington*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 21–22	60,102
September 30		at No. 10 Notre Dame*		Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	L 14–35	59,075
October 7		at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	W 24–0	54,576
October 14		at Minnesota		Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 28–3	37,287
October 21		Northwestern		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 37–0	63,049
October 28		Illinois		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	W 20–14	61,784
November 4		at Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 12–22	58,649
November 11		Wisconsin		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 27–6	53,507
November 18		at No. 3 Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 6–9	88,423
November 25		Indiana		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 42–7	65,065
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

Washington

• Gary Danielson 16 rushes, 213 yards

At Minnesota

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Purdue	0	7	14	7	28
Minnesota	0	3	0	0	3

• Date: October 14
• Location: Memorial Stadium • Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Game attendance: 37,287

Scoring summary

2		PUR	Armstrong 5-yard run (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 7-3
2		MINN	Golberg 25-yard field goal	Purdue 7-3
3		PUR	Armstrong 97-yard kickoff return (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 14-3
3		PUR	Carter 45-yard fumble return (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 21-3
4		PUR	Bobrowski 4-yard run (Bobrowski kick)	Purdue 28-3

• Otis Armstrong 25 rushes, 152 yards

Northwestern

• Otis Armstrong 32 rushes, 233 yards

Wisconsin

• Otis Armstrong 19 rushes, 169 yards

Indiana

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Indiana	0	7	0	0	7
• Purdue	7	7	7	21	42

• Date: November 25
• Location: Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN
• Game attendance: 65,065

Scoring summary

1		PUR	Otis Armstrong 2-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 7-0
2		PUR	Darryl Stingley 79-yard pass from Gary Danielson (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 14-0
2		IND	Dennis Cremeens 2-yard run (Sven Chris Gartner kick)	PUR 14-7
3		PUR	Otis Armstrong 71-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 21-7
4		PUR	Gary Danielson 5-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 28-7
4		PUR	Otis Armstrong 53-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 35-7
4		PUR	Bo Bobrowski 5-yard run (Frank Conner kick)	PUR 42-7

Otis Armstrong carried 32 times for 276 yards, breaking his own single-game school rushing record (233) and passing Wisconsin's Alan Ameche for most career rushing yards in the Big Ten with 3,316.

Roster

1972 Purdue Boilermakers football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL Mike Albright RB Otis Armstrong QB Bo Bobrowski QB 18 Gary Danielson Sr OL Frank DiLieto RB Bob Herrick TE Gary Hrivnak RB Roy Kidd OL Don Myers OL Rich Ostriker RB Bill Pedhoretzky OL Ralph Perretta RB Skip Peterson WR Dane Roman TE Barry Santini WR Rick Sayers OL Steve Schaefer OL Donn Smith RB Jack Spellman RB Darryl Stingley	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL Mike Barr DL Steve Baumgartner DL Gregg Bingham DL Dave Butz DB Carl Capria DB Arnold Carter DB Fred Cooper LB Mark Gefert DL Bronco Keser DB Bill Knox LB Joe Monago LB Ron North DB Chuck Piebes DB Tim Racke DL Joe Tenkman	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Bob DeMoss Coordinators/assistant coaches George Catavolos Ned Maloney Tony Mason Tom Roggeman Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt