1941 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1941 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fifth season under head coach Mal Elward, the Boilermakers compiled a 2–5–1 record, finished in a tie for seventh place in the Big Ten Conference with a 1–3 record against conference opponents, and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 62 to 27.^[1][2]

1941 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–5–1 (1–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Mal Elward (5th season)
MVP	Bill Combs
Captain	Tom Melton, Jim Miller
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium
Seasons ← 1940 1942 →

1941 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Minnesota $	5	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	0
No. 5 Michigan	3	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
No. 13 Ohio State	3	–	1	–	1			6	–	1	–	1
No. 11 Northwestern	4	–	2	–	0			5	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	3	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			3	–	5	–	0
Purdue	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	5	–	1
Indiana	1	–	3	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
Illinois	0	–	5	–	0			2	–	6	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

Purdue was ranked at No. 50 (out of 681 teams) in the final rankings under the Litkenhous Difference by Score System for 1941.^[3]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 27	Vanderbilt*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 0–3	17,000	[4]
October 4	at Pittsburgh*	Pitt Stadium Pittsburgh, PA	W 6–0	24,000	[5]
October 18	at No. 10 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 14–16	66,074	[6]
October 25	Iowa	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 7–6	22,000	[7]
November 1	at No. 3 Fordham*	Polo Grounds New York, NY	L 0–17	20,500	[8]
November 8	Michigan State*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	T 0–0	17,000	[9]
November 15	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 0–13	25,000	[10]
November 22	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	L 0–7	23,000	[11]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

^[12]

References

1. "Purdue Yearly Results (1940-1944)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2015.
2. "1941 Purdue Boilermakers Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
3. Dr. E. E. Litkenhous (December 26, 1941). "Gophers Grid Kings Over 6-Year Span: Tennessee 2d, Pitt 3d Over Period Litkenhous Ratins Are Published". The Courier-Journal. p. Sports 4 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Vanderbilt Wins With Field Goal". The Indianapolis Star. September 28, 1941. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
5. Chester L. Smith (October 5, 1941). "Panthers Drop Opening Game To Boilermakers, 6-0: Petty Hits Tackle For Purdue Score". The Pittsburgh Press. p. III-7 – via Newspapers.com.
6. Si Burick (October 19, 1941). "16-Point Lead Barely Holds Up For Bucks". Dayton Daily News. p. 1 – via Newspapers.com.
7. W. Blaine Patton (October 26, 1941). "Boilermakers Shade Iowa: Take Home-Coming Tilt by 7-to-6 Score". The Indianapolis Star. p. 37 – via Newspapers.com.
8. Jack Smith (November 2, 1941). "Rams Overpower Purdue, 17 to 0". New York Daily News. p. 88 – via Newspapers.com.
9. Harold Harrison (November 9, 1941). "Purdue In 0-0 Tie: Boilermaker Threats Fail". The Muncie Sunday Star. p. Sports 1 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Henry J. McCormick (November 16, 1941). "Last Period Badger Spurt Tips Purdue, 13-0". Wisconsin State Journal. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
11. W. Blaine Patton (November 23, 1941). "Indiana Beats Purdue: Takes Bitter Bucket Tilt By 7-0 Score". The Indianapolis Star. pp. 41–42 – via Newspapers.com.
12. "2022 Purdue Football Record Book" (PDF). Purdue University Athletics. p. 85. Retrieved January 29, 2023.