The 1956 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

during the 1956 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach

Jack Mollenkopf Kenneth Webster "Jack" Mollenkopf (November 24, 1903 – December 4, 1975) was the head football coach at Purdue University from 1956 until 1969. Mollenkopf was also an assistant coach at Purdue from 1947 to 1955 under Stu Holcomb. Mollenkopf wa ...

, the Boilermakers compiled a 3–4–2 record, finished in a tie for seventh place in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

with a 1–4–2 record against conference opponents, and outscored opponents by a total of 139 to 122. Notable players on the 1956 Purdue team include quarterback

Len Dawson Leonard Ray Dawson (June 20, 1935 – August 24, 2022) was an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL) for 19 seasons, primarily with the Kansas City Chiefs franchise. Aft ...

, fullback Mel Dillard, and end

Lamar Lundy Lamar J. Lundy, Jr. (April 17, 1935 – February 24, 2007) was an American defensive end with the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League for 13 seasons, from 1957 to 1969. Along with Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, and Rosey Grier, Lundy w ...

Pre-season

On December 9, 1955, Purdue head coach Stu Holcomb resigned his position and signed a five-year contract as the athletic director at Northwestern. Four days later, Purdue president

Frederick L. Hovde Frederick Lawson Hovde (7 February 1908 – 1 March 1983) was an American chemical engineer, researcher, educator and president of Purdue University. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania, Hovde received his Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the Unive ...

announced that Holcomb's top assistant,

, had been signed to a three-year contract as Purdue's head football coach.

Schedule

Roster

Game summaries

Missouri

In the first game under head coach Mollenkopf, Purdue defeated Missouri, 16–7, before a crowd of 46,455 at

Ross–Ade Stadium Ross–Ade Stadium is a stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, on the campus of Purdue University. It is the home field of Purdue Boilermakers football. The stadium was dedicated on November 22, 1924, and named in honor of Purdue alumni George Ade ...

Lafayette, Indiana Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...

. Purdue halfback Tom Fletcher rushed for 154 yards on 22 carries, including a 35-yard touchdown run. Purdue quarterback

completed eight of 17 passes for 118 yards.

Minnesota

Minnesota defeated Purdue, 21–14, before a crowd of 59,314 at Memorial Stadium in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. Fullback Dick Borstad scored two Minnesota touchdowns on runs of 23 yards and one yard. Purdue quarterback

completed seven of 13 passes for 102 yards and three interceptions. Mel Dillard rushed for 120 yards on 25 carries.

Notre Dame

Purdue defeated Notre Dame (ranked No. 18 in the AP Poll), 28–14, before a crowd of 58,778 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend. Purdue back Mel Dillard rushed for 142 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries.

Wisconsin

Purdue and Wisconsin played to a 6–6 tie before a Dad's Day crowd of 53,094 at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. Danny Lewis ran 30 yards for a Wisconsin touchdown in the first quarter, and

threw a touchdown pass to

in the second quarter. Neither team converted its extra point.

Iowa

Iowa (ranked No. 12 in the AP Poll) defeated Purdue, 21–20, before a crowd of 41,415 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette. Purdue quarterback

threw two touchdown passes, and Mel Dillard ran for a third. Iowa also scored three touchdowns, with the difference being a missed extra point. Purdue drove into Iowa territory late in the game, but Purdue fumbled at the 25-yard line with a minute and a half remaining in the game.

Illinois

Illinois and Purdue played to a 7–7 tie before a homecoming crowd of 46,166 at Ross–Ade Stadium in West Lafayette.

Michigan State

Michigan State (ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll) defeated Purdue, 12–9, before a crowd of 56,431 at Macklin Stadium in East Lansing. Purdue was a three touchdown underdog without

but scored on a touchdown run by Mel Dillard and a safety triggered by Fletcher tackling Martin in the end zone. Michigan State scored two touchdowns, a 27-yard pass from

Jim Ninowski James Ninowski, Jr. (born March 26, 1936), aka "Nino", is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins and New Orleans Saints. He played college football ...

to Harold Dukes, and a fumble recovery by Tony Kolodziej in Purdue's end zone.

Northwestern

Northwestern defeated Purdue, 14–0, before a crowd of 32,000 at Dyche Stadium in Evanston. Northwestern recovered five of seven Purdue fumbles and intercepted three passes. Four of the fumbles were recovered by Al Viola. After the game, Edward Prell wrote in the ''Chicago Tribune'' that Northwestern had in 1956 been "brought back to life by its new 33 year old coach, Ara Parseghian."

Indiana

In the annual battle for the

Old Oaken Bucket The Old Oaken Bucket is a traveling trophy awarded in American college football as part of the rivalry between the Indiana Hoosiers football team of Indiana University and Purdue Boilermakers football team of Purdue University. It was first awa ...

, Purdue defeated Indiana, 39–20, at Ross-Ade Stadium in Lafayette, Indiana. In his final college game, Purdue quarterback

threw two touchdown passes, both caught by end

. Mel Dillard rushed for 130 yards (on 24 carries) and three touchdowns in the game and a conference high 873 yards for the season. The game proved to be a battle for last place in the conference, with Purdue finishing in ninth place and Indiana in tenth and last place.

Awards and statistics

Purdue fullback Mel Dillard was recognized by both the Associated Press and the United Press as a first-team player on the 1956 All-Big Ten Conference football team. Purdue players led the Big Ten in rushing yards, total offense, and passing yards. Dillard led the conference with 873 rushing yards and 902 yards of total offense. Quarterback

led the conference with 856 passing yards.

ranked fifth in the Big Ten with 248 receiving yards.

1957 NFL Draft

The following Purdue players were among the first 100 picks in the 1957 NFL Draft:

References

{{Purdue Boilermakers football navbox Purdue Purdue Boilermakers football seasons

Purdue Boilermakers football The Purdue Boilermakers football team represents Purdue University in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. Purdue plays its home games at Ross–Ade Stadium on the campus of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. ...