Purdue opens its 136th season of football, including the 100th at Ross-Ade Stadium, by hosting Fresno State in a non-conference matchup. The battle against the reigning Mountain West champs kicks off at noon on BTN.

The Boilermakers and Bulldogs are meeting for the first time in history, and it is just the fourth time Purdue has faced a current member of the Mountain West Conference.

Ryan Walters makes his debut as head coach of the Boilermakers. The 37-year old became the 37th head coach in Purdue Football history on December 13, 2022 after serving as coordinator for the nation's No. 1 scoring defense throughout the 2022 season.

Purdue enters the 2023 season as the reigning Big Ten West champions, capturing the division title for the first time in school history. The Boilermakers won eight regular season games, including six conference matchups, reaching both win totals in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1997-1998 when Joe Tiller served as Purdue's head coach.

A NEW ERA                                                                                              
• Ryan Walters, considered one of the nation's fastest rising young coaches, was named the 37th head football coach at Purdue.
• In his second season as defensive coordinator for Illinois in 2022, Walters emerged as one of the nation's best defensive play callers by guiding the nation's No. 1 scoring defense (12.3) and No. 2 defense in yards allowed per game (263.8).
• Behind Walters' defense, the Illini recorded five wins holding their opponents under seven points and seven wins at 10 points or fewer.
• Leading the Illini defense to Top 10 national rankings in 17 different defensive categories, Walters was named 247Sports Defensive Coordinator of the Year and On3 Coordinator of the Year.

A CENTURY OF MEMORIES                                                                   
• The Boilermakers celebrate their 100th season at Ross-Ade Stadium with a new south end zone stand for students and the Tiller Tunnel that connects back to the Kozuch Football Performance Center.
• The Boilermakers enter the season with a 297-201-15 record at Ross-Ade Stadium.
• Purdue will become the eighth school from the Big Ten to amass 300 wins at their current stadium. That spot will be 10th when Washington and USC join the conference next year.
• Ross-Ade Stadium has played host to titanic clashes throughout the years as Purdue sent 11 AP top-5 teams home with a loss, including No. 2 Ohio State in 2018, No. 1 Michigan in 1953 and No. 1 Notre Dame in 1965.
• From the Cradle of Quarterbacks to the Den of Defensive Ends, countless legends of Purdue and college football have trod across the natural-grass field, including Boilermakers names like Len Dawson, Leroy Keyes, Joe Tiller, Drew Brees, Otis Armstrong and Jack Mollenkopf.

REIGNING B1G WEST CHAMPS                                                            
• Purdue enters the 2023 season as the reigning Big Ten West champions, capturing the division title for the first time in school history.
• The Boilermakers won three straight games to finish 6-3 in conference play, winning six B1G games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the 1997 and 1998 seasons under Joe Tiller.
• Purdue won eight regular season games in consecutive seasons for the first time since those same two Tiller teams as well.

TEAM CAPTAINS                                                                                     
• After having game-by-game captains for the past three seasons, Purdue will have season captains for the 2023 campaign.
• QB Hudson Card, C Gus Hartwig, DB Sanoussi Kane, OLB Nic Scourton and WR TJ Sheffield were voted captains by their teammates.

HONORARY CAPTAIN                                                                             
• Mike Alstott will serve as Purdue's honorary captain for the season opener.
• The bruising fullback enjoyed a stellar career, becoming one of the most-decorated and most-accomplished players ever to don the Old Gold and Black.
• He holds school record for rushing yards in a season (1,436 in 1995) and career (3,635) and most 100-yard rushing games in a season (9 in 1995) and career (16).
• As a senior, Alstott was named an All-American and placed 11th in voting for the Heisman Trophy, widely regarded as the nation's top fullback.
• Selected in the second round (No. 35 overall) of the 1996 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Alstott spent his entire 12-year National Football League career with that franchise from 1996 to 2007. He ended his career as Tampa Bay's career leader with 71 touchdowns (58 rushing and 13 receiving) and second with 5,088 rushing yards. He helped the Buccaneers win Super Bowl XXXVII 48-21 over the Oakland Raiders, scoring the first Super Bowl touchdown by a Purdue alum. Alstott was inducted into the team's Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium on Oct. 4, 2015.
• Alstott was inducted into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006.

AGE IS JUST A NUMBER                                                                        
• The Purdue coaching staff has brought some energy with them to West Lafayette as one of the youngest in the country.
• The average age of the staff is 39.
• Head coach Ryan Walters turned 37 in January.
• Outside linebackers coach Joe Dineen, named to the annual 30 Under 30 list by 247Sports, is the youngest on staff at age 27.
• DL coach Brick Haley (57) is the veteran of the group with 31 years of coaching experience.

OPPONENT SNAPSHOT                                                                         
• Purdue faces Fresno State for the first time in history.
• The Bulldogs are coming off a 10-win season in which they captured the Mountain West Championship with a 28-16 victory over Boise State in the conference title game.
• Fresno State lost quarterback Jake Haener to the NFL Draft but returns Logan Fife, who threw for 892 yards last season.
• Jeff Tedford enters his fifth season as the head coach of his alma mater, including his second straight season in his second stint as the program's leader.
• Tedford guided Fresno State from 2017-19 before returning as head coach for the 2022 campaign. He has led the Bulldogs to three 10-win seasons (2017, 2018, 2022).

WHAT CAME BACK                                                                                 
• Entering the 2023 campaign, Purdue returns 61 of 108 letterwinners from a season ago.
• The Boilermakers brought back five starters on offense in Devin Mockobee, TJ Sheffield, Tyrone Tracy, Mahamane Moussa, Marcus Mbow and Gus Hartwig.
• On the defensive side, Kydran Jenkins, Sanoussi Kane, OC Brothers and Cam Allen are the lone starting returners.
• The Boilermakers return one full-time specialist in third-year starter Jack Ansell, while Ben Freehill will take over field goal duties following last season as the kickoff specialist. Nic Taylor will make his starting debut in the long snapping spot.

THROWING IT BACK                                                                               
• Starting a new era of Purdue Football, the Boilermakers will give a nod to its past by wearing black throwback jerseys this season.
• The uniforms mirror the ones worn during the 2000 season, when quarterback Drew Brees and head coach Joe Tiller led Purdue to a Big Ten title and into the Rose Bowl.
• Purdue last wore the jerseys against Illinois, Walters' former team, in 2021.

A DAUNTING SCHEDULE                                                                       
• Purdue faces one of the toughest schedules in the country, starting with the season opener against a Fresno State team that won 10 games in 2022.
• The difficult non-conference slate continues with ACC opponents Virginia Tech (Sept. 9) and Syracuse (Sept. 16), making the Boilermakers one of only five Power 5 teams to play non-conference games against Power 5 opponents in back-to-back weeks (Colorado, Pitt, Utah, Virginia Tech).
• In conference play, Purdue faces a pair of opponents who made the College Football Playoff last season; the Boilermakers host Ohio State (Oct. 14) and travel to Michigan (Nov. 4).