Sport lends itself to superstitions, or even a little stitious, and if that fits you and you’re a Purdue football fan, you may already know the troubles facing the Boilermakers this week.
When Purdue takes the field against Big Ten rival Illinois, it not only hopes to avenge last season’s overtime loss, but also hopes to win its first game the days after pop icon Taylor Swift releases an album. Now that is a tall order for first-year coach Barry Odom.
He may or may not have known that Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” was due to release this fall, and may or may not have known Purdue’s history in games within the seven days afterward. What Odom has done in his first season as big whistle is establish a winning identity, which the Boilermakers hope to get back to after a two-game losing streak and a bye week.
Quarterback Ryan Browne is in his first season as full-time starter, though his first career start was in that 50-49 loss to the Illini last season. Browne surely has grown in confidence and ability, even Illinois coach Bret Bielema noted that.
Purdue (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten) has fought through some growing pains. It hosts an Illinois team that was dismissed 63-10 by Indiana, and then looked to do the same against USC before having to come back in a 34-32 win. That propelled the Illini (4-1, 1-1) to No. 21 in the US LBM coaches rankings.
It’ll be a tough test for the Boilermakers to win the Purdue Cannon trophy. Here’s a list of Swift album releases and Purdue’s results in the seven days after, having lost eight such games.
Purdue football record after Taylor Swift album release
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Can Purdue football finally break its Taylor Swift curse?
Reporting by Aaron Ferguson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
