1953 Purdue Boilermakers football team

The 1953 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1953 Big Ten Conference football season. In their seventh season under head coach Stu Holcomb, the Boilermakers compiled a 2–7 record, finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference with a 2–4 record against conference opponents, and were outscored by their opponents by a total of 167 to 89.

1953 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	2–7 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Stu Holcomb (7th season)
MVP	Tom Bettis
Captain	Tom Bettis, John Kerr
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1953 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan State +	5	–	1	–	0			9	–	1	–	0
No. 7 Illinois +	5	–	1	–	0			7	–	1	–	1
No. 15 Wisconsin	4	–	1	–	1			6	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	3	–	1			4	–	4	–	1
No. 20 Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
No. 9 Iowa	3	–	3	–	0			5	–	3	–	1
Purdue	2	–	4	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Indiana	1	–	5	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Northwestern	0	–	6	–	0			3	–	6	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Notable players on the 1953 Purdue team included guard Tom Bettis.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	at Missouri*	Faurot Field Columbia, MO	L 7–14	19,000
October 3	No. 1 Notre Dame*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 7–37	49,135
October 10	at No. 8 Duke*	Duke Stadium Durham, NC	L 14–20	30,000
October 17	Wisconsin	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 19–28	36,000–36,500
October 24	No. 2 Michigan State	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 6–0	35,000
October 31	at No. 4 Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 0–21	57,210
November 7	Iowa	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 0–26	35,000
November 14	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 6–21	77,465
November 21	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 30–0	33,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game