1961 Purdue Boilermakers football team

1961 Purdue Boilermakers football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 11
AP	No. 12
Record	6–3 (4–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Jack Mollenkopf (6th season)
MVP	Jack Elwell
Captain	Jack Elwell, Stan Sczurek
Home stadium	Ross–Ade Stadium

1961 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Minnesota	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Purdue	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1961 Purdue Boilermakers football team represented Purdue University during the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. Led by sixth-year head coach Jack Mollenkopf, the Boilermakers compiled and overall record of 6–3 with a mark of 4–2 in conference play, placing fourth in the Big Ten.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 23	at Washington*		Husky Stadium Seattle, WA	W 13–6	55,000
October 7	Notre Dame*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN (rivalry)	L 20–22	51,295
October 14	Miami (OH)*		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 19–6	41,924
October 21	at Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	L 14–16	66,805
October 28	No. 5 Iowa		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 9–0	50,127
November 4	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 23–9	35,077
November 11	No. 6 Michigan State		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	W 7–6	45,638
November 18	at No. 5 Minnesota	No. 7	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 7–10	67,081
November 25	at Indiana		Seventeenth Street Stadium Bloomington, IN (Old Oaken Bucket)	W 34–12	34,798–36,000
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game