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Purdue sets clock: Kickoff times announced for first three games

On3 imageby: Tom Dienhart05/28/26TomDienhart1

Start planning your tailgates: Purdue has announced kickoff times for its first three games of 2026.

• Sept. 4th (Friday) vs. Indiana State, 7 p.m. ET, BTN

• Sept. 12th vs. Wake Forest, 12 p.m. ET, FS1

• Sept. 19th at UCLA, 11 p.m. ET, BTN

For the second time in three years, Purdue will open at home vs. FCS Indiana State. The last time was 2024, with the Boilermakers posting a dominating 49-0 victory. The Boilers are 7-0 all-time vs. ISU.

This meeting with ISU was moved from Saturday, Sept. 5 to Friday, Sept. 4. Why? The Boilermaker brass wanted to mirror the early start to 2026 Purdue’s second foe will have: Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons will start their season Thursday, Sept. 3 vs. Akron. It’s all about having roughly the same number of days to prepare.

That visit from Wake Forest looms as a key early season game. The last time the Demon Deacons came to Ross-Ade Stadium, they stunned Purdue: 24-21 in 2002. The Boilers were done in by five turnovers and three missed Berin Lacevic fourth quarter field goals (46, 40 and 44 yards)–the final miss coming with 21 seconds left in the game. The teams last met in 2003 in Winston-Salem, with Purdue winning 16-10.

This will be Purdue’s first game at UCLA since 1979. That game in ’79 was played in the Los Angeles Coliseum, a 31-21 UCLA triumph. The 2026 meeting will be in the iconic Rose Bowl, where the Boilermakers last played on Jan. 1, 2001, vs. Washington in the “Grand Daddy of Them All.”

Purdue is 0-3-2 all-time vs. the Bruins, who are led by first-year coach Bob Chesney. This will be the first meeting between the schools since 1980, when UCLA took a 23-14 win in West Lafayette.

Prior to today, the only known game time was Washington’s visit to Purdue, a game slated for Friday night, Oct. 16, at 8 p.m. on FOX.

Purdue is coming off a 2-10 (0-9 Big Ten) effort in 2025, Barry Odom’s maiden voyage as Boiler boss. The program is in the midst of a school record 18-game Big Ten losing skid and has gone 3-21 overall the last two seasons with no victories vs. Power Four foes.

2026 Purdue schedule

DateOpponent, Kickoff time, Network
Sept. 4 (Friday)Indiana State, 7 p.m. ET, BTN
Sept. 12 Wake Forest, 12 p.m. ET, FS1
Sept. 19at UCLA, 11 p.m., ET, BTN
Sept. 26Notre Dame
Oct. 3at Illinois
Oct. 10Minnesota
Oct. 16 (Friday)Washington, 8 p.m. ET, FOX
OFF
Oct. 31at Penn State
Nov. 7Maryland
Nov. 14at Iowa
Nov. 21Wisconsin
Nov. 28at Indiana

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