Oregon Ducks vs Purdue Boilermakers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Friday, 10/18/24

This has been a tried and true situational play that I’ve gone to many times in the past, and it’s just hard to ignore the dream spot we’re getting with Purdue on Friday night. The Boilermakers are in the position of hosting an Oregon team that is fresh off what is quite possibly its biggest regular season win in program history, after the Ducks knocked off Ohio State in an instant classic at Autzen Stadium last Saturday. This is a team that might still be celebrating this win by the time they board the plane and travel across multiple time zones to take on this Purdue team on a short week. As we know, this sort of travel has been a major issue for teams in this conference thus far, as Big Ten teams are currently 3-10 this season when traveling across two or more time zones for a conference game. Furthermore, Oregon also has a home game with a top 25 opponent in Illinois on deck, so it would be hard to expect the Ducks to be completely locked in for a weeknight game against a considerably inferior opponent. 

Even putting aside the obvious letdown spot potential of this game, there’s a reason why Purdue has been dubbed as the “spoilermakers” by college football fans in recent years. The Boilermakers have repeatedly shown a propensity to pull off upsets at home against top 5 opponents who have just come off massive victories (see: Ohio State in 2018, Iowa in 2021, Michigan State in 2021, just to name a few). Statistically, there’s very little that Purdue does well, but the Boilermakers did show some life by inserting in backup quarterback Ryan Browne into the game last week as heavy underdogs against Illinois. After falling behind by a three touchdown margin in the first half, Purdue ultimately rallied from a huge deficit by scoring 40 points in the second half to send the game to overtime. Even though Purdue ultimately lost that game in overtime, perhaps that comeback will give this program some much-needed life heading into a massive opportunity to shock the college football world by pulling off another top 5 upset at home this week. 

This game shouldn’t be all that close on paper, but given the situational spot, it’s hard to overlook the motivational edge for Purdue in this one. Ultimately, I could end up with egg on my face if the Ducks play anywhere near up to their standard in this game, but I’ll roll the dice and back the home underdog on a Friday night.

Oregon vs Purdue prediction: Purdue +28 available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

If you’re looking for a new sportsbook, check out Bet365, the world’s #1 sportsbook. They have an amazing sign-up offer where you can INSTANTLY receive $200 in bonus bets from a $5 wager, regardless of whether that bet wins or loses! There’s no catch, it’s really that simple. ⏰ in time to fade or follow our experts’ Oregon vs Purdue predictions.