The SportsWire

Purdue at #16Iowa

Prediction · week 11, 2026 · Sat Nov 14, 6:30 PM CT · Kinnick Stadium

Updated Tue Nov 10, 6:06 AM CT

Purdue3-6 · 2-4 Big Ten
Upcoming
#16 Iowa7-2 · 4-2 Big Ten · CFP #19

Sat Nov 14, 6:30 PM CT · Kinnick Stadium

Our call: Iowa by 20.5 · 91% pregame win chance

PURPurdue · 3-6 Sat Nov 14, 6:30 PM CT IOWAIowa · 7-2

9%Our win chance91%

Our win chance: Iowa 91% · Purdue 9% · experimental, see how it is tested

Make your pick →

Model comparison

10 of 10 models favor Iowa

ModelSaysWin chanceUse this
Elo
Purdue 1408 vs Iowa 1925
Iowa by 23.2Iowa 95%Use this
Sonny Moore
Purdue +74.6 vs Iowa +92.3
Iowa by 21.8Iowa 94%Use this
SP+
Purdue -2.4 vs Iowa +16.4
Iowa by 21.3Iowa 94%Use this
Our model · experimental
Purdue -1.1 vs Iowa +13.5
Iowa by 17.1Iowa 89%Use this
The Margin
The Margin's model
Iowa by 17Iowa 89%Use this
Market
the market's pregame margin
Iowa by 16.5Iowa 88%Use this
ESPN FPI
Purdue +1.3 vs Iowa +14.7
Iowa by 15.8Iowa 87%Use this
SRS
Purdue +2.1 vs Iowa +15.2
Iowa by 15.6Iowa 87%Use this
Sagarin
Purdue +73.5 vs Iowa +86.0
Iowa by 15.1Iowa 86%Use this
Record
Iowa 7-2, Purdue 3-6
Iowa (better record)–Use this
Our call
average of SP+, Elo and Our model
Iowa by 20.5Iowa 91%Use this

Each margin is from the same weekly ratings the team pages use: SP+ and Elo from their rating gap, the home team given 2.5 points (none at a neutral site); Our model is this site's experimental rating; Market is the margin the market expected before kickoff; ESPN FPI, SRS, Sagarin and Sonny Moore are rating gaps like SP+'s (each with its own home field), The Margin is that site's own model, and Record names the team with the better record (the home team on equal records). How these work ›

Matchup efficiency

Efficiency matchup · season to date · Iowa 9 games, Purdue 9 games

Edge: Iowa wins 4 of 5

Iowa moves the ball better, stops plays better, is more disruptive and allows fewer big plays. Purdue has the edge on big plays.

Iowalonger bar = betterPurdue
  • 46%✓ Moves the ballsuccessful plays 42%
  • 36%✓ Stops playssuccessful plays allowed 47%
  • 17%✓ Disruptionsacks, TFLs, turnovers 13%
  • 1.14 Big playson offense ✓1.34
  • 1.09✓ Big plays allowedon defense 1.39

Run game, head to head · season to date

Iowa's runs work 44% of the time; Purdue's run defense allows 47%. Purdue's runs work 41% of the time; Iowa's run defense allows 33%.

More numbers
MeasureIowaPurdueEdge
Off. success rate45.7%42.1%Iowa
Off. explosiveness1.141.34Purdue
Def. success rate allowed35.6%46.7%Iowa
Def. explosiveness allowed1.091.39Iowa
Havoc created17.3%13.0%Iowa
  • Run game, success rate: Iowa offense 44.2% · Purdue defense allows 47.1% · edge: Iowa
  • Run game, success rate: Purdue offense 40.9% · Iowa defense allows 32.6% · edge: Iowa
  • Run game, PPA per play: Iowa offense +0.09 · Purdue defense allows +0.23 · edge: Iowa
  • Run game, PPA per play: Purdue offense +0.09 · Iowa defense allows -0.17 · edge: Iowa
  • Success rate: how often a play does its job, gaining enough yards to keep the offense on schedule.
  • Explosiveness: how big a team's successful plays are on average; a higher number means more big gains.
  • Havoc: how often the defense blows up a play with a sack, a tackle for loss, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • PPA (predicted points added): how many points an average play is worth to the offense; above zero is good for the offense, below zero good for the defense.

How to read this

  • Each row compares the two teams on one measure of how well they have played this season, offense and defense, using every game so far with garbage time (plays late in a decided game) left out.
  • The run game rows pair one team's rushing offense with the other's run defense. The row goes to whichever side is further from the FBS baseline this season, the offense by how far it runs above it, the defense by how much less it allows (baseline: run success rate 42%, PPA per play +0.07, the midpoint of what FBS offenses gain and FBS defenses allow, since both also play FCS teams), so two strong sides or two weak ones are judged by which is the more so. Edges within 3 points of success rate or 0.05 PPA are even. A strong run offense against a weak run defense is where a team can control the game on the ground.
  • In the five rows at the top the longer bar is the better number: bars are scaled within each row, and in the two "allowed" rows the lower number gets the longer bar.
  • Success rate is the share of plays that kept the offense on schedule (half the yards needed on first down, most of them on second, all of them on third or fourth). Explosiveness is how big the successful plays were, on average, in points. Havoc is the share of the opponent's snaps the defense wrecked: a tackle for loss, a sack, a takeaway or a pass broken up.
  • "Allowed" rows are what each defense gave up, so the lower value wins.
  • These are not adjusted for who each team has played, so a light schedule flatters a team, and early in the season they rest on very few games.
  • Metrics explained: success rate, explosiveness and havoc ›

The prediction

All 10 models favor Iowa.

SP+ has Iowa by 21.3, Elo has Iowa by 23.2, Our model has Iowa by 17.1, ESPN FPI has Iowa by 15.8, SRS has Iowa by 15.6, Sagarin has Iowa by 15.1, Sonny Moore has Iowa by 21.8, The Margin has Iowa by 17.0, and Market has Iowa by 16.5. They are within 8.0 points of each other.

Last 5 meetings

Purdue leads 50–41–3 · last: Iowa 20–14, 2023 · Iowa has won 2 straight

SeasonResultSite
2023Iowa 20–14Kinnick Stadium
2022Iowa 24–3Ross-Ade Stadium
2021Purdue 24–7Kinnick Stadium
2020Purdue 24–20Ross-Ade Stadium
2019Iowa 26–20Kinnick Stadium

Team pages