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Hammer and Rails

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Purdue Football: Rutgers Preview

With the basketball season tipping off (unofficially, of course) in Lexington tonight, it’s tempting to pretend like Purdue football no longer exists. As much as I’d like to move on to a more tasteful subject, I’m contractually obligated to continue covering football until there is no more football left to cover. Therefore, I present, without […]

How to Watch #1 Purdue at #9 Kentucky & Open Thread

It’s hard to believe we are finally here. It’s back, well sort of. Sure it’s an exhibition game and it doesn’t count, and the game is on a weird network where most of you might not be able to watch but hey it’s still basketball right!?!? Purdue comes into this one as the preseason #1 […]

12 Days to Purdue Basketball – #12 Daniel Jacobsen

As Purdue heads to Lexington today to play Kentucky in an exhibition, we are just one Daniel Jacobsen away from its season opener against Evansville on November 4th. Twelve days and Purdue will try to live up to its #1 billing, and that starts with the most reworked part of its rotation from last year’s […]

Purdue (2-5, 0-4) vs. Rutgers (3-4, 0-4) – Staff Predictions

Saturday’s game against the Scarlet Knights might be the last chance this Purdue team has to win a football game this season. That’s not a good feeling, but maybe it helps the team focus on the matchup as they find a way to win? I asked the staff for their predictions for this weekend’s contest. […]

Week 9 Big Ten Preview

This week’s highlights include a pair of big rivalry games as Minnesota goes to Iowa for the Floyd of Rosedale and Michigan State hosts Michigan. I supposed Purdue-Rutgers could also be considered a rivalry game, as both teams are definitely rivals this year with “winning Big Ten games”. I am also curious to see if […]

Interview with the Enemy: On the Banks with Rutgers

I reached out on Twitter this week to the folks who run On the Banks the Rutgers SB Nation site to see if they were interested in trading some questions in preparation for tomorrow’s game. They agreed and I was able to send some questions to Andrew Rice. Make sure to check out their site, […]

Purdue Basketball: Raleigh Burgess to Redshirt

One minor offseason storyline was brought to a conclusion today when Coach Painter announced that Raleigh Burgess will redshirt during the 2025-’26 season. This news wasn’t shocking considering Purdue’s front-court depth with the addition of Oscar Cluff and the return of Daniel Jacobson from injury, paired with Burgess’s offseason leg surgery for a stress fracture. […]

2025-26 Purdue Basketball: Let’s Have Some Fun

Can a Final Four be medicinal? As many of you know, I was away from Hammer & Rails, the site I started way back in 2009, for the past three years. Casey and I were doing our work over at Rivals.com before they were bought out by On3, ending a tenure that, in retrospect, feels […]

Xs and Ohs! Northwestern Blowout Loss

You may have heard that the website formerly known as Twitter has been purchased and is now X, a simply horrendous name in my opinion but then again I am not a billionaire so take my suggestions with a grain of salt. You may also know that we have historically shared our favorite tweets from […]

Boilers in the NFL: Week 7

A few good games from former Boilermakers this week. Check out who: Gus Hartwig – Jets – ReserveVs PanthersDNP Marcus Mbow – Giants – Active RosterAt BroncosDNP Tyrone Tracy Jr – Giants – Active RosterAt Broncos28 snaps (28 offense, 0 special teams), 9 rushes, 46 yards, 1 touchdown Sanoussi Kane – Ravens – Active RosterBYE […]

Hammer and Rails Readers Reacts Survey – UK Exhibition

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NCAA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Purdue fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. We’ve got two yes or no questions this week with one focused on football and one […]

17 Day to Purdue Basketball – #17 Omer Mayer

So I think we may have missed a day, but that just means we’re 16 days away from Purdue basketball starting. It’s gonna seem sooner with Purdue heading to Kentucky in just a few days to play in an exhibition game Friday on the road. But today we will take a look at the Israeli […]

Purdue Basketball: Opponent Preview – Iowa State Cyclones

Basic Information Location: Ames, Iowa Type of School: Public Land-Grant Research University Conference: Big 12 Mascot: Cy the Cardinal 2024-’25 Season: 2024 – ‘25 NCAA Tournament: Purdue Game Location: West Lafayette, Indiana Purdue Game Date / Time: Saturday, December 6, 2025 / 12 PM EST Head Coach – T.J. Otzelberger Seasons at Iowa State: Entering his fifth season […]

Braden Smith Named Preseason AP All-American

The Colts are off to a tremendous 6-1 start and own the best record in the NFL after seven weeks, and a large reason is Braden Smith, who is in the final year of a $71 million contract extension as he anchors a solid offensive line… … wait a minute… Oh, this is about THAT […]

Report: Ryan Browne Doubtful for Saturday

Per Tom Dienhart from GoldandBlack.com, starting Quarterback, Ryan Browne is doubtful for Saturday against Rutgers. https://x.com/TomDienhart1/status/1980286516204126557?t=X_n6UuUvEfpeqBkfUvJtqQ&s=19 While he has been up and down this season, losing the starting QB for what is a winnable game. We can assume if he does not play, Malachi Singleton would take the reigns for the game, as he is […]

The Whistlestop Tour: Week 8 of Big Ten Football

This week the separation became even more stark in the conference. Ohio State and Indiana are pulling away and on a collision course for an undefeated meeting in the B1G title game in Indy. A bunch of teams are a game back in the loss column, but that may not matter in the end unless […]

Boiler Alert – A Football Like Substance Against Northwestern

It’s a fact that I’m legally required to call what we watched Saturday “football” but I’m not sure both teams were playing the same game. Northwestern, a team that many Purdue fans thought was beatable, absolutely embarrassed Purdue this weekend. From the opening whistle to the final seconds, it wasn’t really a game. I just […]

By the Numbers: Purdue Blanked at Northwestern

A true stinker. Purdue seemed to have little interest at Northwestern yesterday, if you watched one of the four quarters of the game you would probably agree. The Boilers have now dropped five straight since starting the season 2-0, albeit against lesser competition. An oldy but a goodie, here is depression by thr numbers, brought […]

Northwestern 19, Purdue 0: Boilers No-Show in Evanston

When the season started Purdue fans looked at this Northwestern game as a potential win. The Wildcats were not held in high esteem and if a really, really bad Purdue team could take them to overtime last season when surely a better Purdue team couldpotentially get a win in 2025. As we saw, that was […]

Purdue’s intra-squad scrimmage takeaways

Purdue once again opened the doors to Mackey to host a joint practice/intra-squad scrimmage where Purdue’s roster split apart to compete in three 12-minute scrimmages against each other in front of fans and media. Here’s some instant takeaways from the most extended look at Purdue’s roster a week before its exhibition at Kentucky next Friday. […]

How to Watch Purdue (2-4, 0-3) at Northwestern (4-2, 2-1) & Open Thread

It’s Saturday morning folks and here in West Lafayette there is plenty to do. The Purdue half-marathon and 5K are this morning and should be starting very shortly. Don’t forget there’s also the Purdue men’s and women’s basketball fan day. The fan day begins at 10:00 AM and will include autographs but the doors open […]

Purdue Football: Northwestern Wildcats – Preview

Northwestern 2025 Head Coach: David Braun Record: 4-2 Conference Record: 2-1 Best Win: 21-21 @Penn State on October 11th Worst Loss: 3-23 @Tulane on August 3oth What Does Northwestern Want to Do? Offense: The Wildcats want to run the ball, then run the ball again, and if they get an opportunity, run the ball once […]

Purdue (2-4, 0-3) at Northwestern (4-2, 2-1) Staff Predictions

Things have been tough out there on the football field for the Purdue Boilermakers as they’ve dropped four straight games including their most recent loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers in a game that they had in hand for the majority of the game. Northwestern meanwhile is coming off their best win of the season […]

Big Ten Football Power Rankings: Post Week 7

Greetings from sunny Southern California, where I have spent the last four days walking around Disneyland. That has been a nice balm from Purdue’s now four game losing streak. I can still do a quick Big Ten Power Rankings though, and this week there is a new No. 1.