Purdue RB Fame Ijeboi Leads the Country in One Impressive Stat

Tackling Fame Ijeboi has become virtually impossible for opponents. That was never more evident than on Saturday night, when the Purdue ball carrier galloped for 195 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries, leading the Boilermakers to a 41-13 trouncing of the Gophers.

A few days after Ijeboi turned his former teammates into roadkill, Pro Football Focus revealed just how dominant the Purdue running back has been through six games. No ball carrier in college football has forced more missed tackles than Ijeboi at this point in the season.

Pro Football Focus shared that Ijeboi has forced 45 missed tackles by opponents this season, leading the country. Only two other Big Ten players cracked the top eight: USC's King Miller (34) and Indiana's Turbo Richard (31).

Ijeboi has been outstanding out of the backfield for Purdue this season. Through six games, he has rushed for 549 yards and nine touchdowns on 117 carries. He's had two 100-yard performances, totaling 114 yards and three touchdowns against Wake Forest, along with his effort against Minnesota.

As a result of his 195-yard outing against the Golden Gophers on Saturday, Ijeboi was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week. It's the first time in his career that he has received that honor from the conference.

Head coach Barry Odom has spoken emphatically about establishing a strong rushing attack at Purdue. With Ijeboi, that hasn't been a problem in 2026.

Ijeboi saves his best for his former team

Although Ijeboi downplayed the storyline of playing against his former team, it certainly seemed like he was on a mission against Minnesota. He got off to a strong start, and offensive coordinator Josh Henson wanted to continue feeding the running back.

"Fame got going, and when a guy gets going the way he was ... my gut, everybody's gut in the stadium, was saying keep giving it to No. 2," Henson said on Monday. "So, that's what we did."

If there was a concern about Ijeboi's performance, it was strictly related to the number of carries he got. He took 31 handoffs during the game, the highest of his career. Certainly, Purdue doesn't want to run him into the ground, but Henson also believes the running back is more than capable of taking on a heavy workload.

"You probably don't want to be [at 31 carries] every week, but I think Fame is certainly physically capable of carrying a load of 25 to 30 carries per game," Henson said. "He's built that way. He's a strong kid, and he's got a strong mentality."

When you have a running back who is regularly making defenders miss and is consistently a threat to break open big plays, it's always a great offensive strategy to keep feeding him the football.

Ijeboi returns to action on Friday night, as Purdue hosts Washington at Ross-Ade Stadium. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. ET, and FOX will air the contest.

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