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Ryan Browne will get his second chance at the place where it all began. After an eventful offseason saw him enter the college football transfer portal and spend the spring with North Carolina, the redshirt sophomore was officially named Purdue's starting quarterback to begin the 2025 season.
Browne spent the 2023 and 2024 seasons with Purdue as Hudson Card's backup. After leaving in December for Bill Belichick and North Carolina, he returned to the Boilermakers in the spring, where he will be first-year head coach Barry Odom's inaugural starting quarterback, On3 Sports reported.
A former three-star recruit, Browne has 636 passing yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions in his two-year career. He has also recorded 240 rushing yards on 3.4 yards per attempt. He appeared in eight games in 2024 and started two, briefly taking the job from Card before relinquishing it.
Browne won a four-man competition for the job, beating out Malachi Singleton, Bennett Meredith and Evans Chuba. Singleton, an Arkansas transfer, was his primary competition.
Although not an elite pocket passer, Browne provides the dual-threat skill set that Odom covets. The former UNLV head coach had success with similar players in Matthew Sluka, Hajj-Malik Williams and Jayden Maiava with the Rebels.
Purdue expects improvement in 2025 college football season
Coming off a 1-11 campaign in 2024, the program's worst record since 2013, Purdue expects to compete at a higher level in 2025. The Boilermakers went just 5-19 in two years with Card under center, but have since ushered in a new era with Odom leading the charge.
Purdue will begin the 2025 college football season against Ball State and Southern Illinois, giving it a chance to improve on its 2024 win total in the first two weeks. However, the schedule does not let up from there. A Week 3 matchup with USC marks the beginning of a tough stretch that includes five preseason ranked teams.
While they should get off to a strong start, Purdue averaged a Big 10-worst 15.8 points per game in 2024. If removing their 49-0 win over Indiana State in Week 1, it would be a mere 12.7 points per game.
Starting the backup quarterback from a 1-11 team is far from encouraging, but Browne was arguably Purdue's best highlight of the year. He stepped in for Card during the Boilermakers' Oct. 12 game against No. 23-ranked Illinois and nearly led a miraculous comeback, ultimately losing 50-49 in overtime. Browne engineered a 46-point second half in the game, the team's biggest offensive spurt of the year by a wide margin.
