Conference Big Ten Conference 1943 record 9–0 (6–0 Big Ten) Home stadium Ross–Ade Stadium | AP No. 5 MVP Dick Barwegen | |
Head coach Elmer Burnham (2nd year) | ||
The 1943 Purdue Boilermakera football team represented Purdue University in the 1943 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Elmer Burnham, the Boilermakers compiled an undefeated 9–0 record (6–0 Big Ten), outscored their opponents by a combined total of 214 to 55, and finished the season ranked #5 in the final AP Poll.
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The 1942 Purdue team had won only won game, but the 1943 was bolstered with several new players who had been transferred to Purdue as part of the V-12 Navy College Training Program.
Purdue guard Alex Agase was selected as a consensus first-team player on the 1943 All-America Team, and was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Fullback Tony Butkovich was also selected as a first-team All-American by The Sporting News, the United Press, the Central Press, and Stars and Stripes newspaper. Butkovich led the Big Ten in scoring with 14 touchdowns despite missing the last two games after being called to active duty by the Marines; he was killed in action at the Battle of Okinawa in April 1945.