The 1942 Purdue Boilermakers football team was an American football team that represented Purdue University during the 1942 college football season. In their first season under head coach Elmer Burnham, the Boilermakers compiled a 1–8 record, finished in eighth place in the Big Ten Conference with a 1–4 record against conference opponents, and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 179 to 27.