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Published Nov 30, 2024
How it Happened: No. 10 Indiana batters Purdue, reclaiming Old Oaken Bucket
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Zach Browning  •  TheHoosier
Senior Writer
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No. 10 Indiana welcomed Purdue to Memorial Stadium on Saturday for a snowy showdown under the lights with the Old Oaken Bucket on the line.

The Hoosiers, behind a dominant display on both sides of the ball, smoked the Boilermakers, 66-0 on Saturday night. With the win, Indiana closes out the regular season going a program-best 11-1.

The Hoosiers will now have to wait to learn their fate as far as the College Football Playoff is concerned.

Here's how it happened in a winter wonderland in Bloomington.

MEMORIAL STADIUM TURNED TO A WINTER WONDERLAND

Saturday night was by far the coldest game of the 2024-25 season for Indiana. The weather at kickoff of the 99th Old Oaken Bucket game called for some light snow with nine mile per hour winds out of the southwest. It was a harsh 28 degrees at kick.

The weather didn't stop the Hoosier faithful from turning out in droves, turning Memorial Stadium into a winter wonderland for the regular season finale.

It was a good student turnout in Bloomington, given students hadn't yet returned to campus for classes after having the week off for Thanksgiving break. While a majority of the students left at half time, Memorial Stadium was rocking throughout the first half, until the game was well out of reach.

Despite the cold temperatures and the snowfall that persisted for much of the first half, Indiana wasn't hindered in its domination of Purdue. In front of 50,000-plus, the Hoosiers walloped the Boilermakers en route to reclaiming the Old Oaken Bucket.

OFFENSE DOMINATES

On the offensive side of things, Purdue had pretty much no answer for Indiana. The Hoosiers amassed 582 total yards in the game, going for 233 on the ground and 349 in the air.

After struggling against both Michigan and Ohio State, quarterback Kurtis Rourke looked like himself against Purdue. The Hoosiers' signal caller completed 23-of-31 passes for 349 yards and six passing touchdowns, compiling a quarterback rating of 232.6.

Rourke's favorite target in the Saturday night clash with Purdue was Indiana's top receiver all season long, Elijah "Waffle House" Sarratt. Sarratt was able to consistently get behind the Boilermaker defense, recording touchdown catches of 84 yards and 24 yards in the Hoosier win.

All told, Sarratt caught eight passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns. He totaled 62 yards after the catch on Saturday night.

On the ground, Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton carried a bulk of the workload. The Hoosiers' running back tandem combined for 110 yards and two touchdowns, averaging 5.3 yards per carry between the two of them.

The Hoosiers scored points on all but three of their non-end-of-half drives against the Boilermakers, dominating from start to finish.

DEFENSE DOMINATES TOO

Saturday night's demolition wasn't limited to just the offensive side of the ball. Purdue was unable to move the ball at all against Indiana's defense.

The Boilermakers mustered just 67 total yards of offense. 54 of those yards came through the air, while 13 of them came on the ground.

Before being taken out in the third quarter, Purdue quarterback Hudson Card went 6-for-13 (46%) for 35 yards and an interception. Card's quarterback rating was just 53.4 on the night.

The Boilermakers didn't have any success on the ground either. Purdue recorded 13 yards rushing on 24 attempts, averaging just 0.5 yards per carry.

At one point, in the third quarter, Indiana defensive lineman James Carpenter had more rushing yards than Purdue did as a team. Carpenter picked up 18 yards on a fake punt the Hoosiers ran in the third quarter.

Overall, Indiana collected two sacks, seven tackles for loss, an interception, a forced fumble, three pass breakups and four quarterback hurries.

FINAL STATS

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