Ralph Green was the first to get to the Old Oaken Bucket. The fifth-year senior has developed a reputation for liking trophies and needed to claim his new prize.

In one hand was the Bucket, the prize his Hoosiers claimed with a 26-24 win against Purdue at Memorial Stadium. The other hand was raised into the air with four fingers showing—one for each of the consecutive wins over the Boilermakers IU now has.

This is what progress looks like.

“I think we are learning from history,” IU head coach Kevin Wilson said, “and we are trying to grow and create our own history.”

Green’s initial reaction was just the beginning of a frenzied celebration where the Bucket was passed from player to player. In earning the rivalry trophy, the Hoosiers( 6-6, 3-5) also punched their tickets to a second consecutive bowl game for the first time since 1990-91.

Purdue ( 3-9, 1-8) nearly ruined Indiana’s celebration, twice taking leads in a back-and-forth affair. IU junior running back Devine Redding capped off an 11-play, 61-yard drive featuring a mostly wildcat look to shake up a struggling Hoosier offense by scoring on a 1-yard touchdown with just 4:59 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Needing a touchdown, Purdue moved down the field through the air only to have sophomore safety Jonathan Crawford halt the drive and effectively seal the game by picking off Purdue quarterback David Blough on fourth-and-14.

“Coach told us what was going to happen,” Crawford said. “They put their best player (senior receiver DeAngelo Yancey) in the slot, and we kind of knew they were going to try and do something with him. They ran a post, and coach actually called it out, so I ran over the top.”

Out of excitement, Crawford nearly took the ball out of the end zone. He was about to take off running until redshirt junior cornerback Rashard Fant tackled him in the end zone.

Crawford did his job winning the ballgame. There was no room for extra risk.

“I’m not going to lie, I probably would have tried the same thing,” Fant said laughing. “Trying to keep him in there, he’s a lot heavier than I thought.”

Indiana’s formula to avoid upset was one fans are familiar with by now. The Hoosiers’ rejuvenated defense made up for a lethargic offense that seemed to only be able to move the ball with a wildcat package orchestrated by junior quarterback Zander Diamont.

IU’s conventional offense behind junior quarterback Richard Lagow couldn’t quite find its spark, with Lagow finishing just 11-of-19 passing for 117 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.

But Diamont created a spark, as he seemingly always does against Purdue. In a game that he said will likely be his last because of concussion concerns, the Los Angeles native rushed the ball 12 times for 69 yards and a score before giving up 27 yards on a planned safety with time winding down to avoid a punt block.

“It’s the most fun football game you can play in,” Diamont said of the Bucket game. “I’m just so grateful to get the opportunity to play in this game. I’ve been successful in it, and that was one of my goals when I came here was to not lose that game.”

He didn’t. Nobody apart from the fifth-year seniors left on the Hoosiers’ roster have.

So Saturday’s win was a rare cause for celebration. Usually, Wilson doesn’t allow himself or his players to ride the waves of emotion following results whether they be high or low. He opts to stay on course.

But even Wilson, as steady as they come, couldn’t help but want to join in on the celebration that at one point featured Green holding the Old Oaken Bucket and Old Brass Spittoon at once, screaming players and just about everyone dancing inside the locker room.

So when Wilson first sensed things were starting to calm down, Crawford said Indiana’s head coach yelled for things to crank back up.

He wanted to celebrate, too.

That’s what progress looks like.

“It’s a big thing, making it to another bow game back-to-back,” Fant said. “It’s not like it happened a lot. And getting four in a row, that’s another ‘I’ on the bucket. (Wilson) wanted us to get excited and be able to enjoy it as much as possible.”