We've reached the end of the regular season, which brings us to rivalry week and the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket. It's Indiana vs. Purdue for the 126th time, but this one may have more riding on it than any of the previous 125 meetings between these two rivals.
This is all because this game could decide whether Indiana receives a bid into the College Football Playoff, making this rivalry game even more vital to both sides. Indiana wants to continue its best season in program history, while Purdue wants to play the spoiler of all spoilers, dashing any chance IU has at a National Championship run.
These teams have had polar opposite seasons, though, with the Hoosiers sitting at 10-1, while the Boilermakers come into this matchup at 1-10, giving the Hoosiers a great shot to win but, as with any rivalry game, it'll be heated competition.
While IU is the heavy favorite, the game still needs to be won out on the field, and won convincingly, as the Hoosiers want to leave no doubt that they are College Football Playoff worthy.
With all that being said, here are three keys to make sure that Indiana avoids the upset and brings the Old Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington for the first time since 2019, possibly sealing a CFP spot in the process.
GET ROURKE BACK ON TRACK
Kurtis Rourke has been the leader of this Indiana offense all season but, of late, he has struggled mightily, starting with the second half against Michigan and moving into the game at Ohio State.
Against Michigan, Indiana started out per usual, firing on all cylinders on offense but, in the second half, things fell apart, as Rourke could not get any productive offense going.
This continued into the game against Ohio State, where Rourke threw for only 68 yards on 6-for-18 passing. This was easily his worst performance of the season and a prime reason why IU was unable to pull of the upset in Columbus.
This doesn't discredit the incredible season the Ohio transfer has had overall, as Rourke has thrown for over 2,400 yards with a 21-4 TD to INT ratio, but he needs to improve upon his recent performances if IU wants to win this game.
This makes Rourke's response against Purdue incredibly important, as he has a chance to get back on track against a very subpar Boilermaker defense.
Purdue ranks 116th out of 134 in passing yards allowed per game, giving up 262 to opposing quarterbacks, while also ranking 130th in yards per pass allowed, with opponents gaining 9.1 yards per pass play.
This makes the PU defense one of the weakest in the nation, something that Rourke should be able to expose, and expose early on so that Indiana can take an early lead.
Not only should Rourke try to gain an early lead by exposing the Boilers' defense's flaws, but he needs to keep the foot on the gas as the game goes on, as in the second half of both the Michigan and Ohio State games, he regressed significantly.
If Rourke can connect with his receivers early and continue to do so throughout the game, I like Indiana to win and win big, making this a very important key to this game.
LIMIT MISTAKES
Curt Cignetti has preached the little things all season, making it clear that he wants his team to be mistake-free, paying as close attention to detail as possible. While this held up for the first 10 games of the season, mistakes were aplenty in the Ohio State matchup, possibly being the prime reason why IU lost to the Buckeyes.
Late in the second half, a mishandles long snap by punter James Evans set up OSU for an easy score, allowing it to take a 14-7 lead into the half, a lead that it wouldn't surrender.
This is because of more mistakes made, as IU missed some tackles on a Caleb Downs punt return that solidified the Ohio State lead.
Special teams wasn't the only phase of the game, as the offense missed some blocking assignments throughout the game, and the defense made a key mistake leaving TreVeyon Henderson unmarked in the closing minutes, leading to OSU gaining an even biggest margin of victory.
Most of these mistakes were avoidable, meaning that the Hoosiers need to clean up the self-imposed wounds before the matchup for Purdue, as it becomes significantly easier for a team like the Boilers to pull off the upset if IU is making silly mistakes.
Limit, or erase the mistakes completely, and Purdue will have an incredibly tough time competing with IU, as Curt Cignetti's group is the more talented bunch, as long as it's not making the same mistakes it did last Saturday.
Expect special teams to be cleaned up, as it's been a very sound unit all season, while also expect both the offense and defense to be more poised this go around compared to what was seen at the Horseshoe.
All this should lead to extremely limited mistakes, meaning that IU should force Purdue to beat them, instead of beating itself, making this a key that should lead the Hoosiers to a Bucket game victory.
ALLOW HOME CROWD TO GET INTO IT
I've mentioned the Ohio State game extensively, and I won't stop now, as this final key deals with what may be the biggest difference between the matchup against the Buckeyes and the game against the Boilers tomorrow, and that is home field advantage.
Ohio State has home field advantage over IU, and it used its home crowd throughout the entire game. Cignetti mentioned that it was an issue, which led to a silent count needing to be used by the IU offense.
This go around, it's the Hoosiers who have the home field advantage, something that, if IU uses correctly, will be a huge part of Indiana securing the Bucket.
Curt Cignetti already sent out a video to Hoosier nation letting them know that they'll play a big part in this one, but I really do think that the crowd, especially the students that return from Thanksgiving break early, could make all the difference.
Look for the Hoosier faithful to get involved early, especially if IU makes a key play early, meaning that whichever position group is on the field first is tasked with doing exactly that.
Once the home crows is in it, and I'm confident they will be, look for the Boilermaker offense to struggle, and struggle mightily, as this Memorial Stadium crowd could really impact what Hudson Card and company attempt to do out there.
This is key not only at the beginning of the game, but for its entirety, as the Indiana crowd needs to be loud for all 60 minutes, especially if the game is at all close but, if not, staying loud could help the Hoosiers win by an even bigger margin.
It'll be cold out there, with the forecast currently projecting temperature below 30, but I still expect the Memorial Stadium crowd to come out in full force and impact this game.
This, coupled with the first two keys, should allow Indiana the best chance to secure the Old Oaken Bucket and defeat its rival Purdue. This would not only move IU to 11-1, but secure it a spot in the new 12-team College Football Playoff and cap off what has been the most successful regular season in Indiana football history.
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