Go ahead and call Jake Replogle a black sheep. He’s fine with that.
The youngest of four Replogle boys, Jake committed to play football at Purdue in June 2012 after older brothers Tyler, Mike and Adam all went to play football at Indiana. The Hoosiers never offered Jake a chance a scholarship to follow in their footsteps.
In retrospect, not offering seems like a mistake.
Because Jake Replogle is finishing up an illustrious Purdue career with one final Old Oaken Bucket game noon Saturday at Memorial Stadium. His parents are used to watching games in Bloomington wearing cream and crimson to cheer on the Hoosiers, but not this week. They’ll be in black and gold.
At least, that’s what Replogle’s under the impression of.
“My parents root for Purdue. Well, I hope so. They tell me they do,” Replogle said, laughing. “I think my brothers want me to do well, but they want IU to win. I know how bad that sounds, but I’m trying to shift them to be Boilermakers. It’s hard.”
Despite not receiving a scholarship offer from Indiana, Replogle still needed to shake off the Hoosier connections when he decided to play defensive tackle at Purdue. That much took time, considering the name “Replogle” had become so well known in and around Bloomington.
But since the day Replogle arrived in West Lafayette from Centerville, Ohio, he’s made a name for himself as a Boilermaker. A team captain as a senior, Replogle became one of the most renown defensive linemen in the Big Ten while making 24 consecutive starts between his sophomore and junior seasons.
When Replogle committed to Purdue, people that knew of his IU ties were initially a little confused. But that didn't last long when they realized he was on his way to becoming one of the most recognizable players on Purdue's defense.
“When I first committed, it was kind of a hard time (shaking off the IU connection),” Replogle said. “Now, honestly, I don’t even talk about it. (My brothers) come to a lot of the games when they can. Sometimes they’ll wear some Purdue gear, so that’s always good. They’re always supportive.”
Saturday will be Replogle’s final football game as a Boilermaker before heading to the NFL Draft next spring. CBS Sports projects him to be picked in the second or third rounds despite missing nearly half the season with a lingering head injury that appears to be behind him now.
Purdue junior linebacker Ja’Whuan Bentley said just about everyone on Purdue’s team knows Replogle’s Indiana connection. And even though the Boilermakers aren’t playing for a bowl bid, they’ll still want to beat the Hoosiers, if nothing else, because Replogle still hasn’t been able to take the Old Oaken Bucket home with him.
“He talks about it, and we definitely take that into account,” Bentley said. “It seems like he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder every time we play Indiana. That’s something we love about him.”
Replogle doesn't need to be reminded of the Bucket's history. He knows it well.
He also knows that when he grew up cheering for his brothers at Indiana, Purdue was dominating the series. Now that he's a Boilermaker, he wants Purdue reclaim control of the series before graduating.
"I grew up watching Purdue dominate IU for the most part, he said. "I really just want to get that back to where it was. For Purdue football, we're capable of doing it. Winning that game would just be another step moving toward where we should be."
Taking the Bucket in his last try would mean bragging rights, Replogle said. And he wants them.
Because the IU alumni in his family know the Hoosiers have won three Buckets in a row. And there’s nothing more Replogle will want this week than to shut them up for just a little while.
“I hear about that more than anything from my brothers,” he said. “This year, I think, will be a special one.”
