Indiana's Mike Katic (56) pose with the Old Oaken Bucket after the Indiana versus Purdue football game at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024.
Opponent: Purdue Boilermakers
Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, IN
Why They Played:
The Hoosiers and Boilermakers meet annually for the Old Oaken Bucket
What The Game Meant:
Top Offensive Performers:
Kurtis Rourke, QB, Indiana- Rourke tied IU’s single-game touchdown pass record with six. He carved up the Purdue defense completing 23-of-31 passes for 349 yards and the six touchdowns.
Elijah Sarratt, WR, Indiana- It was good to see Sarratt get back to his usual self after a couple games where he didn’t look 100-percent. Sarratt set the IU Bucket Game record for most receiving yards with 165 yards and two touchdowns on eight catches.
Top Defensive Performers:
Jailin Walker, LB, Indiana- Walker had another dominant game for the Hoosiers. He made five tackles, four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, an interception and a forced fumble. He also had two pass breakups and three hits on the quarterback.
Special Teams Performance:
The Hoosiers had a bounce back performance on special teams against the Boilermakers in really tough conditions. Nico Radicic finished a perfect regular season of kicking extra points hitting all nine of them. He did miss his first field goal of the year, but hit another.
James Evans had two good punts and averaged over 52 yards per punt. The Hoosiers even opened up their bag of tricks with a fake punt that resulted in an 18-yard run by defensive tackle James Carpenter.
The return game was as good as can be expected in the conditions. IU returned a kickoff for just the fifth time this season and Myles Price had two punt returns for 19 yards.
Key Stat(s):
11-1
The Hoosiers put an emphatic bow on their best regular season in school history with a record-setting 66-0 shutout. IU finishes the year 11-1 and in great position to make the College Football Playoff.
Turning Point:
If there was a turning point, it happened when Kurtis Rourke hit Elijah Sarratt for an 84-yard touchdown pass to extend IU’s lead to 21-0. The route was on after that.
I Knew it Was Over When…
Before the game started? Probably, but Purdue raised the white flag when they ran the play clock down and took a timeout on a 3rd-and-12 with 29 seconds left in the second quarter. The Boilermakers were down 28-0.
What I take away From the Game:
The Hoosiers needed style points and got exactly that against Purdue. This game seemed like IU took out the frustrations of the 21-23 seasons and the loss at Ohio State on the Boilermakers. IU dominated from start to finish to reclaim the Bucket.
Purdue stinks, but it was good to see IU’s offense do whatever it wanted to in poor conditions. Kurtis Rourke found his rhythm again and the offensive line adjusted better to the blitz. Special teams bounced back as well.
The win should be enough to secure IU a CFP berth. The question now is where will the Hoosiers be seeded. There was a little chaos with Michigan knocking off Ohio State, Miami falling to Syracuse and Georgia’s eight overtime win against Georgia Tech. However, IU moved up just one spot in the AP and Coaches Polls on Sunday.
What’s Next
The Hoosiers (11-1, 8-1) will await their postseason assignment which will be announced on Sunday, December 8th.
