Hoosiers Cap Greatest Season Ever With 66-0 Blowout Win of Rival Purdue

Indiana finished the regular season with an 11-1 record after demolishing archrival Purdue 66-0 on Saturday thanks to a record-setting night by quarterback Kurtis Rourke. Up next is waiting on their College Football Playoff fate.

Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke (9) celebrates a touchdown in the first quarter against Purdue on Saturday. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — In many years of Indiana football, a win over Purdue was a sweet but often irrelevant end to a mostly meaningless season. This year, it was a nice cherry on top of a most beautiful season.

The Hoosiers crushed their arch-rivals on a snow-dusted Saturday night, winning 66-0 under the lights at Memorial Stadium. It was their first Bucket win since 2019 and the first in Bloomington since 2016.

In the greatest season in school history, the Hoosiers finished 11-1 and now await a likely invitation to the first 12-team College Football Playoff. It was their school-record 10th double-digit win of the season, and they scored 40-plus points for the eighth time, also a school record.

That's just as first-year coach Curt Cignetti envisioned it when he took the job. The Hoosiers wanted to make a statement on Saturday against their arch-rivals — and they did exactly that.

"It's a historic year for Indiana, and we're not done yet,'' Cignetti said. "We certainly made a statement, and I can't say enough about what this team has done between the white lines. I thought our defense was tremendous tonight, and really swarmed the ball and created turnovers. And we made a lot of plays of offense, of course.''

There's no doubt about that. Indiana gained 582 yards and Purdue only had 67. Purdue had only 13 yards rushing on 24 attempts and was 0-for-11 on third-down conversions.

It came as no surprise that the outcome was never in doubt. Indiana, a 29.5-point favorite against a Purdue team that finished 1-11 and lost all nine Big Ten games, scored touchdowns on four of their six first-half possessions to roar out to a 28-0 lead. The Hoosiers defense was stifling, allowing only 54 yards in the half and holding Purdue to 0-for-6 on third-down conversions.

All four Indiana scoring drives were 70 yards or more. Running back Justice Ellison scored first on a 2-yard run with 6:21 to go in the first, and Ke'Shawn Williams made it 14-0 on a 14-yard pass from Kurtis Rourke at the 11:31 mark in the second quarter.

Indiana's third touchdown was their longest scoring play of the season. His second-quarter TD pass to Elijah Sarratt went for 84 yards, and was the fifth-longest pass play in program history. They made it 28-0 with 2:52 to go in the half on a 4-yard run by Ty Son Lawton.

About the only bad thing for Indiana in the first half was that freshman kicker Nicolas Radicic missed his first kick of the year late in the first quarter, a 46-yard attempt. He had been perfect until then. After Saturday, he's now 9-for-10 on field goals and a perfect 69-for-69 on PATs.

This was the largest margin of victory in the Old Oaken Bucket series for Indiana since a 52-7 win in 1988 in West Lafayette. The previous biggest win in Bloomington was 37-0 in 1917 — a mere 107 years ago.

The second half was all about rewriting the records books, and Kurtis Rourke had a huge hand in that. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 349 yards, and tied a school record with six touchdown passes. "He was right on the button all night,'' Cignetti said.

Rourke had four more TD passes in the second half, connecting with Elijah Sarratt, Zach Horton, Miles Cross and Omar Cooper. Sarratt had eight catches for 165 yards.

The win was exceptionally sweet for Indiana offensive lineman Mike Katic, who saw Indiana win the Bucket in 2019, but then saw three years of hard times lately. He decided to come back for one more year after Cignetti was hired, and he's thoroughly enjoyed this epic turnaround.

This whole season has been fun, but this final exclamation point was something else. This is 66-0 after all — and with a lot of new teammates. Beating a hated rival — and hate is not too strong of a word — is extra sweet.

"It was a lot about buying into new a culture with all the new people and turning this around. It's an incredible thing,'' Katic said. "It's crazy how much a difference a few years can make. I'm so happy to be a part of this culture we have now and I'm so happy for the fans and the alumni.

"We came into this week with a chip on our shoulder and we had to prove something. We don't like them, and there were some choice words said to get everyone behind the rivalry. I'm just so thankful I came back. 66-0, this is the happiest I've been in a long time. I'm over moon right now.''

Indiana finished tied for second in the Big Ten with an 8-1 record, but lost a tiebreaker to Penn State, who will play Oregon for the league championship next Saturday in Indiana.

The Hoosiers will await their fate in the postseason when the College Football Playoff 12-team bracket is announced next week. Cignetti is sure the Hoosiers have done enough.

"We're not done yet,'' he said.

No, they're not.

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• INDIANA CONTINUES GREATEST SEASON: In a dominant 66-0 victory over Purdue, Indiana continued its greatest-ever season with an 11-1 record. CLICK HERE.

• TODD GOLDEN COLUMN: While other rivalry games produced upsets or near-misses, Indiana did not mess with Purdue. CLICK HERE.

• LIVE BLOG: Follow along with Hoosiers On SI's live blog of the Old Oaken Bucket game. Highlights and game action included. CLICK HERE.

• WATCH: Elijah Sarratt scores an 84-yard touchdown against Purdue. CLICK HERE.

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• PREDICTIONS, KEYS FOR BUCKET GAME: Hoosiers On SI's predictions and three keys for the Old Oaken Bucket game. CLICK HERE.