Jack’s Take: Old Oaken Bucket Game Remains Important Despite Disappointing Seasons

The 2023 Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game between Indiana and Purdue doesn’t come with bowl-eligibility implications, but it’s sentimentally important to those involved and potentially a pivotal game for the future of both programs.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana and Purdue have fallen to last place in their respective Big Ten divisions and share 3-8 records. The loser of Saturday’s matchup will finish the year with the conference’s worst record.

It’s been a disappointing year for both schools, and the fan bases may be looking more forward to what happens this offseason than to Saturday's game. Late-season games between struggling teams often bring into question which team is more motivated. But for those involved, the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game carries deep meaning.

Perhaps no one embodies that more than Mark Deal, Indiana’s assistant athletic director for alumni relations. Deal played center at Indiana from 1975-78, then joined the coaching staff in 1979 and later from 1996-99. Mark, along with his father, Russ, and his brother, Mike, are all members of the Indiana Athletics Hall of Fame. Together, they have eight victories in the Old Oaken Bucket game, the most of any Indiana family.

Indiana coach Tom Allen started a tradition where every player picks their “one word” for the season, which represents their goals or mentality for the year. Deal’s one word is “Bucket,” and Allen said that’s been the case every year since he started the tradition.

“[Mark Deal] is the most passionate person that I know regarding this game, the trophy that we play for,” Allen said.

Indiana players celebrate after defeating Purdue, 44-41 in double overtime to win the Old Oaken Bucket, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette / Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier, Lafayette Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Of the 122 players on Indiana’s 2023 roster, only 41 went to high school in Indiana and over 50 of them were not on last year’s team. Because of that, Allen, with the help of Deal and other alumni, has made sure his team understands the importance of this rivalry game.

“[Deal] gives the whole history of it,” Allen said. “All the way back to the beginning, where it came from, the farm it came from. He’s got pictures of that, just all the different parts of it, and then giving our guys an education of that. He obviously puts his own flavor on it, which is very, very emotional and passionate.”

For Indiana offensive coordinator Rod Carey, who played center for the Hoosiers from 1990-93, coaching in the rivalry game last year and preparing for it again this year has reinforced its importance.

“Guys give me a hard time and say I played when we had leather helmets and stuff,” Carey said. “There are a lot of things you can’t remember as far as specifics because it was a while ago, but the thing you can remember is the intensity of the game. And that has stayed with me my entire life.”

Indiana team captain and linebacker Aaron Casey said he didn’t know how big the rivalry was, coming from Douglasville, Ga., but it was immediately instilled in him when he got to Bloomington. Indiana has “Beat Purdue” signs around Memorial Stadium during game week, and Casey said Deal’s annual speeches have helped the team buy into the rivalry more and more each year.

Indiana quarterback Brendan Sorsby, from Texas, and left guard Mike Katic, a Pennsylvania native, shared a similar sentiment this week. Katic’s appreciation for the rivalry has grown during his time as a Hoosiers, but this year’s matchup means a little extra. Indiana’s last win over Purdue came in 2019, when Katic used a redshirt year, and the game wasn’t played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The series resumed in 2021, with Purdue cruising to a 44-7 win. For Katic, that loss is really when the rivalry’s meaning sunk in.

“Winning it was great, but losing it hurt even more,” Katic said. “It’s going to be my last ever game in that uniform, so I’m going to give it everything I got.”

Indiana head coach Tom Allen carries Indiana wide receiver Whop Philyor (1) across the field after defeating Purdue, 44-41 in double overtime to win the Old Oaken Bucket, Saturday, Nov. 30, 2019 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette / Nikos Frazier | Journal & Courier via Imagn Content Services, LLC

But even deeper than the intensity during the game or the satisfaction a win would provide is the big-picture impact Saturday’s game has on both programs.

For Purdue, year one under head coach Ryan Walters, who came to West Lafayette after being Illinois’ defensive coordinator, hasn’t lived up to expectations. But a win Saturday would help create the offseason momentum Walters needs as he further builds the program.

Indiana is in a different spot as a program, one that makes the game arguably more pivotal for the Hoosiers. Indiana is 9-26 since the start of the 2021 season, with just three Big Ten wins. Allen’s job security has come into question this year, even with a $20 million buyout.

One game shouldn’t determine whether Allen stays or goes, but with a loss this week, he’d drop to 1-5 against Purdue, a program Indiana measures itself against. Part of that decision will be weighing the cost of the buyout versus the cost of enduring another potentially unsuccessful season where fan engagement, recruiting and roster retention wanes.

Other Indiana-Purdue games have had more immediate consequences, but the Old Oaken Bucket game still means something. And in the long run, there’s more at stake for both teams Saturday than adding a fourth win in a season of disappointments.

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• OPENING LINE: Heading into the Old Oaken Bucket rivalry game against Indiana, Purdue is a 3.5-point favorite. CLICK HERE