Hoosiers Now

LIVE BLOG: Indiana Takes On Purdue In The Old Oaken Bucket Game

No. 10 Indiana hopes to cement its College Football Playoff credentials with a win against archrival Purdue. Follow along for all of the pregame news and game action.

Todd Golden

A pregame look at Memorial Stadium as snow fell during pregame warmups for the annual Old Oaken Bucket game between Indiana and Purdue on Nov. 30, 2024.
A pregame look at Memorial Stadium as snow fell during pregame warmups for the annual Old Oaken Bucket game between Indiana and Purdue on Nov. 30, 2024. / Hoosiers On SI | Todd Golden
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Welcome to the Hoosiers On SI live blog for the Old Oaken Bucket game!

The Bucket has been a part of the rivalry since 1925 and Indiana is seeking to win it for the first time since 2019. Indiana hasn't beaten Purdue at home since 2016.

Purdue is hoping to salvage something of a nightmarish season. The Boilermakers have just one win and none against FBS competition. Purdue is hoping to avoid a winless season in the Big Ten.

Follow along for all of the action!

Halftime: Indiana 28, Purdue 0 - Utter domination by the Hoosiers. Indiana has a 334-54 advantage in total yards and has a 17-3 edge in first downs. Purdue is 0-for-6 on third down conversions.

Kurtis Rourke has completed 14 of 17 passes for 219 yards and two touchdowns. Elijah Sarratt has 6 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown.

• Indiana 28-0, 252 2Q. After the Boilermakers went three-and-out, Purdue might be crying uncle a bit as their defensive resistance definitely let up on the Hoosiers' 7-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. Justice Ellison had a 15-yard run and Ty Son Lawton had a 21-yard run before the touchdown. We'll see how big the margin gets before all is said and done.

Touchdown Indiana. Ty Son Lawton with a 4-yard touchdown run with 2:52 left in the second quarter.

• Indiana 21-0, 659 2Q. Elijah Sarratt took Purdue cornerback Nyland Green to school on that one. Sarratt, lined up wide on the left side, did a baby curl towards the hashmark and then turned Green around by curling back to the sideline. Kurtis Rourke kept the play alive long enough to find a wide-open Sarratt. Green was several yards behind him and didn't come close to catching Sarratt. It was just announced in the press box that it is the fifth-longest touchdown pass in Indiana history.

• Touchdown Indiana. Kurtis Rourke hangs in the pocket and finds Elijah Sarratt open on the left side of the field for an 84-yard touchdown strike.

• Indiana 14-0, 900 2Q. Indiana defense continues to be stifling. Purdue has 15 yards of total offense on 12 plays. A three-and-out, but the punt by Purdue's Keelan Crimmins was a good one. It bounced to the 1-yard line.

Indiana 14-0, 1131 2Q. Motion by Indiana on the play set the touchdown in motion. Hoosiers pulled their receivers tight at the start of the play clock, but just before the snap they motion wide again, which pulled Purdue's defense wide, forcing single coverage. Williams found himself wide open over the middle for the touchdown when Purdue's Kyndrich Breedlove slipped in single coverage.

Touchdown Indiana. Ke'Shawn Williams with a 14-yard TD catch up the middle.

• Indiana 7-0, 1135 2Q. Hoosiers have made it to the Purdue 14-yard-line. Some interesting offensive looks from the Hoosiers. Tight end Zach Horton has had two catches on this series, both of them near the sideline where you rarely see him roam.

• Indiana 7-0, 1408 2Q. Replay of Kurtis Rourke during a review appeared to show him limping after a pass completion. Something to keep an eye on.

• Indiana 7-0, 1453 2Q. Indiana nearly courts trouble as a Kurtis Rourke deep shot was nearly picked off by the Boilermakers. It's a delicate balance as offense goes. My thought was that Indiana should pound the ball on the ground. I still think that, but you have to throw every now and then to keep Purdue from stacking the box. On the other hand, if you try to overdo it, there's potential trouble lurking.

• End first quarter - Indiana 7, Purdue 0. Hoosiers have the ball at midfield.

• Indiana 7-0, :54 1Q. Indiana disguises its blitzes so well. Jailin Walker blitzed Purdue QB Hudson Card on third down. At first glance, it looked like a corner blitz, but Walker just hid his blitzing route well and forced Card to throw the ball away on third down. Hoosiers take over at their own 29-yard line. Purdue has only 10 yards of total offense in nine plays.

• Indiana 7-0, 222 1Q. A rare failure by the Indiana offense to take advantage of a gift. Hoosiers got to the Purdue 16-yard line, but Ty Son Lawton was knocked back for a 1-yard loss. After that, Kurtis Rourke was sacked by Purdue's Yanni Karlaftis to knock Indiana back to the Purdue 28-yard-line. Indiana called upon Nicolas Radicic to boot a 46-yard field goal in the snow, but Radicic didn't have good footing and pulled it wide left - his first miss of any kind this season. Purdue takes over at the 28 having dodged a bullet.

• Indiana 7-0, 435 1Q. Indiana puts pressure on Purdue QB Hudson Card and while under duress he flung it forward and it was intercepted by Indiana LB Jailin Walker. Hoosiers take over at their own 21-yard-line.

• Indiana 7-0, 625 1Q. Hoosiers got creative with their running calls. A jet sweep by Myles Price gained 22 yards. A sweep reverse by Ke'Shawn Williams gained 13. All but 19 yards of the 86-yard drive were gained on the ground. The Hoosiers should be able to run more or less at will against a Purdue defense that isn't great against the run.

• Touchdown Indiana. On a direct snap, Justice Ellison goes in untouched from 2 yards out.

• 0-0, 1019 1Q. Both teams went nowhere on their first series. Kurtis Rourke was sacked by Purdue's Nyland Green on Indiana's first series. Purdue gained one first down on its first series, but was stopped at their own 41. Indiana takes over at their own 14 yard line.

• Indiana starters: Offense - QB Kurtis Rourke, RB Justice Ellison, WR Myles Price, WR Elijah Sarratt, WR Miles Cross, TE Zach Horton, T Carter Smith, T Trey Wedig, C Mike Katic, G Tyler Stephens, G Bray Lynch.

Defense - DT James Carpenter, DT CJ West, DE Lanell Carr Jr., DE Mikail Kamara, LB Aiden Fisher, LB Jailin Walker, LB Rolijah Hardy, CB Jamari Sharpe, CB D'Angelo Ponds, S Amare Ferrell, S Shawn Asbury II.

Pregame

• Injury report: As mentioned in our injury report, Indiana cornerback Jamier Johnson is out for the Hoosiers. He's the only new player listed on the injury report. Others that we know are out for the season, such as guard Drew Evans, are not included on the report once they are listed out for the season.

• Weather report: Snow is falling at Memorial Stadium pregame. It was listed as a low probability in the forecast, but here it is. Temperature is 30 degrees. Wind is pretty light. Much colder than any game this season, but the bigger concern will be footing on the now-snow-covered field turf.

• Crowd is filling in at Memorial Stadium. Will every seat be filled? Highly doubtful, but for a snowy game in Indiana, where fans aren't used to suffering for their football (40 years of Colts football in a dome have done a lot to dampen bad weather games), it's not too bad.

• I think this snowy weather favors Indiana. When it gets snowy, the running game usually has more bite and the Hoosiers haven't had any trouble running the ball. Purdue, on the other hand, has had big problems stopping the run. I think the snow plays into the Hoosiers' hands.

• Purdue runs on to the field to the expected "welcome" from the Indiana faithful. Hoosiers take the field to the expected cheers with the snow as a pretty tableau.

• Fashion report: Indiana never deviates from its core uniform. Red helmet, red jerseys, white pants. Purdue, on the other hand, changes their look a lot. Purdue is sporting a rarely-seen all-white look.

• Watching players warm-up. Was curious how footing would be on the turf, but I don't see anything unusual in how players are running or cutting. I don't think any equipment exists at Memorial Stadium to clear off any of the snow since it rarely comes up.

• Workers are using leaf-blowers to clear the hashmarks and yard markers. There's only so many leaf-blowers to go around so it's taking some time to get it done.

• Historical context: Spent some time this week exploring disparity in the Old Oaken Bucket series. With Indiana having 10 wins to Purdue's single victory, it's the widest disparity in win total this season has ever had. However, 12-game seasons are a pretty recent phenomenon. Until the early 1970s, there were as few as 10 games in a season. Before World War II, sometimes less than that.

So I took every year each team was above .667 and below .333. Here's the list of those seasons. Be ready to be depressed regardless of which school you follow:

Purdue over .667 (39): 1892, 1893, 1894, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, 1913, 1914, 1924, 1926, 1927, 1928, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1932, 1933, 1936, 1938, 1943, 1945, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2021

Indiana under .333 (47): 1912, 1922, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1933, 1938, 1941, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2000,  2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2022, 2023, 2021, 2008.

Indiana over .667 (19): 1899, 1901, 1905, 1906, 1910, 1917, 1920, 1936, 1942, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1967, 1979, 1987, 1988, 1993, 2020, 2024

Purdue under .333 (34): 1906, 1907, 1909, 1910, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1923, 1940, 1941, 1942, 1946, 1948, 1950, 1953, 1971, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1993, 1996, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2023, 2024

Only one time in the history of the series has a team below .333 beat a team above .667. That came in 1930 when Indiana sprung a 7-6 upset in West Lafayette. That marked the first time the Hoosiers ever won the Old Oaken Bucket, which became a part of the series in 1925.

Here are all of the results. Obviously, apart from 1930, the winner was the team above .667:

2021 – Purdue 44-7 in West Lafayette

2020 – not played

2003 – Purdue 24-16 in Bloomington

2000 – Purdue 41-13 in West Lafayette

1997 – Purdue 56-7 in Bloomington

1993 – Indiana 24-17 in Bloomington

1987 – Indiana 35-14 in Bloomington

1966 – Purdue 51-6 in West Lafayette

1965 – Purdue 26-21 in Bloomington

1964 – Purdue 28-22 in West Lafayette

1961 – Purdue 34-12 in Bloomington

1946 – Indiana 34-20 in West Lafayette

1942 – Indiana 20-0 in West Lafayette

1938 – Purdue 13-6 in West Lafayette

1933 – Purdue 19-3 in Bloomington

1931 – Purdue 19-0 in Bloomington

1930 – Indiana 7-6 in West Lafayette

1929 – Purdue 32-0 in Bloomington

1920 – Indiana 10-7 in West Lafayette

1910 – Indiana 15-0 in West Lafayette

1906 – not played

Note that while the winner was almost always the better team, several outcomes were close. Indiana does have to score some style points today, so the Hoosiers will hope that the close game pattern does not follow today.

Related stories on Indiana football

  • HOW TO WATCH: Indiana and Purdue meet under the lights on Saturday night. Here's how to watch the game, with game time and TV information, the latest on the point spread, series history, coaching information and more. CLICK HERE
  • STATEMENT GAME FOR INDIANA SENIORS: Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said that a good finishing performance against Purdue ‘must get done’ to cement the legacy of Indiana seniors. CLICK HERE
  • MEET THE OPPONENT: Purdue has had a rough season, but the Boilermakers have pride and shouldn't be overlooked. CLICK HERE.
  • PREDICTIONS, KEYS FOR BUCKET GAME: Hoosiers On SI's predictions and three keys for the Old Oaken Bucket game. CLICK HERE.
  • TODD GOLDEN COLUMN: On Thanksgiving, it was nice to have football at a basketball school. Here is Todd Golden's holiday column. CLICK HERE.
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