Indiana Coach Tom Allen Previews Rivalry Matchup Against Purdue
Indiana football coach Tom Allen held his weekly press conference on Monday ahead of a rivalry matchup with Purdue at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. It will be the 124th meeting between the in-state programs and the 97th battle for the Old Oaken Bucket.
The Hoosiers are coming off a thrilling 39-32 double-overtime win on the road against Michigan State, which snapped a seven-game losing streak. They are now 4-7 on the season and 2-6 in Big Ten play.
The last trip to Bloomington for the Boilermakers ended in a 28-21 victory on Nov. 24, 2018. It was a win that pushed Purdue to bowl eligibility as quarterback David Blough threw for three touchdowns. Wide receiver Rondale Moore scored twice and tied a program record with his seventh 100-yard game of the year.
Heading into this year's matchup, here's what Allen had to say about the Boilermakers:
On playing for the Old Oaken Bucket in Bloomington...
Allen: Obviously this week is a tremendous challenge and opportunity to play the Boilermakers here at home for the Old Oaken Bucket. Just unbelievable passion for this game from our fan base and from our team and our players.
And we know that Purdue is a really good football team. A lot of respect for Coach Brohm and what he's doing there and how their team plays. And so they have a lot of talented football players in all three phases and have to come together and play our best football one last time here at home.
I have a great group of seniors I love and respect. Guys here that have played a lot of football for us and want to send them out the right way.
So we'll have to earn this one, just like you always do, but appreciate the effort this past weekend. That one's in the past now. Build off of that. Take that momentum into this week. Have our best week of preparation, have our best game collectively on Saturday.
On what ending the year with a win would mean for the program...
Allen: Yeah, I think you've got to continue, as we said today to our players, I said this is the biggest game of the season. Why? Because it's the next one. I get it. We understand we're playing for a trophy and a trophy that means a whole lot to this university.
But every year this game has tremendous value and the stakes are very, very high. It's elevated because of the season we've had. And for us to continue the momentum we were able to generate last week and have one of the greatest comebacks we've had in our program in a long time -- first time winning in back-to-back games in East Lansing in 53 years, that's history that doesn't happen all that often.
Not many teams won both of those in the same year. It's happened only five years to win both the Brass Spittoon and Oaken Bucket in the same year. Last time it happened here was 2016. Did not get a chance to play for the bucket in 2020.
But the bottom line is that tremendously important game, but you know what? They all are. But it is not just the next game. It does have tremendous value. A lot of things that go into this. And our guys are going to understand that as this week plays itself out.
We want them to understand the history of the Bucket and they want to know exactly what it means, where it came from, why we have a Bucket. Because we have 40 new guys on our team that weren't here last year. And we have a new coach on our team.
Coach Diehl (phonetic), who is our staff historian, he'll do a great job. We started that process this morning. We'll have another one tomorrow and on Wednesday and on Thursday and on Friday.
But this is a great opportunity for our program. And we want to make sure that we send these seniors out the right way in their last home game at Memorial Stadium.
On not playing Purdue in Bloomington since the 2018 season...
Allen: I'm with you. I just want to have the best crowd we can. I hate it that they don't get to have a chance to do that. I don't have any say-so whatsoever in the scheduling.
But to me, you just want your rival game to be a game where everybody's here, all the students are here and everybody is in full force. So that would be -- I'm all in for that. There's no doubt about it. You want -- I've been at other places where you had rivalry games and they've often fallen in this weekend. You have to find ways, different days we play on -- we played it Thanksgiving Day when I was at Ole Miss. We played on Friday night at South Florida against Central Florida, so that was a big game.
So the place you've been -- I tell you what, you always go back, you think about rivalry games, the Monon Bell game between DePauw and Wabash is intense and is awesome and is as great as it gets.
But those games are always being played this time of year, always going to have an issue with the calendar, maybe. Those games, I think of the crowds, the atmosphere and just the intensity of it just goes to another level. So you'd love to see it be there, whoever wants to be there, be there.
On Purdue's football team heading into the matchup...
Allen: One of the best quarterbacks in the country. So when you have that, you've got a chance to be really, really good. I think their defense has gotten better. I think their O line is better. They do run the football way more effectively than they've ran it recently.
You've got a receiver who's got 93 catches over a thousand yards. He's impressive. Really good tight end. The defense plays hard and their special teams has been effective.
So we're all beat up this time of year. I don't think anybody has a full roster of guys. It's probably relative to this point.
So whoever is available, whoever is healthy is going to go out there. And Coach Brohm does a great job. Their kids play really, really hard and they're always well prepared and they have a lot of talent. So a really good football team. They've got a chance, based on how things play out, to still be in the mix to win the West.
So that is just a testament of their season and the way they've done things there. So obviously a lot of respect for them. A lot of good football players on that team. And we've got to fight and claw and scratch to try to find a way to win this Old Oaken Bucket game.
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D.J. Fezler is a staff writer for BoilermakersCountry.com. Hailing from The Region, he is from Cedar Lake in Northwest Indiana and has spent the last two years covering Purdue football and basketball.