IU Will Raise the Victory Flag Against Purdue If...
/Written by Sammy Jacobs
After every win the Indiana Hoosiers raise the Victory Flag high over Memorial Stadium. The Old Oaken Bucket will be on the line as well. The Hoosiers are looking to reclaim the Old Oaken Bucket for the first time since 2019 and pad their resume for the College Football Playoff. IU will do all those things if…
1. Keep Kurtis Rourke Upright
The last six quarters have seen an assault on IU quarterback Kurtis Rourke and the IU offense has stalled out with just 35 points over the last two games. The Hoosier offensive line needs to keep Rourke upright and give him time to pick apart a bad Purdue defense.
“We've got to shore our pass protection up. We had some missed assignments, a couple physical errors. One time got beat one-on-one. But we've got to take the hits off the quarterback because I don't know a quarterback in the country if he gets hit over and over again, they all lose their effectiveness.” Curt Cignetti said on Monday. “We've got to get back in sync offensively and get our rhythm back where we're playing with a lot of confidence, scoring points, scoring points in bunches, and running the ball and throwing the ball with equal success.”
2. Dominate the Lines of Scrimmage
Indiana’s defensive line should be able to feast against Purdue. The Boilermakers rank 16th in the Big Ten in both sacks and tackles for loss allowed. The Hoosiers ranked second in both categories. Purdue quarterback Hudson Card is coming off a 342-yard performance against Michigan State, so getting to the quarterback will be key. IU got to Card last year, but failed to bring him to the ground.
On offense, the Indiana offensive line needs to find their groove again. IU ran the ball well against Ohio State and should be able to go for big numbers on the ground Saturday, but they need to clean up pass protection.
3. Style Points are Needed
The Hoosiers come into this week ranked 10th in the CFP rankings and seeded 11th. They are in an OK spot, but they need to score some style points on Saturday. The Hoosiers are nearly 30-point favorites and a win by anything fewer than that, may give reason for the committee to drop them further or have one of the few three-loss SEC teams hanging around pass them. This is a bad Purdue team, IU needs to keep pace with the results Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oregon and Penn State had against them.