Game Day Primer: The Old Oaken Bucket Game
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Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
What: Purdue Boilermakers at Indiana Hoosiers
When: Saturday, November 26 at Noon
Where: Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, IN
How to Watch: The game will be broadcast on ESPNU. You can also listen to the game on the IU Radio Network with the legendary Don Fischer on the call.
What’s at Stake: The Indiana Hoosiers are attempting to reach bowl eligibility for the second straight season, the last time that occurred was 1990-1991. In addition, Indiana is trying to win the Old Oaken Bucket for the fourth straight season. That would equal the longest streak for the Hoosiers in the lengthy rivalry’s storied history. So, what’s at stake? A bowl berth, the Bucket and bragging rights…not much more needs to be said.
A Few Things to Look For
“Victory Favors the Team Making the Fewest Mistakes”
Allow me to paraphrase an old Bobby Knight phrase because turnovers are likely to play a big part in this game. The Purdue Boilermakers are a staggering -18 in turnover margin, the worst mark in the conference and tied for the worst margin in the entire country. They’ve given away the ball 30 times this season: 23 interceptions and seven lost fumbles. The Indiana Hoosiers haven’t been as bad as Purdue but turnovers have frustrated IU throughout the season as well. The Hoosiers are -6 in turnover margin, a mark that ties for second-worst in the Big Ten. Turnovers cost the Hoosiers a win against Wake Forest and they nearly proved catastrophic against Rutgers. IU was able to have a turnover-free game last week at Michigan so that’s encouraging but was that an anomaly or a sign that IU is now committed to valuing possession? If the Hoosiers can take care of the ball, it’s likely they will find plenty of success on offense. If they get sloppy and start handing away scoring chances, this game will get far too close for comfort.
IU’s Improved Secondary versus the Big Ten’s Leading Passing Attack
No Big Ten team has attempted more passes (288) or gained more yards through the air (3,314) than the Purdue Boilermakers. David Blough is completing only 57.4% of his passes but he leads the conference in passing yards and he’s thrown for 23 passing touchdowns. His primary target is undoubtedly senior DeAngelo Yancey. Yancey is averaging 20.3 yards per catch, the top number in the Big Ten and he has nine receiving touchdowns. Blough will also look for Bilal Marshall (36 catches), tight end Cole Herdman (34 catches), Domonique Young (29 catches) and Cameron Posey (33 catches). Posey is nominally a slot receiver while Yancey, Marshall and Young operate on the outside, often running deep vertical routes. The Indiana Hoosiers have dramatically improved as a defense and they’ve had some stellar performances against some very good offenses. They limited Michigan to 59 passing yards (their fewest in a game since 2001), allowed only 208 to Nebraska and held J.T. Barrett and Ohio State to only 93 yards on nine completions. The Hoosiers are only allowing opponents to complete 52.6% of attempted passes. If IU can pressure Blough, it seems likely he’ll make some mistakes that the Hoosiers can capitalize on. Rashard Fant and A’Shon Riggins will need to be very careful with the dangerous DeAngelo Yancey but Purdue’s running game is very weak so IU will be prepared for an aerial assault on Saturday.
Pound the Rock
Purdue has the worst rush defense in the Big Ten and they are ranked 121st nationally in total defense. The Boilermakers allow an average of 246.3 yards rushing and 39.4 points per game. Their defensive line appears to have decent personnel with Jake Replogle, Evan Panfil and Gelen Robinson but they wear down on defense and fade quickly in the second half. Wisconsin ran for 221 yards last week, Northwestern had 253 rushing yards in the week prior and Minnesota had 235 three games ago. The Boilermakers have given up more than 30 points in all but one Big Ten game (Nebraska had only 27) and they’ve surrendered at least 44 points in the past four games. IU’s Jacob Bailey specifically mentioned at Monday that the Hoosiers planned on leaning on the running game and making it a priority on Saturday and a big afternoon for Devine Redding and company would go a long way towards securing IU’s fourth straight Bucket victory.