The Bucket and Bowl Bid on the Line For Hoosiers
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Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
For the second straight season, the Indiana Hoosiers enter the Old Oaken Bucket game with a record of 5-6, needing a victory over the Purdue Boilermakers (3-8) to earn consecutive bowl berths for the first time since 1990-1991. It is Senior Day and the Hoosiers are attempting to win the Old Oaken Bucket for the fourth straight season, a streak that has only been achieved by Indiana on one other occasion (early 1940s). On the other sideline, Purdue will not be going to a bowl game and they will have a new head coach when the 2017 season kicks off. On paper, only one team has anything to play for but IU knows the Boilers will show up determined to take the Bucket back to West Lafayette and spoil their rival’s season.
“We’re going to have to have what we told our team our best week,” said IU head coach Kevin Wilson. “We’re off to a good start and we’ve battled, ten weeks in a row without an open date, but we’re healthy coming out of the last game, practicing pretty good, playing good, not quite good enough all the time, but we’re going to need a good week because any time you play the rival game, end of the year, there’s always a lot of juice and energy from both sides. We’re very, very fortunate to have this game and to have a strong, great rival because there’s a lot of programs and schools that don’t have this chance, so it’s a great opportunity to play the game.”
Despite Indiana’s sub-.500 record, the Hoosiers enter Saturday’s game as significant favorites against the struggling Boilermakers. Purdue has lost six straight games since a narrow victory at Illinois that improved them to 3-2 at the time. During their current losing streak, they have surrendered at least 44 points all but one time and they have not come closer than 13 points in any of their defeats. The Boilermakers have the league’s worst defense, giving up 39.4 points per game and 461.9 yards per game. They also have the league’s worst turnover margin, giving the ball up 30 times for a turnover margin of -18. Indiana and Maryland are the closest to the Boilers in that category, at only -6. The Boilers also have the league’s worst rush defense, gaining only 101.1 yards per game and averaging only 3.4 yards per carry. IU has had struggles of their own on the ground but they are averaging 54 yards per game more than Purdue. Things are not all bad for the visiting Boilermakers though. They have the conference’s leading passer in David Blough and the second-leading receiver in the Big Ten in DeAngelo Yancey. Blough has thrown for an impressive 3,127 yards and 23 touchdowns and Yancey has 873 receiving yards and is averaging a conference-best 20.3 yards per reception. The 6’2” senior has turned into a consistent big-play threat that can change a game if Blough has time to find him deep. IU defensive coordinator Tom Allen knows the Purdue passing game will be a challenge for Rashard Fant and the rest of the secondary.
“They have connected on everybody. Yancey is a big receiver with great ball skills. Blough, the quarterback, is very talented. He has an NFL arm and it will be a tough challenge for us.”
When the Hoosiers have the ball, they’ll be trying to establish a running game against the conference’s second-worst rushing defense. Devine Redding is a mere 49 yards from back-to-back 1,000 yard seasons and he’ll be the bell-cow back as IU attempts to pound the Purdue defense. The Hoosiers will also likely give Camion Patrick, Tyler Natee, Alex Rodriguez and Ricky Brookins a few opportunities as well.
Senior offensive lineman Jacob Bailey spoke about IU’s mindset entering Saturday’s critical contest: “We have to come in with a mindset that we are going to run the football. It is a rivalry game, and it is going to be a fight. One of the ways you judge the physicality of a football game is how the teams run the ball. We will come in with a mindset to run the ball.”
Indiana Hoosier fans will gather on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to see a number of important seniors play their final game at Memorial Stadium. Guys like Dan Feeney, Ricky Jones, Mitchell Paige and Ralph Green have done a lot for the Indiana football program and they can add another couple of meaningful accomplishments to the record book if they can take care of their rivals from West Lafayette for a fourth straight season.