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    IU football game day: Indiana at Purdue primer and prediction

    Mike SchumannBy IU Football No Comments
    Photo - Purdue Athletics

    All that stands between Indiana and the first undefeated regular season in program history is an evening with the Purdue Boilermakers.

    And while a 12-0 season would be nice, the Hoosiers have much more on the line.  A Big Ten title, the College Football Playoff, the Heisman Trophy — it’s all within reach.

    In the 127th overall meeting and 100th battle for the Old Oaken Bucket, nothing can be taken for granted in this rivalry matchup.

    Here’s everything you need to know about Indiana’s week 14 matchup against Purdue in West Lafayette.

    No. 2 INDIANA (11-0, 8-0) at PURDUE (2-9, 0-8)

    • Kickoff:  7:30 p.m. ET, Friday
    • Location:  West Lafayette, Ind..; Ross-Ade Stadium (61,441; natural grass)
    • Television:  NBC — Paul Burmeister (pbp), Yogi Roth (color), Zora Stephenson (sideline)
    • Stream:  Peacock
    • Radio:  IU Football radio network
    • Odds:  Indiana is around a 28.5-point favorite
    • Weather at kickoff:  24 degrees, clear, wind 2 mph, 2% chance of precipitation.
    • Series:  Purdue leads the series 77-43-6
    • Tickets:  Use our StubHub affiliate link
    • The Coaches:
      • Curt Cignetti is in his second year as the head coach at IU.  He holds a 141-37 record in his 15th season as a college head coach.  He’s 22-2 at Indiana.
      • Barry Odom is in his first season as head coach of the Boilermakers.  He’s 46-42 in seven years as a head coach.

    THE 100th BATTLE FOR THE OLD OAKEN BUCKET

    The symbol of football supremacy between Indiana and Purdue, the Old Oaken Bucket, has become one of the nation’s most recognized and famed trophies in its 99 years of spirited rivalry. Both institutions had been meeting on the football field since 1891 when the Indiana and Purdue Alumni Clubs of Chicago held a joint meeting in 1925 to “discuss the possibility of undertaking a worthy joint enterprise on behalf of the two schools.”

    Dr. Clarence Jones proposed the creation of a traditional football trophy to go to the winner of the annual clash. Dr. Jones and Russel Gray of Purdue were appointed to recommend a suitable trophy by J. Frank Lindsey, (Indiana, class of 1913), who was elected chairman of the joint committee. At a later meeting they recommended “an old oaken bucket as the most typical Hoosier form of trophy, that the bucket should be taken from some well in Indiana, and that a chain to be made of bronze block “I” and “P” letters should be provided for the bucket.

    Photo credit – IU Athletics

    The school winning the traditional football game each year should have possession of the ‘Old Oaken Bucket’ until the next game and should attach the block letter representing the winning school to the bail with the score engraved on the latter link.” Fritz Ernst of Purdue and Wiley J. Huddle of Indiana were given the task of finding the bucket. ‘

    They located it on the old Bruner Farm between Kent and Hanover in southern Indiana. The region had been settled by the Bruner family in the 1840s, which makes today’s bucket around 180 years of age. Excellent repair work put the bucket, moss and mold-covered with some staves showing signs of decay, into good shape for its initial appearance, which ended in a 0-0 tie in 1925.

    TALE OF THE TAPE 

    THE COMPLETE BIG TEN WEEK 14 SLATE

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    PURDUE RESULTS

    vs. BALL STATE, Aug. 30 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Win 31-0
    vs. SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, Sept. 6 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Win 34-17
    vs. USC, Sept. 13 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Loss 33-17
    at #21 Notre Dame, Sept. 20 | 3:30 PM — Loss 56-30
    vs. #22 Illinois, Oct. 4 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Loss, 43-27
    at Minnesota, Oct. 11 | Minneapolis, Minn. — Loss, 27-20
    at Northwestern, Oct. 18 | Evanston, Ill. — Loss, 19-0
    vs. Rutgers, Oct. 25 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Loss, 27-24
    at #21 Michigan, Nov. 1 | Ann Arbor, Mich. — Loss 21-16
    vs. #1 Ohio State, Nov. 8 | West Lafayette, Ind. — Loss 34-10
    at #23 Washington, Nov. 15 | Seattle, Wash. — Loss 49-13

    PURDUE NOTES AND NUMBERS

    (Via Purdue Athletics)

    • The Boilermakers’ month of November has featured opponents with a combined record of 39-5, including 28-4 in B1G play. That includes hosting the top two teams in the country and back-to-back weeks against the last two national champions.
    • Dennis Kelly, a three-year starting offensive tackle for the Boilermakers (2009-11) before embarking on a 12-year NFL career, will serve a Purdue’s honorary captain for Friday’s finale.
    • Friday’s game will also by Senior Night for the Boilermakers.
    • Averaging a Big Ten-best 10.9 tackles per conference game, one full tackle more than the second ranked defender, linebacker Mani Powell is looking to become the first Boilermaker in history to lead the Big Ten in tackle average. Powell’s 103 tackles lead the Big Ten and rank 14th nationally.
    • Powell is one of only two players in the country to tally at least 100 tackles, 10 TFLs and five sacks this season.
    • Powell (103), Tahj Ra-El (98) and Charles Correa (91) combine for 292 tackles, the most by any trio of teammates in the Big Ten. While Powell leads the league, Ra-El ranks third (22nd nationally) and Correa ranks seventh (41st nationally).
    • CJ Nunnally IV is one of four players in the FBS with at least nine tackles-for-loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one INT.
    • The Purdue defense ranks fourth in the Big Ten in red zone defense (75%).
    • Spencer Porath is 14-for-15 on field goals this season, ranking second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in field goal percentage (93.3%). Porath is on pace to break Purdue’s single-season record for field goal percentage.
    • Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally in net punting with a 42.3 average.
    • The Boilermakers also rank 12th nationally in punt return defense, allowing only 3.7 yards per return.
    • Jack McCallister ranks second in the Big Ten in punt average (44.7) and leads the conference with 19 punts pinned inside the 20-yard line.

    SUCCESS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS

    • Purdue has beaten seven ranked teams over the past seven seasons despite being the underdog in each one of those games.
    • Three of those wins were against Top 3 teams, while Purdue handed five of those ranked teams their first loss of the season.
    • The victories during the 2021 campaign (No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Michigan State) gave Purdue multiple wins over Top 5 teams in one season for the first time since 1960 (No. 3 Ohio State, No. 1 Minnesota).
    • Five of the seven wins have been by double digits, the biggest being a 29-point victory over No. 2 Ohio State in 2018.

    MORE COVERAGE

    PREDICTIONS

    A healthy and rested Indiana has the better roster and much more to play for.

    Purdue makes things interesting early, but the IU defense takes the game over, and sets up the offense with short fields.

    IU pulls away in the second half.

    TDH PREDICTION:  INDIANA 34 PURDUE 10

    • ESPN SP+ (Computer):  Indiana 43 Purdue 9 (98% win probability for IU)
    • ESPN FPI (Computer):  Indiana has a 97% chance to win.

    For complete coverage of IU football, GO HERE.

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