There have been many battles for the Old Oaken Bucket when the stakes really weren’t that high for IU.
But what’s on the line on a snowy Saturday evening in Bloomington?
A spot in the College Football Playoff, the first 11 win season in program history, and of course, a chance to bring the Bucket home — all in the first ever night game in the history of the rivalry with Purdue.
Here’s everything you need to know about Indiana’s matchup against the Boilermakers
PURDUE (1-10, 0-8) at No. 10 INDIANA (10-1, 7-1)
- Kickoff: 7 p.m. ET, Saturday
- Location: Bloomington, Ind., Memorial Stadium (52,626; field turf)
- Television: FS1 — Tim Brando (pbp), Devin Gardner (analyst), Josh Sims (sideline)
- Stream: Fox Sports
- Radio: IU Football radio network
- Odds: Indiana is a 29-point favorite
- Weather at kickoff: 29 degrees, snow, wind 5 mph, 57% chance of precipitation.
- Series: Purdue leads 77-42-6
- Tickets: Use our StubHub affiliate link
- The Coaches:
- Curt Cignetti is in his first year as the head coach at IU. He holds a 129-36 record in his 14th season as a college head coach.
- Ryan Walters is 5-18 in his second season as a head coach.
You’re either cream & crimson or you’re not. pic.twitter.com/BlNqbYAhiP
— Indiana Football (@IndianaFootball) November 30, 2024
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. 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
FRIDAY, NOV. 29
Minnesota at Wisconsin 12 p.m. CBS
Nebraska at Iowa 7:30 p.m. NBC
SATUDAY. NOV. 30
Illinois at Northwestern 12 p.m. Big Ten Network
Michigan at Ohio State 12 p.m. FOX
Rutgers at Michigan State 3:30 p.m. FS1
Maryland at Penn State 3:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
Fresno State at UCLA 3:30 p.m. Big Ten Network
Notre Dame at USC 3:30 p.m. CBS
Purdue at Indiana 7 p.m. FS1
Washington at Oregon 7:30 p.m. NBC
PURDUE 2024 RESULTS
Aug 31 Indiana State West Lafayette, Ind. W 49-0
Sep 14 Notre Dame West Lafayette, Ind. L 7-66
Sep 21 Oregon State Corvallis, Ore. L 21-38
Sep 28 Nebraska West Lafayette, Ind. L 10-28
Oct 5 Wisconsin Madison, Wis. L 6-52
Oct 12 Illinois Champaign, Ill. L 49-50
Oct 18 Oregon West Lafayette, Ind. L 0-35
Nov 2 Northwestern West Lafayette, Ind. L 20-26
Nov 9 Ohio State Columbus, Ohio L 0-45
Nov 16 Penn State West Lafayette, Ind. L 10-49
Nov 22 Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. L 17-24
PURDUE NOTES AND NUMBERS
(Via Purdue Athletics)
• Saturday’s contest marks the fourth time in the final six games of the season that Purdue faces a Top 10 team. The Boilermakers will play their fifth Top 10 team this season and are the only program in the country to have had to face four of the nation’s current Top 5.
• Purdue has only faced a ranked Indiana team four times throughout history.
• The Boilermakers held Michigan State scoreless in the second half last week, one possession away from pulling off the biggest comeback in program history. Purdue trailed 24-3 at halftime before limiting the Spartans to zero points and 73 yards of total offense in the second half, including 0-for-7 on third down after the break.
• Hudson Card threw for a career-high 342 yards at Michigan State last week.
• One of the nation’s leading tacklers as an All-American a season ago, sophomore Dillon Thieneman ranks second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally in solo tackles (5.7 per game) this year. The 2023 Big Ten Freshman of the Year has recorded 63 solo tackles, the most by any defensive back in the country.
• Thieneman’s 94 total tackles are 21 more than the next Big Ten defensive back.
• Thieneman is two solo tackles away from being just the third defensive back over the past 20 seasons to record
at least 65 solo tackles as a freshman and sophomore (Andrew Wingard – 2015-16 – Wyoming, Davonte Shannon 2007-08 – Buffalo).
• Starting center Gus Hartwig has a 84.9 pass blocking grade from PFF, second best in the Big Ten and 13th nationally among centers, while not giving up a sack and allowing only one hit on the quarterback.
• Senior linebacker Kydran Jenkins is the conference leader in sacks wearing a Big Ten uniform, recording 23.0 throughout his career to also rank sixth in Purdue history.
• Tight end Max Klare leads the Boilermakers in receptions (46), receiving yards (649) and receiving touchdowns (4), ranking second among Big Ten tight ends and seventh nationally in receiving yards.
• Klare is on pace to become the first Purdue tight end to lead the team in receptions since current tight ends coach Justin Sinz hauled in 41 receptions (240 yards, four touchdowns) during the 2013 season.
• Running back Devin Mockobee is 55 yards away from being the eighth Boilermaker in program history to eclipse 2,500 career rushing yards. Mockobee ranks 10th all-time with 2,445 yards on the ground.
PREDICTIONS
Purdue has made things interesting on the road a couple times — at Illinois and at Michigan State. Hudson Card went off on the Hoosiers last year. If he gets hot he can be dangerous. But Indiana has too much to lose, and Purdue is ready for the offseason.
The Bucket returns to Bloomington.
TDH PREDICTION: INDIANA 38 PURDUE 10
- ESPN SP+ (Computer): Indiana 47 Purdue 6 (99% win probability)
- ESPN FPI (Computer): Indiana has an 97.6% chance to win.
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