Indiana football beat Purdue by a final score of 56-3 on Friday evening at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind.
Second-ranked IU finishes the regular season undefeated for the first time since 1945, with a 12-0 overall record and a 9-0 Big Ten mark. Curt Cignetti’s team clinches a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis next week with the victory, with either No. 1 Ohio State, No. 6 Oregon, or No. 15 Michigan on the other side.
Below are three quick reasons why the Hoosiers won their second consecutive Old Oaken Bucket, along with highlights and final stats.
Stay tuned for more coverage of the game from The Daily Hoosier.
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Three quick reasons why Indiana beat Purdue
1. Second quarter explosion: Indiana’s offense got off to a slow start, with just 54 yards in the first quarter — Purdue finished the period ahead in yardage, though IU had a 7-3 scoreboard edge. But the Hoosiers pulled away in the second quarter, racking up nearly 200 yards and scoring three touchdowns. Fernando Mendoza got one on a quarterback keeper, Kaelon Black scored his second of the game with a highlight-reel spin move, and Roman Hemby broke loose for an 82-yard touchdown. IU changed the game in the second quarter from a cagey affair to a rout.
2. IU run game domination: A big factor in Indiana taking over was its rushing attack. Purdue just had no answers for IU’s run game. 185 of the Hoosiers’ 197 second-quarter yards came on the ground, and they finished with more rushing yards (355) than Purdue had total yards (282). The long touchdown run accounted for much of Hemby’s production, as the Maryland transfer put up a season-high 152 yards on 12 carries with the score. Hemby has topped that yardage figure only once in his collegiate career. Black recorded 13 rushes for 66 yards with the two touchdowns. Even Alberto Mendoza got in on the fun, breaking off a 58-yard run on an option keeper late in the third quarter, which set up a Khobie Martin rushing touchdown one play later.
3. Stifling defense: Indiana’s defense gave up two extended drives to the Boilermakers: an 11-play, 67-yard series in the first quarter that led to a field goal, and a 10-play, 39-yard drive in the second quarter ending in a missed field goal. The rest of the game, outside of those two drives, IU’s defense locked down PU. The Hoosiers tallied 10 tackles for loss on the day — defensive end Stephen Daley had a monster game, with 4.5 TFLs, a sack, and a forced fumble. That fumble, which Devan Boykin recovered, was one of two Indiana takeaways — Amare Ferrell picked off Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne on the game’s second play from scrimmage. The Boilers haven’t been an offensive juggernaut this season, but this was one of their worst outings of the year. They finished with their fewest rushing yards (44) this season, and their 80 passing yards in the fourth quarter — with the game already decided — helped them avoid a similarly rough total yardage mark.
Final stats
Highlights
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