Boilermakers-Hoosiers Clash Saturday In 97th Battle For Old Oaken Bucket
It’s Purdue.
It’s IU.
It’s the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket, the Holy Grail of college football trophies as far as Boilermaker and Hoosier fans are concerned.
Yes, this week you can hear all the banter back and forth between the two universities’ fan bases. The Purdue jokes. The IU jokes.
I’ve said it forever and will continue to say it … THERE IS NO RIVALRY IN COLLEGE SPORTS LIKE PURDUE-IU. Crazy you say? Hardly.
This isn’t a one-sport rivalry. It isn’t a made-for-tv rivalry. It isn’t a rivalry born in the 1980s. It isn’t a rivalry where you have to cross state lines.
This is a rivalry that dates back more than 125 years (yes, the schools started playing football in 1891).
Sure, the football and men’s basketball part of the rivalry steal the headlines, but remember things can easily get heated among alums of the two when talking about which university is better academically. Purdue alums like to say, ‘What do Purdue and IU students have in common? They all got into IU.” IU alums counter with Purdue being a bunch of farmers and hang their hats on the school’s excellent medical and law schools.
If you are anywhere close to my age, you’ve heard it all.
Jokes aside, we are blessed to have the two excellent universities in our state.
As far as the gridiron goes, Purdue holds the all-time lead in the series, 75-42-6, winning last year’s clash 44-7 in Ross-Ade Stadium.
However, the teams have split the last 10 matchups (they didn’t play in 2020 due to COVID).
On Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Purdue and Indiana will meet in Memorial Stadium in what will be the 97th battle for the Old Oaken Bucket (the Big Ten Network will televise the game live).
The Boilermakers enter the game having won their last two games to improve to 7-4 overall, 5-3 in the Big Ten. If Nebraska beats Iowa on Friday, a Purdue victory over IU would deliver the Boilermakers to their first ever Big Ten Championship Game next month in Indianapolis. Regardless, a win over IU would give Purdue its first ever Big Ten West title.
“We know Purdue is a really good football team,” Hoosier boss Tom Allen said. “A lot of respect for Coach (Jeff) Brohm and what he’s doing there and how their team plays.
“They have a lot of talented football players in all three phases. We have to play our best football one last time at home.”
IU, on the other hand, is playing for nothing more than bragging rights as it limps into the game having lost seven of its last eight games. The Hoosiers (4-7, 2-6) did notch a thrilling double overtime victory last Saturday at Michigan State.
“In these types of games, doesn’t matter what your record is,” Brohm said. “Anybody can win the football game. I know the game we lost a couple of years ago, they had a really, really good, talented team. They were playing well. We were not playing so well. Took them three overtimes to beat us, and that was at our stadium.”
Purdue’s last trip to Bloomington resulted in a 28-21 Boilermaker victory in 2018, but it wasn’t easy.
Thanks to the win, Purdue became bowl eligible as David Blough threw three touchdown passes and wide receiver Rondale Moore scored twice.
IU has some momentum coming into this year’s showdown.
In the win over the Spartans, Hoosier sophomore quarterback Dexter Williams II threw just seven passes and completed two. In the last three games, Williams is just 12-of-37 for 179 yards with two touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He has been sacked seven times in the last two games.
No doubt IU will rely heavily on its ground game against Purdue.
Williams is an athletic QB that the Boilermakers must keep an eye on (he gained 86 yards on 16 carries and scored a touchdown in East Lansing.
Also, Purdue must contain running back Shaun Shivers, who averaged nearly nine yards per carry (13 rushes for 115 yards and two touchdowns) against MSU. It was Shivers’ second 100-yard rushing effort of the season, his first since Sept. 10 vs. Idaho.
The Boilermakers will be looking to win for the eighth time this season after Brohm’s bunch won nine a year ago, including a dramatic overtime victory against Tennessee in the Music City Bowl in Nashville.
Purdue, which has lost two of its four games this season by a total of seven points, is led by senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell, who will top the 3,000-yard passing mark for the season if he throws for 166 yards against the Hoosiers.
O’Connell is completing nearly 64 percent of his passes this season and has tossed 20 touchdowns to go along with 11 interceptions.
O’Connell’s favorite target is Iowa transfer Charles Jones, who is one of the best receivers in the country. The Biletnikoff Award semi-finalist has had a special senior season, catching 93 passes for 1,056 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Senior tight end Payne Durham is one of the most prolific receivers in Purdue history. This season Durham has caught 50 passes for 511 yards and has seven touchdown receptions. He will be playing on Sundays next year.
The Boilermakers may get a boost in their backfield if freshman running back Devin Mockobee returns from concussion protocol, which he entered last week early in the win over Northwestern.
Mockobee has been a pleasant surprise for Brohm and Co. The walk on has rushed for 750 yards and scored seven times. He has four 100-yard rushing games on the season.
Expect Saturday’s Old Oaken Bucket clash to be somewhat of a high scoring affair.
Both teams struggle on defense.
IU is last in the Big Ten on that side of the ball, allowing 34.3 points per game.
Purdue ranks eighth in the league, permitting 23.7 points.
The Boilermakers have knocked off a pair of top-25 teams this season in Minnesota and Illinois, both on the road, but have a tendency to play to the level of their competition.
This game will mean everything to the Hoosiers. It’s their season. For the second straight year, IU isn’t going bowling so reclaiming the Old Oaken Bucket would be the highlight of the 2022 campaign.
As stated before, Purdue has an opportunity to win its first West title ever and depending on the outcome of the Iowa-Nebraska game could head to Indy to play top-five Michigan or Ohio State for a Big Ten Championship.
“We have a big one ahead of us in a rivalry game that means a lot, so we have to focus on that,” Brohm said.
With that said, I really think this one will be a dogfight so don’t be surprised if it is a one-score game heading into the fourth quarter.
The weather forecast calls for light rain in the afternoon, temps will be around 50 and winds shouldn’t be a factor. That’s not a bad forecast for the latter part of November.
With weather pretty much expected to be a non-factor, I believe the Boilermakers, currently a 10 1/2 –point favorite, will find a way to win as O’Connell, Jones and Durham will prove to be too much for the Hoosiers to overcome. Prepare for an entertaining contest in B-town. Purdue 31, IU 21
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