Hoosiers cap their best season ever with a 66-0 thrashing of rival Purdue

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – In many years of Indiana football, a win over Purdue was a sweet but often meaningless end to a largely meaningless season. This year it was a beautiful culmination of a wonderful season.

The Hoosiers defeated their archrivals on a snowy Saturday night, winning 66-0 under the lights of Memorial Stadium. It was her first bucket win since 2019 and first in Bloomington since 2016.

The Hoosiers finished the greatest season in school history at 11-1 and now await a likely invitation to the first 12-team College Football Playoff. It was their 10th double-digit win of the season, a school record, and their eighth time scoring more than 40 points, also a school record.

This is exactly what first-year coach Curt Cignetti envisioned when he took the job. The Hoosiers wanted to make a statement against their arch-rival on Saturday – and that’s exactly what they did.

“It’s a historic year for Indiana, and we’re not done yet,” Cignetti said. “We definitely made a statement and I can’t say enough about what this team did between the white lines.” I thought our defense was great tonight, they really swarmed the ball and caused turnovers. And of course we made a lot of attacking moves.”

There is no doubt about that. Indiana gained 582 yards and Purdue had just 67. Purdue had just 13 rushing yards on 24 attempts and was 0 of 11 on third-down conversions.

Unsurprisingly, the outcome was never in doubt. Indiana, a 29.5-point favorite against a Purdue team that finished 1-11 and lost all nine Big Ten games, scored touchdowns on four of its six first-half possessions and went 28-0 Guide. The Hoosiers defense was stifling, allowing just 54 yards in the half and holding Purdue 0-for-6 on third down conversions.

All four Indiana scoring drives were 70 yards or more. Running back Justice Ellison scored first with a 2-yard run with 6:21 left in the first, and Ke’Shawn Williams made it 14 with a 14-yard pass from Kurtis Rourke with 11:31 left in the second :0 quarter.

Indiana’s third touchdown was their longest scoring game of the season. His second-quarter TD pass to Elijah Sarratt went for 84 yards and was the fifth-longest pass in program history. A 4-yard run by Ty Son Lawton made the score 28-0 with 2:52 left in the half.

The only bad thing for Indiana in the first half was that freshman Nicolas Radicic missed his first kick of the year, a 46-yard attempt, late in the first quarter. Up until then he had been perfect. After Saturday, he is now 9 of 10 on field goals and a perfect 69 of 69 on PATs.

This was the largest margin of victory in the Old Oaken Bucket Series for Indiana since a 52-7 victory in 1988 at West Lafayette. The previous highest win in Bloomington was 37-0 in 1917 – just 107 years ago.

The second half was about rewriting the record books and Kurtis Rourke was instrumental in that. He completed 23 of 31 passes for 349 yards and set a school record with six touchdown passes. “He was on the ball all night,” Cignetti said.

Rourke had four more TD passes in the second half, connecting with Elijah Sarratt, Zach Horton, Miles Cross and Omar Cooper. Sarratt had eight catches for 165 yards.

The win was extremely gratifying for Indiana offensive lineman Mike Katic, who saw Indiana win the bucket in 2019 but has endured three years of tough times recently. He decided to come back for another year after Cignetti was hired, and he thoroughly enjoyed this epic transition.

The whole season was fun, but this final exclamation point was something different. That’s 66:0 after all – and with lots of new teammates. Defeating a hated rival – and hate isn’t such a strong word – is particularly sweet.

“It was all about getting into a new culture with all the new people and changing the whole thing. This is an incredible thing,” said Katic. “It’s crazy how much of a difference a few years can make.” I’m so happy to be part of this culture we have now and I’m so happy for the fans and the alumni.

“We started this week with a chip on our shoulder and had something to prove. We don’t like them and some strong words were said to get everyone behind the rivalry. I’m just so grateful that I came back.” 66-0, which is the happiest I’ve been in a long time. I’m overjoyed right now.”

Indiana finished second in the Big Ten with an 8-1 record, but lost a tiebreaker to Penn State, which will play Oregon for the championship next Saturday in Indiana.

The Hoosiers will await their fate in the postseason when the College Football Playoff’s 12 teams are announced next week. Cignetti is confident the Hoosiers have done enough.

“We’re not done yet,” he said.

No, they aren’t.