The roar of 105,000 fans rattled the Indiana Hoosiers. So much so that there were routine mistakes on a regular basis in their loss to OSU last Saturday. They come home to 55,000 fans cheering in their favor when they host Purdue this weekend.
Indiana will be looking to hoist the Old Oaken Bucket for the first time since 2019.
“Well, most of our problems Saturday were assignment errors, like day one protection, certain lineman is supposed to go to the left and he doesn't,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said on Monday. ”I mean, there were three five-man pressures and two four-man pressures. One was a simulated pressure. All routine stuff. We didn't do a good job of handling it.”
The Hoosiers just didn’t do a good job last weekend. The defense held OSU in spots that seemed near impossible, but with the offense’s performance there was no break for the defense.
Purdue’s play this season has been bottom of the bucket
This weekend the offense faces a bottom 20 defense in the country instead of the statistically best defense in college football. Purdue’s defense allows nearly 38 points per game. Yes, 38 a game.
So it’s hard to imagine the No. 2 scoring offense in America won’t have a field day against Purdue. Regardless of the conditions of the game, Indiana has to come to play.
“Make the play,” senior wide receiver Myles Price said on Tuesday. “That’s all you can do, make the play. When it comes to you, you’ve got to make the play.”
The defense allowed over 300 yards last weekend, but the box score doesn’t tell the whole story. They created turnovers when needed to, forcing multiple punts, turnovers, and holding the OSU offense to field goals in short field situations.
Cignetti said postgame on Saturday how proud he was of the team’s fight. The players’ reactions were happy to hear their Coach but the anger from the game wasn’t exactly hidden.
That anger focused onto an offense that averages less than 20 points per game and struggles to muster 300 total yards a game could get ugly fast. Purdue’s offense has had flashes, but averages out to bottom 10 in total offensive production.
“At this level, everybody is capable,” Cignetti said Monday. “We've got to play well and play very well.”
An angry Indiana team at home hosting their instate rivals who they have a clear hatred for, who are also not great on paper, is something the Hoosiers are probably going to be thankful for this weekend.
“I just know that there is some pretty deep hatred between the two fanbases,” senior defensive lineman James Carpenter said. “That's what college football is all about. We're pumped for this game. We're excited.”
Indiana’s postseason outlook
While the Hoosiers’ path to 11-1 looks clear, the chances of a conference championship do not. They’re sitting second in conference standings, but if Ohio State wins against Michigan, Indiana loses the spot due to the loss in head-to-head. Even if OSU loses, Penn State still needs to lose to Maryland.
Why does Penn State have to lose? Since PSU and IU haven't played, and have beaten all the common teams they’ve played and lost to OSU, it comes down to this tiebreaker according to the Big Ten rules. “The tied teams will be compared based on the best cumulative conference winning percentage of all conference opponents,” the rules say.
Penn State and Indiana will have played five common opponents (Maryland, Purdue, UCLA, Washington and OSU). The four other teams IU has played (Michigan, MSU, Nebraska and Northwestern) have a worse combined conference record than the four other teams PSU has played (Minnesota, Wisconsin, USC, and Illinois).
The record difference? The four different teams Indiana played are a combined 12-20. Meanwhile the four different Penn State teams are combined 16-16. With Minnesota and Wisconsin playing, it wouldn’t matter if all four of the teams IU played won since one of the teams PSU played are guaranteed a win.
Therefore the chances Indiana plays in Indianapolis for a Big Ten Championship are rather slim.
But with Indiana being as high as they are in the FPI and other statistics, they’re still virtually a lock for the College Football Playoff with a win against Purdue.
Right now they’re projected a 10-seed to go into Happy Valley and face Penn State who’s No. 7 in the bracket.
The battle for the Old Oaken Bucket against Purdue is at 7 p.m. ET at Memorial Stadium, Saturday on FS1.
