Indiana defeated Purdue Saturday 66-0 in a battle for the Old Oaken Bucket. The game felt like it took place in a snow globe after flurries fell over Memorial Stadium in Bloomington before kickoff. The win extended Indiana's record to 11-1.
The win came a year to the day after IU hired head coach Curt Cignetti. In his first year, Cignetti has led Indiana to a record-breaking season and finished it with a win against the programs biggest rival.
Offensive lineman Mike Katic, who has been with Indiana since 2019, was seen parading the bucket all over the field after the clock ran out. It was something that Katic — who redshirted his freshman year and didn’t play in IU’s 2019 Bucket Game win — had only ever dreamed of doing and the smile on his face spoke more words for Katic than he could describe.
“It meant everything,” Katic said. “(Mark Deal, Assistant Athletic Director for Alumni Relations) wanted to give me the bucket first because he knew how much this meant to me.”
Katic also expressed that leading up to the game, and all season, he took it upon himself to educate his new teammates on what the rivalry means to the school. Katic said that there were a lot of choice words and expressions being thrown around to really portray the message, but it worked. He also said that many of the players on the team were playing for others that have been with this program for so many years but never got to bring the Bucket home to Bloomington. Those players wanted to do it for them, like quarterback Kurtis Rourke,
“Mike comes to mind right away, a guy that has been here, you know, a sixth year like me,” Rourke said, “but hasn’t had the chance to take the Bucket home… a guy that bleeds Hoosier.”
The matchup led to new names and leaders in the record books, Rourke and his offense being one of them. After completing 23 of 31 passes for 349 yards and six touchdowns Saturday, Rourke tied the IU record for most passing touchdowns in a game.
But he wasn't the only player firing on the Hoosier offense. A massive connection between Rourke and receiver Elijah Sarratt set another record title for the team. The 84-yard touchdown Saturday made it the team’s 62nd offensive touchdown this season, a new program record.
But the flowers for this group don’t stop there. Sarratt’s 165 yards receiving was the most from a wideout in Bucket Game history, surpassing former Hoosier James Hardy's record of 151 yards that was set in 2006. And with a touchdown from both Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton in Saturday's contest it made them the first running back duo in program history to each have 10 or more rushing touchdowns in a single season.
The offense found its groove after struggling against Michigan and Ohio State, and Sarratt said the offense is not yet done proving itself.
“It felt like we were clicking again,” Sarratt said. “We were kind of slow these past couple games, but we got a lot of good reps out there today, a lot of good stuff we put on tape and we just gotta keep going from there. I think we're going to get a good little break, take care of our bodies and then just practicing, staying ready for whoever, whoever we play, we're ready for whoever, whoever comes to us.”
Indiana's defense remained resilient against the Boilermakers offering no mercy to a struggling Purdue offense. Combined they held Purdue's four receivers to 54 total yards and their rushing offense to 13 yards. Many of Purdue's drives were short and lacked much life, a never-ending carousel of three-and-out possessions.
The Boilermakers never saw the red zone in Saturday's clash. They didn’t see many first downs either — only five total and one off of a penalty call. The lack of productivity from Purdue's offense proves how tough Indiana's defense was through all four quarters.
Linebacker Jailin Walker had one of the deepest performances amongst the Hoosiers defense — five total tackles (three solo) 1.5 sacks, four tackles for loss, one interception, two passes broken up, three quarterback hurries and one forced fumble.
Walker transferred from James Madison along with Cignetti, who spoke after the game about Walker and what he adds to this team.
“I've always considered Jailin Walker an impact player,” Cignetti said. “He makes huge plays for us at JMU, he’s got a nose for football. Nobody likes playing football more than that guy.”
Walker said postgame that Cignetti saying those things about him means a lot. He has worked to show that to Cignetti but it also comes from a place of trust with the coach — something Walker has given to and put in Cignetti since day one. As to his performance in Saturday's game Walker said the confidence was there going against Purdue and gave his insight on the success.
“Just paying attention to details, you know what I mean? Just worry about your assignment,” Walker said.
He mentioned that team chemistry and the amount of time that the group spends off the field together and outside of practice helps in translation onto the field come game time and the results. He said that keeping their foot on the gas pedal along with consistency and trust within the coaches is going to produce results.
With the regular season now over, Indiana's future is out of its hands. A lot of buzz about a bid to the College Football Playoff surrounds the program. The final regular season ranking will be announced at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 3. After that college football fans will have to wait until noon on Sunday, Dec. 8, when the committee will announce what teams have officially made it into the Playoff and against whom.
With nearly three weeks to prepare for postseason play Cignetti assured the media that they will be back in the office in 24 hours from Saturday's win and keep moving along with business as usual to prepare for postseason and the future of the team.
