Indiana football finishes first perfect season by retaining Bucket

WEST LAFAYETTE — No. 2 Indiana managed its business emphatically Friday night, retaining the Old Oaken Bucket with a 56-3 win at Ross-Ade Stadium.

It's the first time IU has retained the Bucket since 2016.

Here's what I liked and disliked, and what the Hoosiers' win means.

What I liked in IU football's win at Purdue

• Bound for Indy. It's simple but it's relevant. Indiana football, for so long this conference's doormat, will play Dec. 6 for its first Big Ten title since before we started calling it the Big Ten. Whatever happens from here, this season has been something special. It's hard to go 12-0, arguably harder now than ever before. This program had never gone an entire season unbeaten and untied. Fans should celebrate that, and they will. Wherever this season goes from here, it has been remarkable.

• Rested legs. Some position groups (defensive line) looked refreshed after Indiana's late-season idle week before this game. Others (offensive line) got the chance to protect players like Kahlil Benson and Drew Evans, who have, respectively, been playing injured and out for the last few weeks. The calculus on what to risk with injuries has changed in an era when the postseason feels almost like a second season unto itself. Indiana got to use not just the idle week, but also the Bucket game, to keep getting healthier ahead of the business end of the season.

• Roman Hemby. The Maryland transfer has added an element of explosiveness to Indiana's offense, but the long touchdown runs Indiana fans knew all too well from his time in College Park had evaded him. Not this night, his 82-yard scoring scamper a signal that the rout was on. Hemby finished with 12 carries for 152 yards and that touchdown. On a night when the ground game defined the result, no one featured so prominently.

• Ground game. More broadly, this looked for all the world like a night when Indiana's rushing attack could feast, and feast it did. In the first half alone, the Hoosiers rushed for 209 yards, as three different players (Hemby, Kaelon Black and Fernando Mendoza) combined for four rushing touchdowns. Purdue has been weak against the run for more than a month now, and IU (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten) was happy to take advantage.

• Refreshed up front. While Indiana rested legs along the offensive line, it looked refreshed on the other side of the line of scrimmage. The Hoosiers' defensive front hounded and harried Purdue for all of the snaps it was required, finishing the evening with 10 TFLs. If the idle week did IU as much good there as it appeared to, the Hoosiers are in good shape for Indianapolis next weekend.

What I disliked in IU football's win at Purdue

• Mendoza's rhythm. He undeniably looked short of it Friday. Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the idle week. It didn't matter very much in the end, and even on what for him qualifies as a lesser performance, he accounted for three scores and matched Indiana's single-season record for total touchdowns (Kellen Lewis, 2007). For Mendoza, like his teammates, all that matters now is Indianapolis.

What IU football's win at Purdue means

Perfection. Something that for so long seemed effectively impossible for this program is now achieved. The Hoosiers have bigger ambitions, yes. But for one night it's worth reflecting on history. Indiana had never done this before. Now, that will never be true again.

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana football score today vs Purdue, game stats, likes, dislikes