Purdue 3 – IU 56: Bye Bye Bucket

Going into this game against the undefeated Hoosiers it was clear that Purdue needed a miracle to win. What that miracle would be though I couldn’t say. I spoke with a couple other media members as the game was preparing to kickoff and the idea of “strange things” happening in Bucket games was brought up. Sure, that’s true, but that’s only true with a caveat. In the past when there’s been a Bucket game, or any game where a lower team knocks off a highly ranked team, there’s always that one guy who takes over a game. That one guy who can put his team on his back and will them to a win. Purdue doesn’t have that guy right now on either side of the ball. Think back to the huge upsets you remember over the last decade plus of Purdue football. Ryan Kerrigan against Ohio State. Rondale Moore against Ohio State. David Bell versus Michigan State. David Bell (and AOC) against Iowa. Purdue had that one guy. That one dog who could take over a football game. Look at this roster right now and name me that guy. I can’t. Hell, I can’t even name a guy I would put in the same conversation as those guys. That’s why I had no confidence coming into this one. But still, we were waiting on a miracle.

I also can’t emphasize enough that it was cold. Very cold. I know this was the same for both teams, but it explains the willingness for the fans to leave the stadium early. They announced the temperature at the start of the second half as 20 degrees.

My lack of confidence turned out to be a correct as Purdue went into halftime down 28-3. That sounds bad, and it is, but the Purdue defense really did hold their own for much of the first half. They got put into bad position after bad position thanks to an early Ryan Browne turnover and two very bad punts from Jack McCallister who had been solid nearly all season. He punted 5 times in the first half for an average of just 33.8 yards per punt. That’s not going to do it against an IU team that has just been consistently punching opponents in their throats. The Purdue defense continued to be able to hold onto the football as they had at least two opportunities for takeaways but simply couldn’t make the play. If you’re going to hope to win a game like this, those near interceptions have to turn into interceptions and then into points. Today? Nothing doing.

Meanwhile, on the offensive side of the ball it was more of the same with lackadaisical playcalling and dropped passes from the receiving corps. There was really nothing to salvage on the offensive end from the first half. Purdue went into halftime with just 22 rushing yards and 147 yards of offense compared to 251 for the Hoosiers.

The second half showed absolutely more of the same from the Boilermakers with another turnover from Ryan Browne, this one a fumble, and more struggles from the Purdue defense. Nothing summed up this game, and the entire Purdue season than this play in the third quarter. I’m not gonna gild the lily on this one, I’ll just let the play speak for itself.

I’m not sure what else to say about this one after a play like that. We are 12 games into the Barry Odom era and we can’t tackle with three guys RIGHT THERE! To say it’s frustrating is an understatement.

I’ve run out of words for this Purdue football team. We knew it was basically a complete rebuild coming into this season but this is like when you start the rebuild and then find out there’s black mold, and then that there’s termites, and then that the foundation is cracked, and then, and then, and then…My old friend Tom Hanks went through that once, you might’ve seen the movie.

Purdue goes into the offseason doubling their win total, that’s the good. The bad, that still only got them to two wins. The even worse? The schedule doesn’t get much easier next season and I’m not sure where the money comes from to rebuild the entire roster.

This season is over and we will have a deeper look at what comes next going forward on the site in the future.

Mostly though, the site will be flipping even more to basketball, if that’s even possible, as we look to cover #1 Purdue men’s basketball.