FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Old Oaken Bucket (Week 14)

Setting The Scene

• No. 2/2/2 Indiana will make the drive north to face Purdue for the annual Old Oaken Bucket Game on Friday (Nov. 28) night at 7:30 p.m. in Ross-Ade Stadium on NBC. This will be the second time the rivalry has been played on a Friday and the first since 1995.
• It will be the 127th meeting between the two programs and 100th meeting since the inception of the Old Oaken Bucket. The first game against the two teams dates back to 1891 and the first Bucket Game was in 1925.
• Indiana won last year's matchup, 66-0, in Bloomington. The 66 points marks the most points Indiana has scored in a Bucket Game and it is the largest margin of victory in series history for the Hoosiers. Purdue leads the all-time series, 77-43-6.
• The rivalry matchup also marks the first time in program history that Indiana will play two Friday games in a season. In Week 3, Indiana defeated Indiana State, 73-0, on Merchants Bank Field in Memorial Stadium. Indiana has a 7-5 record on Fridays.

News & Notes

• Indiana's ranking in the AP and USA Today/US LBM Coaches Poll is No. 2 for the sixth-straight week. The Hoosiers also have been ranked at No. 2 in each of the three editions of the College Football Playoff rankings this season.
• The 22 victories since the beginning of the 2024 season are the most in any two-year span in program history and rank tied for No. 4 nationally over that span. The 16 Big Ten wins during that span are also the most in a two-year stretch in IU history. MORE ON PAGE 4
• Indiana is 11-0 for the first time in program history after its 31-7 win in Week 12 over Wisconsin (11/15). The 11 victories tie the single season mark for wins in a season (2024).
• The 8-0 start in Big Ten play is the first time in program history an Indiana team started with an unblemished mark through at least eight conference games. The start also ties for the most conference wins in program history (2024).
• The Hoosiers are 42-27-1 all-time as a ranked team, which includes a 35-20-1 mark in Big Ten play.
• The Hoosiers finished the regular season with an unblemished record at Memorial Stadium, its sixth such season since the venue opened in 1960. The other seasons include 1967 (5-0), 1987 (6-0), 1991 (5-0), 2020 (3-0), and 2024 (8-0).
• Head coach Curt Cignetti started a season with an 11-0 mark for the first time in his head coaching tenure, after he started two seasons at 10-0 (Indiana, 2024; James Madison, 2023).
• With 70 yards rushing allowed against Wisconsin, Indiana held its ninth opponent of the season under 100-yards rushing - a new program standard.
• Indiana is the only Power 4 defense to rank among the top-15 nationally in scoring defense (No. 2, 11.6), total defense (No. 4, 249.0 ypg), rushing defense (No. 4, 82.4 ypg), passing defense (No. 13, 166.5 mpg) and sacks (TNo. 10, 30.0).
• Fernando Mendoza threw four touchdown passes in the win over the Badgers to move him to 30 on the year, the most of any Hoosier in a single season. His 30 passing scores are tied for No. 1 in the FBS with Baylor's Sawyer Robertson and leads the Big Ten. MORE ON PAGE 8
• Elijah Sarratt and Omar Cooper Jr. are tied for the Big Ten lead with 10 touchdown receptions with Jeremiah Smith (Ohio State). The Hoosier duo are also both on the top-five of the program's career receiving touchdowns charts. MORE ON PAGE 10
• Charlie Becker logged 108 yards receiving on five catches to make it back-to-back weeks with 100 yards along with a 31-yard touchdown reception against Wisconsin. MORE ON PAGE 10
• Rolijah Hardy's 1.0 sack against Wisconsin marked back-to-back weeks and has logged a sack in five of the last six games. MORE ON PAGE 13
• Stephen Daley had 3.0 tackles for loss versus the Badgers to put him in a tie at No. 1 in the Big Ten with 13.5. Isaiah Jones is at No. 4 in the conference with 12.0.

GAME 12

Setting The Scene

News & Notes

Week 14 Links