Boilermakers Down Hoosiers, 33-25
The victory makes Purdue bowl eligible for the first time since 2007.
BLOOMINGTON,
Ind. (AP) - Purdue's players hoisted the Old Oaken Bucket in front of
their fans, danced around the Bucket in the locker room; they even took
turns kissing the prized trophy Saturday.
Now the Boilermakers
will just have to wait to find out if reclaiming the Bucket was good
enough to propel them into the postseason.
Ralph Bolden ran for
one touchdown, Antavian Edison scored twice and Carson Wiggs made four
field goals, leading the Boilermakers to a 33-25 victory at archrival
Indiana that makes Purdue bowl-eligible for the first time since 2007
and the first time under coach Danny Hope.
"We had some
great wins this season, but nothing is quite as sweet as beating
Indiana, in Bloomington, to get the Bucket and become bowl eligible,"
linebacker Joe Holland said, grinning from ear to ear.
Unless, of course, the Boilermakers don't make the postseason.
At
6-6 (4-4 Big Ten), Purdue is the 10th league team to reach the
mandatory six wins for postseason play. However, the conference has
only eight bowl tie-ins, so there is no guarantee the Boilers will play
in December or January.
That prospect didn't dampen the postgame celebration.
When
the clock ran out, Purdue's players ran to the opposite side of the
field not to shake hands with their bitter rival but to get their
fingers on the coveted trophy. The players then walked back toward
their own sideline and jogged into the corner of the end zone where
they celebrated with fans before taking turns getting pictures with the
Bucket in the locker room.
What's next for Purdue? The answer is unclear, but the celebratory mood was in full swing Saturday.
"It was rowdy in the locker room," Wiggs said. "We were talking about the bowl games we could be in."
Still, things could have gone better.
The
announced attendance of 42,005 didn't come close to filling Memorial
Stadium, and a smaller-than-expected contingent made the 2-hour drive
from West Lafayette to Bloomington.
That didn't seem to matter
to Paul Viglianti, a representative of the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl in
Detroit, a game that has direct affiliation with the Big Ten's bowl
agreements.
"You want teams that are bowl hungry and Purdue is
excited about being in a bowl again," he said. "It's only a gas tank
away to go to a bowl for anybody in the Mid-American Conference or the
Big Ten, so the proximity is really important. It's always a better
game when there's a Big Ten team because you get more local, regional
audiences wanting to purchase tickets."
The other big concern is
the status of running back Ralph Bolden, who left in the third quarter
with what appeared to be a right knee injury. He ran 14 times for 54
yards including an 8-yard TD run but he did not finish the game. Bolden
missed all of last season after tearing the ACL in his right knee and
before leaving the field, teammates, including quarterback Robert
Marve, came over and wished Bolden well.
Purdue coach Danny Hope had no update on Bolden after the game.
"It's
disappointing and we'll wait and see what the diagnosis and the
prognosis is, maybe everything's going to be fine," Hope said.
TerBush
was 16 of 25 for 192 yards with one TD and no interceptions, and Akeem
Hunt ran 10 times for 100 yards after replacing Bolden.
Indiana
freshman quarterback Tre Roberson was 17 of 26 for 147 yards with one
interception, a call the officials decided to review before later
announcing that a dual-possession play was not reviewable. Stephen
Houston rushed seven times for 129 yards and one score, and D'Angelo
Roberts scored on two of his four carries for the Hoosiers.
Defensively,
the Hoosiers were better. For the first time in seven games, the
Hoosiers held an opponent to fewer than 40 points, and a scoreless
third quarter was their first against any opponent in 29 quarters,
dating to Oct. 1.
Regardless, the Hoosiers (1-11, 0-8) completed
their first season under coach Kevin Wilson with nine straight losses
and closed out the year as the only non-BCS team to go winless against
Football Bowl Subdivision foes.
"This is the worst feeling in
the world, of course, having a horrible season," receiver Kofi Hughes
said. "We thought this would be a positive feeling heading into the
offseason, but now we just have to flip that back as motivation."
What started as a wild shootout turned into a defensive struggle in the second half.
Houston opened the scoring with a 52-yard TD run, and Purdue answered with a 14-yard TD pass from TerBush to Edison.
Roberts
followed that with a 6-yard TD run up the middle to make it 14-7, and
after Raheem Mostert's 81-yard kickoff return, Bolden's TD tied the
score at 17 with 8:37 left in the first half.
The Hoosiers could
not return to Purdue territory the rest of the half, and Wiggs made
field goals of 43 and 48 yards to give Purdue a 23-17 lead. Wiggs'
fourth field goal, a 22-yarder, and Edison's 5-yard TD run made it
33-17 with 11:04 left in the game.
Indiana closed to 33-25 late,
but the interception that was not reviewed, and also the only turnover
in the game for both teams, sealed Purdue's win and perhaps a bowl trip.
"It
was just ridiculous in the locker room, guys were jumping around
everywhere, but it's time to celebrate," Edison said. "I think we've
done enough to make a bowl game. I'm not trying to think negative
anymore; I'm trying to think positive."
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