BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana closed out a historic regular season with a record-setting performance.
Now, the 10th-ranked Hoosiers must play the waiting game to see if they will be in the College Football Playoff mix.
Kurtis Rourke threw two of his record-tying six touchdown passes to Elijah Sarratt, Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton each ran for scores and the Hoosiers routed rival Purdue 66-0 to reclaim the Old Oaken Bucket — and perhaps clinch a playoff spot Saturday.
“It’s been a great season, these guys have had a lot of success, the leadership has been great and it’s been a great year for Indiana,” coach Curt Cignetti said. “We’re not finished yet and we’re not satisfied.”
When Cignetti was asked if Indiana earned a playoff spot, he added: “Yeah, absolutely.”
Indiana (11-1, 8-1 Big Ten) extended its single-season school record for wins with No. 11 by handing Purdue its most lopsided loss in the 125-game series, breaking the previous mark of 52-7 in 1988. It was also Indiana’s largest home win in the series, surpassing the 37-0 victory in 1917 and the largest league win in school history.
The only blemish: Indiana was eliminated from the Big Ten championship game when No. 4 Penn State 44-7 beat Maryland earlier in the day.
But that didn’t tarnish the celebration for the team with the most losses in FBS competition at 714.
“It was a pretty dominant win,” Cignetti said. “I thought we really played well on defense and we missed some opportunities on offense, but it’s a rivalry game.”
Purdue (1-11, 0-9) closed the season with another ugly chapter.
The Boilermakers lost their last 11 games, suffered three shutouts and six losses of 35 or more points, including Saturday’s — the most lopsided loss in Purdue history, breaking the 66-7 mark set earlier this season.
Purdue went winless in league play for the fourth time since 1946, failed to beat an FBS foe for just the second time in college football’s modern era and was shut out by Indiana for the first time since 1945.
The cold, snowy conditions that forced field crew members to use leaf blowers to clear the hash marks and yard lines during the first half only made the sting of this loss worse.
“It was the worst performance offensively that I’ve ever seen,” embattled Purdue coach Ryan Walters said. “We couldn’t do anything. I didn’t see this coming. I thought we had a good week of practice, but when we play top-10 teams, we see how far we have to go.”
Ellison’s 2-yard run midway through the first quarter gave Indiana the lead. The Hoosiers made it 28-0 with three second-quarter scores — a 14-yard pass from Rourke to Ke’Shawn Williams, an 84-yard TD pass from Rourke to Elijah Sarratt and Lawton’s 4-yard run.
The Boilermakers never recovered.
Rourke was 23 of 31 with 349 yards, becoming the third Indiana player with six TD passes in a game. Sarratt caught eight passes for 165 yards as Indiana outgained Purdue 582-67 in total yards.
Boilermakers quarterback Hudson Card was 6 of 13 with 35 yards and one interception. He did not play in the second half.
Purdue: The Boilermakers added another miserable memory to maybe the worst season in school history: Giving away the Old Oaken Bucket. Now the questions begin. What went wrong? What can be fixed? Will coach Ryan Walters return for his third season?
Indiana: The Hoosiers rebounded from their first loss with another good showing. Indiana fixed the blocking miscues that plagued it the previous two weeks and even though the Hoosiers fell just short of playing for a Big Ten title, they still hope to be among the expanded playoff field.
The zaniness of rivalry week could push Indiana up a few spots, though they’re more interested in seeing where the playoff selection committee puts the Hoosiers.
Purdue: Winter workouts and spring practice.
Indiana: Waits to find out its next opponent and word from the CFP committee.
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