Game preview: IU football travels to Purdue for 100th Old Oaken Bucket Game

Purdue football coach Barry Odom.

No. 2 Indiana football travels 116 miles up Interstate 65 to West Lafayette for a Black Friday rivalry showdown with Purdue for the 100th edition of the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket.

Both teams enter the final week of the regular season fresh off a bye week. Nearly two weeks ago, the Hoosiers pitched a second-half shutout en route to a 31-7 victory against Wisconsin. The Boilermakers lost their 17th-straight Big Ten game in a decisive 49-13 loss to Washington in Seattle.

With a victory, Indiana will book its ticket to the program’s first Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis.

Ahead of Friday night’s rivalry tilt, here is Inside the Hall’s preview of the senior day showdown between the Boilermakers and Hoosiers.

Game information

Who: No. 2 Indiana (11-0, 8-0 in Big Ten) at Purdue (2-9, 0-8 in Big Ten)
Where: Rohrman Field at Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana
When: Friday, November 28, 2025. 7:30 p.m. EST
TV: NBC, Paul Burmeister(play-by-play), Yogi Roth (analyst), Zora Stephenson (sideline)
Radio: Don Fischer (Play-By-Play), Buck Suhr (Analyst)
The line: Indiana -28.5, Over/Under 53.5 (DraftKings)
SP+ prediction: Indiana 43, Purdue 9 (98 percent chance of an IU win)

Meet the opponent

The first year under Barry Odom has not been kind to Purdue. The Boilermakers have just one more win than last season with Ryan Walters.

Purdue won its first two games of the season against Ball State and Southern Illinois, but has lost nine straight games. It has been over two years since the Boilermakers won a Big Ten game. It was a 35-31 victory against Indiana in what eventually became Tom Allen’s final game with the Hoosiers.

Sophomore quarterback Ryan Browne is the primary signal caller for Purdue this season. The Clarkston, Michigan, native has completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 1,915 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Purdue’s offense ranks 120th amongst FBS teams in points per game, scoring 18.8 points per game. The Boilermakers have been held at 20 points or less in six conference games this season and were shut out by Northwestern in October.

Odom announced earlier in the week that the Boilermakers will use a two-quarterback system with Browne and Malachi Singleton.

The Boilermakers’ defense allows 30.9 points a contest, with opponents averaging 425.5 yards of offense.

Indiana is 43-77 all-time against Purdue, dating back to 1891 and 23-41-5 in West Lafayette. The last time the two programs met, the Hoosiers throttled the Boilermakers 66-0 in Bloomington on November 30, 2024.

Injury Update

Curt Cignetti announced on Monday that wide receiver Elijah Sarratt will play on Friday. Sarratt has not played since the first half of the week nine win against Maryland.

Defensive end Mikail Kamara is also expected to play after suffering an injury in the first half of the Wisconsin game.

Cignetti has not said if offensive lineman Drew Evans will make his return ahead of Friday night’s game.

The required Big Ten availability report will be released two hours before kickoff, at 5:30 p.m. EST on Friday.

Storylines

Indiana plays for a spot in the Big Ten championship game

Since its inception in 2011, the Big Ten championship game has been held in Indianapolis. However, for many years, the hometown Hoosiers were not contenders for a spot in the festivities.

Last season, the Hoosiers were in contention for a trip to Lucas Oil Stadium, but fell short due to tiebreakers. This year, all it takes is a win against Purdue and the Hoosiers will be in Indianapolis next weekend.

Indiana controls its own destiny on Friday evening and can make history in its rival’s stadium. Cignetti said earlier in the week that the team’s full attention is on beating Purdue and nothing else.

A win would mark the first undefeated season in program history, breaking seemingly unmovable barriers.

Can Indiana avoid injuries?

Besides Penn State, Indiana’s most formidable opponent in the back half of the schedule is the injury bug. The Hoosiers went unbeaten on the scoreboard, but suffered injuries along the way.

Aiden Fisher, Elijah Sarratt and Mikail Kamara all suffered short-term injuries. Key players such as Kellen Wyatt and Drew Evans suffered more severe injuries.

Although none of the injuries were detrimental to the team’s success, they increased rapidly as the season wore on.

With a cold game on the horizon, it is paramount that Indiana leaves West Lafayette with minimal damage to the depth chart. The postseason looms and it will take a healthy group of Hoosiers to make it to January 19th’s national championship game.

Outlook

With an appearance in the Big Ten championship game looming with a victory, Indiana may consider pulling starters if the game gets out of hand early. However, if last year proved anything, it’s that Cignetti will pull out all the stops to break Purdue’s will in front of a national audience.

The beatdown in Bloomington a season ago provided a moment that Hoosier fans dreamed about for decades. Cignetti was unrelenting and Indiana piled on.

Purdue doesn’t have much pride and will begin its offseason program after the game. Indiana will take full advantage of that mentality and will be the first team to secure a spot in Indianapolis.

(Photo credit: Purdue Athletics)

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