THE BUCKET IS OURS; Purdue 28 - IU 21

With everything possible on the line to end the season Purdue did everything it needed to do and walked out of Bloomington with the Old Oaken Bucket. Thanks in large part to Rondale Moore and the combination of Markell Jones/D.J. Knox the Purdue offense racked up 28 points which was plenty. Rondale Moore finished the game with 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns to go along with three rushes for 13 yards. He finished the regular season with over 1,000 total yards. As a freshman. The rushing duo of Knox and Jones combined for 137 yards including the dagger of a touchdown run of 32 yards from Jones in the 4th quarter.

Purdue’s defense only allowed 21 points which should be enough to win most games. They made it interesting though as they gave up a TD with around 1:20 to go in the fourth quarter giving IU a chance to recover an onside kick but thankfully Rondale Moore covered that up and the game was sealed.

Travis will have much more to come but I wanted to give you some quick hitters before then.

• Rondale Moore is making a name as Purdue’s best receiver in decades. Dorien Bryant is the easiest comparison but Moore may have surpassed Bryant already.
• The Purdue defense gave up a lot of yards and looked not great at times but they made stops when they had to and even grabbed an interception in the fourth quarter to help demoralize the Hoosiers.
• I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the classy gesture by IU of giving the Trent family tickets and suite access. Very cool move. There’s more than football at play here. We’re all on the same side at the end of the day.
• IU’s offensive coordinator went away from the run for some reason despite Stevie Scott averaging over 5 yards per carry. Sometimes people think they have to get cute. If they would’ve taken a cue from Wisconsin and just run the ball this could’ve been a different game.
• IU threw the ball 51 times. I just don’t understand their thought process.
• Great punting by Schopper who averaged 42.6 per punt. He’s been a very powerful weapon this year. He’s had a great career.

Purdue finished the regular season 6-6 (5-4) and will be heading to a bowl game somewhere. Now, all attention turns to Jeff Brohm and his contract situation. For now though, let’s appreciate the turnaround of this program and the Bucket staying home for two years in a row.