There are many college football rivalries that have had a tendency to figure quite prominently from a national contention standpoint over the years. When you think of Alabama-Auburn, Ohio State-Michigan, Texas-Oklahoma, Florida State-Florida (and also Miami) and even Southern Cal-Notre Dame among a few others, you envision games that are not only hatefests but also have put the winner in line for broader championship glory at different points in the history of the sport. Other rivalries rarely reach that lofty level, but instead ooze Americana and in many ways reflect the historical evolution of that particular region of the country.
The Indiana-Purdue series invariably falls into the latter category. Rarely if ever have there been national or even conference title implications when the Hoosiers and Boilermakers have butted heads each year. Nevertheless, this annual antagonistic affair is a veritable staple of the college football calendar and is in fact the third most played rivalry in FBS, beginning in 1891 and bested only by Minnesota-Wisconsin and Missouri-Kansas. The Old Oaken Bucket was first instituted in 1925 (ironically enough the two teams tied 0-0 that year) and the trophy itself, it is said, dates back to the Civil War. The tradition is for the winning team to affix a bronze “P” or “I” to a bail inside the bucket. Each letter connects to the other year after year and given that Saturday’s meeting is the 117th in the history of the series, the chain has gotten pretty extensive.
They say that “all is fair in love and war” and oftentimes this rivalry is as evident an example of the intertwining of the two. Many couples throughout the state of Indiana have conflicting allegiances and there are plenty of families who have children attending either school. Having been to many Old Oaken Bucket clashes as a student and alum of IU, it’s actually kind of hilarious to walk through the parking lot of both Memorial Stadium and Ross-Ade Stadium and marvel at how many vehicles have frontal license plates that have the IU and Purdue logo on it with the term “House Divided” right in the middle.
On the field, it’s a series that has been consistently dominated by the Boilermakers who enjoy a 72-38-6 record overall. This has especially been the case since the turn of the 21st century, with Indiana having won all of four games since 2000. Purdue’s longest unbeaten streak in the series extended from 1948-61 when they won 13 of 14 and tied the only other game, while the Hoosiers went six games without a loss between 1916 and 1923, their longest run of unbeaten form. Both schools have ten conference titles between them, but Purdue has won eight with Indiana’s lone Big Ten titles coming in 1945 and 1967.
Of the 38 times the Hoosiers have come out victorious in this illustrious rivalry that encompasses three centuries, there are five that stand out in my mind. Yes, it’s quite a daunting task to mine through these many games and find a select few that qualify as being all-time greats from the perspective of Indiana football, but as the IU fight song states at the beginning of its second stanza, I’m going to try and be “never daunted” in this task. Let’s take a look.
5. 1900: Indiana 24, Purdue 5
Not only did this year ring in the 20th century but it was Indiana’s first as a football playing member of the Big Ten, only a mere 114 years before Maryland and Rutgers joined. From a seasonal success perspective not much stood out given the Hoosiers finished 4-2-2 and 7th in their inaugural year in the conference.
That said, it remains the only year in the history of the IU program where they defeated both Notre Dame and Purdue. Granted, they don’t play the Irish very often anymore, but in the early 1900s annual matchups between the two schools were quite a common occurrence. It also marked only the Hoosiers second victory over Purdue after the Boilermakers dominated the first decade of the series in the 1890s.
4. 1993: Indiana 24, Purdue 17
Though he was never able to win a Big Ten championship as coach of the Hoosiers, Bill Mallory is considered by most to be the greatest coach in program history. Between 1986 and 1993, Indiana would appear in six bowl games, by far the greatest stretch of postseason success IU has ever had. The ’93 season saw the Hoosiers ranked as high as 17th in the AP poll but after consecutive losses to Penn State and Ohio State came into the season finale with Purdue a few spots lower at 21st.
The Cream and Crimson would take care of the Black and Gold to finish 8-4. On December 31st of that year, they would play a Virginia Tech team appearing in their first bowl game under head coach Frank Beamer in the Independence Bowl and fall to the Hokies 45-20. I’m sure you’re well aware of the success the Hokie program has between now and then, while Indiana has appeared in a single bowl game since. The Boston Red Sox had the “Curse of the Bambino” from 1918-2004. The Hoosiers appear to have the “Curse of the Hokie” until this very day.
3. 1945: Indiana 26, Purdue 0
In a year that will always be characterized historically with the cessation of hostilities from World War II, another major milestone was reached societally that year and Indiana football played a significant part.
Hoosier running back George Taliaferro became one of the first African-Americans (if not THE first) to play major college football two years before Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier. He was instrumental both as a runner and punter in leading Indiana to an undefeated season, a final AP ranking of fourth in the country, and its only outright Big Ten title in school history. It was the crown jewel season in the tenure of head coach Bo McMillin, who led the Hoosiers on the sidelines for a program-best 14 seasons.
2. 2007: Indiana 27, Purdue 24
As someone who witnessed the raw emotion of this game, it was difficult for me not to rank this at the top. In 2005, Terry Hoeppner took over the IU program and no more than two years later had it trending in as promising a direction as it had under Mallory. However, in his second year as coach he was diagnosed with brain cancer and despite as valiant a fight as you can put up, he passed away in April of 2007 during the Hoosiers’ spring practice.
A galvanized group was committed to seeing through Coach Hep’s call for his team to “Play 13” in reference to the bowl game that would be the 13th game of the 2007 season. IU would beat Ball State to get to 6-5 but would fall to Northwestern the following week. That year, teams who had six wins and beat an FCS team were not guaranteed a bowl and so a win against Purdue in the final game of the year became crucial. After taking a 24-3 lead against the Boilers, Purdue would come storming back, tying the game at 24 with under four minutes to play. Needing a score of some sort to assure bowl eligibility, Hoosier quarterback Kellen Lewis would lead the team into field goal range and kicker Austin Starr would nail a 49 yard field goal with 30 seconds left to assure perhaps as emotional of a victory as I’ve ever seen in my life in any sport.
The Hoosiers would garner an invite to the Insight Bowl in Tempe, AZ on December 31st of that year where they would drop a decision to Oklahoma State, 49-33.
1. 1967: Indiana 19, Purdue 14
It doesn’t get more rosy than this one if you catch my drift. Terms like “Punt, John, Punt” in reference to the name of head coach John Pont and the “cardiac kids” became synonymous with the 1967 Indiana team. Seven of IU’s 11 regular season games that year would be decided by a touchdown or less, including the season finale which was perhaps the biggest Old Oaken Bucket clash in history. In front of a crowd of 52,770, one of the largest in the history of Memorial Stadium, the Hoosiers would jump out to a 19-7 halftime lead and would concede a single touchdown afterwards in the 19-14 victory.
In a conference that has been perpetually dominated by Ohio State and Michigan, it’s hauntingly ironic that the 1967 title race was a three-way tie between Indiana, Purdue and Minnesota, the three least successful football programs in the conference between now and then. With those three sides tied at 6-1, the Hoosiers were invited to Pasadena, to date their only appearance in the Rose Bowl where they would play top-ranked USC and lose by a score of 14-3.
If you’re sick of such a one-sided hierarchy in the conference, you’re really hoping this year’s iteration of the Golden Gophers figures out a way to go 2-0 the rest of the way. For fans of the Hoosiers and the Boilermakers, you’re just hoping that the glorified bowl game that transpires in Bloomington this coming weekend between two 3-8 teams results in a win and provides some much needed momentum for either program to somehow rekindle the minutely incandescent flames of their glory days in the century plus history of Big Ten football.
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