First Look: Indiana
Here’s an early look at Purdue’s final opponent of the 2024 season, the Indiana Hoosiers:
Date/Time: Saturday, November 30, 7 p.m. E.T.
Location: Memorial Stadium
Surface: FieldTurf
Capacity: 52,626 (sold out)
Weather: Early forecast shows a high of 31, low of 19 with partly cloudy skies
2024 schedules/records: Purdue 1-10 (0-8 Big Ten), Indiana 10-1 (7-1 Big Ten)
Series notes: The in-state rivals will meet for the 126th time on Saturday. Purdue holds a decisive 77-42-6 advantage dating back to 1891, and the Boilermakers enter on a three-game win streak in the series. Traveling south to Bloomington has not been an issue for Purdue historically, as the Boilermakers own a 36-19-2 lead in Monroe County. The Old Oaken Bucket game is the seventh most-played matchup in FBS history. When Purdue last walked into Memorial Stadium, it overcame a slow start to clinch the Big Ten West division title. Saturday will mark the first true night game in rivalry history with a 7:00 p.m. E.T. kickoff.
TV: FS1
Early line: Indiana -25.5
STORYLINES TO WATCH
10-1 vs. 1-10
Before the season began, nobody could have imagined that Indiana would enter the final week as a College Football Playoff candidate. Despite a non-competitive 38-15 loss at Ohio State, the Hoosiers look poised to crack the 12-team bracket. First-year coach Curt Cignetti engineered a remarkable turnaround, changing the tenor around Indiana football. Memorial Stadium has sold out on several occasions this fall, and a capacity crowd awaits on Saturday.
Meanwhile, although the media picked Purdue to finish 18th out of 18, few expected this futility. Purdue enters on a 10-game losing streak with several blowout defeats included. Purdue tends to start games slow, putting itself in insurmountable positions.
Slow starts
Purdue continued its troubling trend of slow starts on Friday, falling behind 24-3 at halftime. Once again, the deficit proved too great to overcome, a constant in Purdue’s 2024 season. Through 11 games, the Boilermakers have scored just 13 points in the first quarter, seven of which came against FCS Indiana State. Though the list of issues for the Boilermakers contains plenty of bullet points, the slow starts badly plague the Boilermakers.
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Heavily-favored Hoosiers
In a series largely controlled by Purdue, Indiana rarely enters the season finale as a massive favorite. Yet, in 2024, Indiana will take the field as more than a three-touchdown favorite. In 2013 and 2016, Purdue made the trek south as a 20+-point underdog, covering the spread but losing the game in both instances. Since 2017, the favorite has won each matchup.
Ryan Walters on the Hoosiers
“Obviously, Indiana has a completely different roster with completely different schemes (from 2023). It is a well-oiled machine and they don’t beat themselves. You can tell they have played a lot of ball together. The get off to a lot of fast starts and in the middle of the game it is much closer, and then they tend to finish fast. They are a very well-coached team.”
