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LIVE BLOG: Follow Indiana's Last Game of the Season With Purdue in Real Time
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. —Welcome to Ross-Ade Stadium for Indiana's last game of the season. The Hoosiers always schedule this in-state rivalry game, also known as the biggest game of the season, against Purdue at the end of the schedule with the goal of keeping or claiming the Old Oaken Bucket.
Currently the Bucket lives with the Hoosiers after a double-overtime win in West Lafayette in the 2019 season. Last year's game was canceled due to COVID-19.
The purpose of this live blog is to keep you up to date in real time with everything that's going on in the game. We'll throw some opinion and highlights into the mix as well.
The most recent game nuggets are at the top, so refresh often to see everything you need to know about that game.
Let's go.
FINAL SCORE: Indiana loses its final game of the season to Purdue 44-7. The Old Oaken Bucket is handed off to the Boilermakers. The Hoosiers finish 2-10 on the season with zero conference wins.
6:40- p.m. — Dylan Downing rushes to the right for a gain of 33 yards and his first career touchdown [09:28]. You know it's a struggle when Purdue players are scoring their first touchdowns in their last regular season game. Fineran's kick is good this time. With less than 10 minutes on the clock, it's pretty much over for the Hoosiers where all they can do is defend and try to keep more Boilermaker points off the board. PURDUE 44, INDIANA 7.
6:36 p.m. — Gremel is sacked for the fourth time for a loss of 10 yards. He appears to be scrambling and doesn't know where to put the ball with zero open targets to help him out.
6:29 p.m. — Fineran's extra point is blocked by by Jaylin Williams and recovered by Reese Taylor with the 55-yard return.
6:25 p.m. — It's that train sound that you don't want to hear. O'Connell's 20-yard pass is complete to Bell for a touchdown. Indiana defensive back Raheem Layne went down in the end zone but walked off the field himself. PURDUE 37, INDIANA 7.
5:54 p.m. — King Doerue rushes left for a gain of 28 yards. Indiana's defense keeps allowing gaps and plenty of time for O'Connell to make reads. O'Connell's 5-yard pass to Sheffield is complete for a touchdown. It almost looked too easy. Sheffield remained open on the right side of the end zone where Hoosier fans are surely questioning where the coverage was. Fineran is now 5-for-5 kicking [08:37]. PURDUE 31, INDIANA 7
5:48 p.m. — Purdue's defense is having itself a little bonanza as it continues to bring Indiana to third downs. Gremel attempted to throw a short pass, but it was batted away causing Indiana punter James Evans to bail out the Hoosiers yet again. The Boilermakers' defense tallies 29 tackles and three sacks so far.
5:41 p.m. — Here's where it starts to get ugly for the Hoosiers. O'Connell got things cooking pretty quickly with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Anthrop. Fineran continues a strong performance and sends it through the uprights for the extra point. PURDUE 24, INDIANA 7.
HALFTIME STATS: Indiana quarterback Gremel went 11-for-16 passing for 102 yards and no touchdowns. He rushed six times for minus-38 yards, showcasing his preference for passing. Purdue quarterback O'Connell went 18-for-20 passing for 189 yards and one touchdown. His run game has also struggled as he's ran two times for minus-7 yards. The stadium is still packed despite the cold weather.
5:14 p.m. — Usually, Campbell's field goal attempts are gimme points, but the atmosphere gets the best of him in his 40-yard field goal attempt, and he misses his fifth kick of the season. PURDUE 17, INDIANA 7.
5:07 p.m. — Gremel loses the snap for a loss of 21 yards, but recovers it at Purdue's 47-yard line. Indiana takes a timeout to regroup. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty called on Purdue keeps the Hoosiers afloat with 20 seconds left in the half.
5:03 p.m. — Tom Allen has always said the goal is to give the ball to Indiana tight end Peyton Hendershot. Gremel completes a pass to Hendershot for 21 yards to the Hoosiers' 47-yard line for a first down.
5:02 p.m. — Gremel is getting beat up out there. He is sacked again for a loss of 9 yards at Indiana's 26-yard line by Kydran Jenkins. He has now been sacked three times.
5:00 p.m. — Indiana came extremely close to blocking Purdue's punt. It was tipped, but just not good enough for the explosive play the Hoosiers need.
4:48 p.m. — O'Connell continues to shine. His pass is complete to TJ Sheffield for 18 yards to the Indiana 19-yard line for a first down. The sold-out crowd roared for Sheffield's dive into the catch. Even still, Indiana defense went into beast mode and forced Purdue to kick. Fineran's field goal is good. He was struggling earlier this season, but it appears a good rivalry can create perfection when it's time to step it up. PURDUE 17, INDIANA 7.
4:37 p.m. — Gremel is sacked again, this time by George Karlaftis. This drive was short lived with no gain, but there is still 11:02 left on the clock in the first half.
4:31 p.m. — O'Connell has an answer for this scare. His pass to the left was complete for 18 yards to Paul Piferi, who ran it in for his first Boilermaker career touchdown [12:42]. Fineran is 2-for-2 kicking. PURDUE 14, INDIANA 7.
4:30 p.m. — O'Connell's pass is intercepted by Jaylin Williams who took off for a 75-yard Indiana touchdown, BUT, there was a flag on the play, and the touchdown was overruled due to a pass interference.
4:27 p.m. — This seems to be a common trend for Indiana; they do well in the first drive but fall apart in the next. Gremel's first pass was way past any Indiana receivers, and he is sacked by Branson Deen on third-and-7.
4:18 p.m. — First sack of the game! O'Connell is sacked for a loss of 9 yards at Purdue's 50-yard line by Marcelino McCrary-Ball. The Boilermakers are forced to punt. Indiana defense is now at 20 total tackles.
4:16 p.m. — O'Connell is working quickly, which is no surprise. His pass is complete to Milton Wright for 19 yards at Purdue's 44-yard line. Moments later, he finds David Bell for 14 yards at Indiana's 42-yard line clearly showing his strength in the air.
4:05 p.m. — We've got a ball game early at Ross Ade Stadium. This is a great first drive for the Hoosiers. Gremel earns six first downs. McCulley comes in for one snap and rushed up the middle for a gain of 2 yards and the touchdown [03:38]. Charles Campbell's kick is good. PURDUE 7, INDIANA 7.
3:49 p.m. — Zander Horvath rushes to the left for a 1-yard gain. He was thought to have fumbled, which was then recovered by O'Connell, but after review, the ruling on the field was overturned: The player crossed the goal line. Mitchell Fineran's kick is good. PURDUE 7, INDIANA 0.
3:43 p.m. — Purdue quarterback Aidan O'Connell throws a bomb to Jackson Anthrop at the Purdue 30-yard line.
3:35 p.m. — Indiana wins the toss and defers.
3:19 p.m. — Redshirt sophomore Grant Gremel will get the start today over true freshman quarterback Donaven McCulley. This is the fourth quarterback Indiana has started this season beginning with Michael Penix Jr., Jack Tuttle, McCulley and now Gremel, who threw a last minute touchdown in the Indiana-Minnesota game last Saturday.
Related stories on Indiana football
- GAMEDAY PREDICTION: Indiana has owned the Old Oaken Bucket for two years, and even all of their out-of-state players understand the importance of the rivalry with Purdue. Can the Hoosiers make one last stand to save this difficult 2021 season? CLICK HERE.
- HOW TO WATCH: Here are all the details on how to watch Indiana's game with Purdue on Saturday, including gametimes and TV, the latest on the point spread and so much more. CLICK HERE
- UPDATED BIG TEN SPREADS: Here's the latest on the point spreads of all seven Week 13 games as of Saturday morning. CLICK HERE
- INDIANA SCHEDULE: Here is Indiana's complete 2021 football schedule, with links to game stories and Tom Brew columns for every game this season. CLICK HERE
