Purdue football season ends without a whimper in another rout by Indiana

WEST LAFAYETTE — Purdue football’s 56-3 loss to No. 2 Indiana in Friday’s Old Oaken Bucket game that ended with a mostly red-clad crowd celebrating in Ross-Ade Stadium.

For the second straight season, the Boilermakers’ biggest rival provided the exclamation point on an impressive regular season with a rout. It wasn't 66-0 like last season in Bloomington, but it was still Purdue's worst Bucket loss at Ross-Ade Stadium, and was the first time since 2015-16 the Bucket was won in consecutive years by IU.

Purdue went winless against Big Ten opponents, and power conference teams, for a second consecutive season.

Here's what I liked and disliked, and what the loss means.

What I liked in Purdue football's loss vs IU

The defense showed flashes early, including pass breakups by Tony Grimes and Hudauri Hines on IU's opening drive.

Freshman Vi'Naz Cobb made his first start at safety. Players such as Charles Correa, Demeco Kennedy, Breeon Ishmail and Jamarrion Harkless continued to hint at their potential role in the 2026 foundation.

On offense, it was nice to see Jaron Thomas get some touches in early fourth quarter garbage time. The more Boilermakers who could come out of this debacle with game experience the better.

This is a tepid like at best, though. Purdue needs more players who can flash at the Big Ten level and it didn’t find many on its roster this season.

What I disliked in Purdue football's loss vs IU

Coach Barry Odom faced a not-uncommon low-upside decision when trailing only 7-0 in the first quarter.

On fourth-and-2 at the 5, do you go for it — since it already seemed unlikely Purdue would drive repeatedly. Or, do you take the chip-shot field goal and put points on the board, making sure the offense sees a reward for its efforts.

Odom chose the field goal, cutting the deficit to 7-3.

Smiley Bradford dropped an interception which would have ended the ensuing IU drive. Instead, the Hoosiers marched 65 yards in 11 plays for another touchdown. Purdue netted 8 yards, minus-5 yards and 25 yards on its next three drives — all of which ended in punts.

Purdue must play better on both sides of the ball next season. Equally important, though, will be locating some semblance of complementary success.

∙ After finally allowing Malachi Singleton to run the full offense at Washington — with more success than starter Ryan Browne on that day — Purdue never went to him in that role with the game in the balance.

His first contribution came when he entered mid-drive on third-and-2 at the IU 5 and handed the ball off to Malachi Thomas, who was predictably stuffed for no gain. Late in the third quarter, he came in again for a predictable run up the middle, which resulted in a predictable 2-yard loss.

∙ Finishing that thought above, when IU went up 35-3 on the opening drive of the second half, it was averaging 9.3 yards per carry. Even if you take out Roman Hemby's 82-yard run late in the first half, the average only dropped to 5.5.

Next phase in the defensive plan: Make it mean something when the opponent becomes one-dimensional.

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What Purdue football's loss to Indiana means

Purdue finishes 2-10 and watches its chief rival complete a historic 12-0 regular season and take the No. 2 national ranking into the Big Ten championship game.

Maybe the Boilermakers make some staff changes in the coming weeks. That would be largely cosmetic. The program needs a continued talent upgrade in every position room. What can December — and full participation in revenue sharing — mean for Odom’s continuing rebuild?

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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue football score today vs Indiana, game stats, likes, dislikes