Quick Reaction: Indiana football beats Purdue 56-3, cements 12-0 season

The Old Oaken Bucket trophy will stay in Bloomington for another season.

Indiana football beat rival Purdue 56-3 on Friday night at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana, the second consecutive blowout victory for the Hoosiers after last season’s 66-0 victory in Bloomington that snapped a three-game winning streak for the Boilermakers.

Curt Cignetti, in his second season leading the program, moves to 2-0 against Indiana’s in-state rival. The loss was the debut of new Purdue head coach Barry Odom, who took over from Ryan Walters this past offseason.

The story of the game has to be the Hoosiers’ performance on the ground. Indiana, led by running back Roman Hemby’s 152-yard performance, totaled 355 combined rushing yards in the matchup. Kaelon Black finished with 66 yards, scoring twice. Khobie Martin, entering the game toward the end of the third quarter, added 51 yards to the total. Quarterbacks Fernando and Alberto Mendoza contributed 27 and 59 yards on the ground, respectively.

Indiana moves to 12-0 with the win, the first undefeated regular season in program history, and advances to the Big Ten Football Championship game in Indianapolis on Saturday, December 6th.