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A disappointing season came to an unsatisfying end Saturday night as the Hoosiers watched the Old Oaken Bucket return to West Lafayette once again. Purdue’s Al-Terek McBurse took the opening kick-off of the second half 87 yards for a touchdown that put the Hoosiers in a 28-7 hole, that along with four turnovers and a blocked field goal, were simply too much to overcome.
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A disappointing season came to an unsatisfying end Saturday night as the Hoosiers watched the Old Oaken Bucket return to West Lafayette once again. Purdue’s Al-Terek McBurse took the opening kick-off of the second half 87 yards for a touchdown that put the Hoosiers in a 28-7 hole. That play, along with two fumbles, two interceptions, and a blocked field goal, were simply too much for the Hoosiers to overcome in the season finale.
“These kids fought all year and we fought tonight,” said Indiana Coach Bill Lynch. “It was our own mistakes that cost us.”
As they’ve done all season, the Hoosiers did fight back through adversity. A 28-yard Ben Chappell touchdown strike to DeMarlo Belcher pulled the Hoosiers back to 31-21 with just over eight minutes left and a quick defensive stop deep in Purdue territory put the Hoosier offense back on the field. Sophomore Tandon Doss’ punt return set the Hoosiers up at the Purdue 46, but on second and ten Chappell threw an ill-advised pass off his back foot intended for tailback Darius Willis and it was easily picked off. Defensive tackle Kawann Short, who recovered a Chappell fumble on the Hoosiers first drive of the game, took the pass 19 yards to Indiana’s 39-yard line with six minutes left to play.
“We got it to 31-21 and the ball at midfield and then had the third turnover,” said Lynch. “Those are things that we did to ourselves and Purdue took advantage of it.”
The Hoosier defense, did however, rise to the occasion forcing a Purdue punt that pinned Indiana on their own six-yard line. Down ten points with just under four minutes to play the Hoosiers were forced to work quickly. On first down Chappell launched a deep ball to Belcher, who seemed to make an incredible leaping catch over Purdue’s Torri Williams for a big first down and 28-yard gain. However, Indiana’s horrific luck with official replay reviews continued. Despite possessing the ball with two hands, then one hand, and getting a knee down, Belcher’s key reception was overturned by the official because the ball appeared to wiggle free well after his knee had ruled him down. Moments later IU turned the ball over on downs and any hopes of a comeback were squashed.
Purdue filled the final minutes with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Keith Smith that gave the game it’s final margin at 38-21. Purdue’s Joey Elliott passed for just 205 yards, but was deadly efficient on 21-28 passing for four scores. Senior tailback Jaycen Taylor added 110 rushing yards on 20 carries. Clearly, though, it was the four turnovers the Boilers forced that turned the game.
“The turnovers and the kicking game can be such critical factors in a game like this and that’s what it really came down to,” Lynch said.
Indiana's first five possessions ended in a fumble, blocked field goal, punt, missed field goal, and an interception.
“The mistakes killed us. Purdue’s a good football team. You give them the short field and they are going to make you pay.”
A bright spot for Indiana was freshman tailback Darius Willis, who rushed for 142 yards on 19 carries to give him 749 yards on the season despite missing two games. Chappell added 266 passing yards and two touchdowns, while receiver Mitchell Evans caught ten passes for 112 yards. All three players return next season and give Lynch some reason for optimism, but nothing more so than the resiliency his team developed over the course of the year.
“We don’t get into this thing to only win four games, but I do think you got to look at where we were and where we are now. I think the toughness that we showed in competing and battling, all those things are good,” said Lynch.
“We’ve also got some really good kids for the future that learned some valuable lessons this year and learned from some really good seniors. There are a bunch of them over there that we redshirted and they are going to be ready to go.”
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