Purdue Boilermakers vs Indiana Hoosiers Football Preview

A disappointing, injury-plagued season comes to an end on Saturday when the 4-7 Purdue Boilermakers host the archrival Indiana Hoosiers in the battle for the Old Oaken Bucket at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Purdue has lost five in a row after a 4-2 start.  Last week, the Boilermakers led 12 th-ranked Michigan State 28-13 in the fourth quarter but blew the lead and lost 35-21 thanks to several key mistakes.  The loss was Purdue’s seventh of the season, meaning the Boilers will miss a bowl game for the third straight season. Indiana has won just two of the last 13 Old Oaken Bucket matchups, and hasn’t won in West Lafayette since 1996.

It will be the final collegiate game for seniors such as defensive end Ryan Kerrigan, who needs 1.5 sacks to tie Roosevelt Colvin’s school career record of 35.  Kerrigan leads the Big Ten with 12.5 sacks, and ranks first in the nation with 25 tackles for loss.  He needs three tackles for loss to tie Jeff Zgonina’s school record, set in 1992.

Because of numerous key injuries on offense, including a finger injury to quarterback Rob Henry, Purdue’s pass offense has been dismal for most of the season.  Only Army, Navy, Air Force, Georgia Tech, and UCLA rank behind Purdue in passing offense. Last week, however, Henry threw for 189 yards and two touchdowns against Michigan State’s outstanding defense.  He was intercepted twice, but showed significant progress along with the rest of the Boilermaker attack, which gained 378 total yards.  In addition to Henry’s touchdown passes to Antavian Edison and Cortez Smith, Purdue also got an 80-yard touchdown run from Keith Carlos.

Purdue’s other touchdown came from a young defensive star, freshman cornerback Ricardo Allen, who returned an interception for a touchdown for the second straight week.  Allen is the only Boilermaker ever to have a pick six in consecutive weeks, and is the only Purdue freshman ever to return an interception for a touchdown.

Allen and the rest of the Purdue secondary will have plenty of passes flying their way on Saturday.  Indiana ranks 15 th nationally in pass offense, averaging 283.3 yards per game.  Quarterback Ben Chappell has thrown for 2965 yards this season, tops in the Big Ten. Chappell might be a little bit gimpy, though, as he battles various lower-body injuries, including a hip injury that forced him to miss the final three quarters of IU’s loss to Wisconsin two weeks ago.  Backup Edward Wright-Baker, who took 15 snaps during last week’s loss to Penn State, is likely to see some action.

Despite Chappell’s banged-up condition, the Hoosiers might be a little more dangerous than usual on Saturday.  Not only is it a rivalry game, but many have speculated that IU must win for Coach Bill Lynch to keep his job.  The Hoosiers are 0-7 in the Big Ten this season.

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