West Lafayette, Ind.– kelon black had two touchdown runs, and Fernando Mendoza And Roman Hemby Each ran to score as number 2 Indiana beat the opponent Purdue 56-3 On Friday night, it completed the first perfect regular season in school history and clinched a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game.
The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0) have also likely clinched a spot in the College Football Playoff for the second straight time. They’ll find out Saturday whether they’ll play No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon or No. 15 Michigan for the conference title a week later.
Indiana celebrated by hoisting the Old Oaken Bucket in the 100th trophy game of the series, and Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin in 1934–35 to win his first two games against Purdue.
Many wondered if the Hoosiers would become a one-hit wonder after last year’s historic season. But Cignetti promised there would be no decline in 2025 – and that didn’t happen. With the nation’s second-best scoring attack and scoring defense, the Heisman Trophy leading rusher and a perfect record, the Hoosiers are in better position to make the playoffs than last year.
When Cignetti was asked about his pregame comment that he wanted to end the season with an exclamation point instead of a question mark, he said, “I think we put in one or two.” “Today was a nice day.”
Purdue (2-10, 0-9) suffered more misery in the coldest game ever played at Ross-Ade Stadium with a kickoff temperature of 24 degrees. The Boilermakers closed out coach Barry Odom’s first season with their 10th consecutive loss and recorded their second consecutive winless season in conference play, the first since 1919–20.
It took a quarter for the Hoosiers to acclimate to the cold conditions.
Mendoza, who grew up in Miami and previously studied in California, struggled. He went 8 of 15 for 117 yards and 2 TDs in less than three quarters. So, the Hoosiers flipped the script.
Black opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, Mendoza ran 7 yards to make the score 14–3 early in the second quarter, and Black spun away from a defender for a nimble 16-yard TD run with 3:40 to play in the first half. Hamby closed out the first-half scoring with an 82-yard TD run down Purdue’s sideline, overpowering the only tackler who had a chance to catch him, leaving the lead 28–3.
The Hoosiers sealed the win on Mendoza’s two third-quarter TD passes – one from 17 yards. eliza surratt and up to 43 yards Omar Cooper Jr.,
Odom didn’t want to discuss how the Boilermakers suffered their worst home loss against Indiana a year after suffering the worst loss in school history to the Hoosiers 66–0. Instead, he was looking at how to turn things around next season, starting with the transfer portal.
“I want guys who really love the ball, guys who love the process of taking it,” he said. “A lot more value will be placed on people who have tremendous rigor, who aren’t just chasing a check, they’re chasing an opportunity to grow and get a degree.”
Hamby had 12 carries for a season-high 152 yards while Black rushed 13 times for 66 yards. Indiana finished with 355 yards rushing, its second-highest total this season and sixth 300-yard game this season.
Purdue’s ryan brown Was 25 of 47 for 238 yards and threw an interception on the second offensive play of the game. The Boilermakers had 282 total yards.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
