The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0) also likely locked up a second straight College Football Playoff berth. They’ll find out Saturday whether they’ll play No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon or No. 15 Michigan a week later for the conference title.<\/p>\n
Indiana celebrated by hoisting the Old Oaken Bucket in the series’ 100th trophy game, and Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin in 1934-35 to win his first two matchups against Purdue.<\/p>\n
Many wondered if the Hoosiers would be one-hit wonders after last year’s historic season. But Cignetti promised there would be no decline in 2025 — and there wasn’t. With the nation’s second-best scoring offense and scoring defense, a Heisman Trophy front-runner and a perfect record, the Hoosiers are better-positioned to make a playoff run than they were last year.<\/p>\n
Editor’s Picks 1 Related<\/p>\n “I think we put on one or two,” Cignetti said when asked about his pregame remark that he wanted to finish the season with an exclamation point instead of a question mark. “It was a good day.”<\/p>\n Purdue (2-10, 0-9) endured more misery in the coldest game played at Ross-Ade Stadium, with a kickoff temperature of 24 degrees. The Boilermakers closed coach Barry Odom’s first season with a 10th straight loss and posted their second straight winless season in conference play, the first since 1919-20.<\/p>\n It took the Hoosiers a quarter to adapt to the chilly conditions.<\/p>\n Mendoza, who grew up in Miami and previously attended California, struggled. He went 8-of-15 for 117 yards and 2 TDs in less than three quarters. So, the Hoosiers flipped the script.<\/p>\n Black opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, Mendoza scooted 7 yards to make it 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. Hemby closed out the first-half scoring with an 82-yard TD run down Purdue’s sideline, stiff-arming the only tackler who had a chance to catch him, for a 28-3 lead.<\/p>\n The Hoosiers sealed the win with Mendoza’s two third-quarter TD passes — 17 yards to Elijah Sarratt<\/a> and 43 yards to Omar Cooper Jr<\/a>.<\/p>\n Odom didn’t want to discuss how the Boilermakers suffered their worst home loss to Indiana one year after suffering the worst loss in school history to the Hoosiers 66-0. Instead, he was pondering how to turn things around next season, starting in the transfer portal.<\/p>\n “I want guys that really like ball, guys that like the process of what it’s supposed to take,” he said. “There is going to be a high value placed on guys that have great toughness, that are not just chasing a check, they’re chasing the opportunity to get developed and get a degree.”<\/p>\n Hemby had 12 carries for a season-high 152 yards while Black ran 13 times for 66 yards. Indiana finished with 355 yards rushing, its second-highest total this season and sixth 300-yard game this season.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2025\/1129\/r1582191_1296x1296_1-1.jpg&w=130&h=130&scale=crop&location=center\")
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