Express Opponent View: Indiana

It’s all about pride in the 125th meeting between Purdue and Indiana.

Each team sits with a 3-8 overall mark, out of postseason consideration. But a triumph in the Old Oaken Bucket affair would be a nice slave for the victor. Kickoff in Ross-Ade Stadium is at noon ET on BTN.

The Boilermakers hold a 76-42-6 advantage in the series. Purdue enters the game on a two-game win streak against Indiana, defeating the Hoosiers to cap the 2021 and 2022 seasons after the game was not played in 2020. The Boilers (2-6 in the Big Ten in 2023) have won four of the last five encounters.

The 2022 win clinched Purdue’s first-ever Big Ten West title, as the visitors overcame a halftime deficit to win 30-16 in Bloomington.

Tom Allen’s only win vs. the Boilers came in 2019, a 44-41 2 OT victory in Ross-Ade Stadium.

Dylan Sinn of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette breaks down the Hoosiers in advance of their trip to West Lafayette.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Indiana offense?

Sinn: It’s been kind of an up-and-down season for the offense. They fired their offensive coordinator, Walt Bell, in the middle of the season. (New OC) Rod Carey kind of has it working a little bit better than it was under Bell, quite frankly.

QB Brendan Sorsby has really taken control of that position after going back and forth with Tayven Jackson earlier in the year. He’s kind of a dual-threat guy. He can really move with his legs. He’s more of a power runner than a finesse guy. He will bowl over you. IU is trying to get him to learn to slide.

Their running game has really come along here in the last couple of weeks. Josh Henderson and Trent Howland are a really good 1-2 punch for the Hoosiers out of the backfield. And the receiver corps is actually one of the better groups in the Big Ten. Donaven McCulley, the former quarterback who converted to receiver a couple years ago, has become a star outside for the Hoosiers, just a really good go-up-and-get-it-type guy where you can throw it to him and he’s going to out jump a lot of defensive backs. And they have E.J. Williams, a transfer from Clemson, who has played very well, in addition to that.

So, the passing game is working for IU right now; the running game has gotten better. The offensive line has also improved significantly from last year. New offensive line coach Bob Bostad has been a revelation this year. IU has gone from having one of the worst offensive lines in Power Five football to about average, which is a significant leap.

So, the IU offense has not been spectacular this year, but it’s been significantly better lately.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Hoosier defense?

Sinn: Everyone thought they had a bead on the IU defense in the middle of the season, thought it was a very solid group led by linebacker Aaron Casey, who is one of the best in the Big Ten.

But for the last couple of weeks, Indiana’s defense has really struggled in the passing game. The secondary was quite frankly very bad against Illinois. I don’t think Tom Allen would disagree with me on that. He said that it let the team down. And there were some miscommunications and things like that.

There are guys in the secondary who have played well this year, Phillip Dunnam, Louis Moore, Josh Sanguinetti. But, right now, they’re just getting beaten too often in the passing game. And so that’s going to be a question mark in this game. Can Purdue, especially if Hudson Card is playing, attack Indiana down the field? I think they will be able to.

Up front, Indiana is pretty strong. Andre Carter, the defensive end transfer from Western Michigan, has been very, very good this year. They like to bring the linebackers, especially Casey, on the blitz. He’s really good at coming up in run support. And so that’ll be a challenge. Will Purdue’s offensive line be able to handle Phillip Blidi in the middle at defensive tackle? He is kind of a big, Cole Brevard-type player.

Indiana’s defense has been good for most of the season, but it’s been kind of rough the last couple of weeks.

GoldandBlack.com: How do you see this game playing out?

Sinn: I don’t think either of these teams has a huge advantage over the other one right now, especially recently. Both of them, quite frankly, have played pretty well and have found ways to lose games that I think they should have won, especially the last couple of weeks.

So, I would give Purdue the advantage based on it being home, although obviously a lot of that depends on whether Hudson Card is able to play, whether Nic Scourton is able to play.

So, I think that Purdue can attack Indiana in the run game a little bit. Indiana is just OK against the run, but Purdue is really running it well right now. I think if they can run the ball a little bit, they’re going to open up play-action passes down the field because Indiana is really struggling in that area.

So, I do think that Purdue can move the ball and I would expect them to win this game by one score. I think Purdue will win.

MORE: First Look: Indiana | Gold and Black Radio: Purdue moves on to Bucket game | First and 10: Indiana at Purdue | Ryan Walters ‘excited’ about NIL situation for Purdue | The 3-2-1: Purdue ‘Cradle of RBs’ this season