Recap: Purdue closes 2025 season with 56-3 loss to Indiana

Purdue football suffered a 10th consecutive defeat on Friday night, falling to No. 2 Indiana 56-3 in Ross-Ade Stadium.

The Boilermakers have dropped back-to-back games to their in-state rivals, as Indiana will take the Old Oaken Bucket back to Bloomington for a second straight year. That is the first time the Hoosiers have done so since winning four straight from 2013-2016. Purdue had won four of the last five meetings prior to Friday.

PDF: Purdue-Indiana statistics

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Purdue struggled to get much of anything going offensively in the first half. The Boilermakers amassed 108 yards of offense, while 67 of those yards one drive. That drive saw Purdue march the football down the field, but saw its drive stymied by the No. 1 ranked red zone defense in the country, being forced to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Spencer Porath.

That would be the lone scoring drive of the opening 30 minutes of game action for the Boilermakers.

Indiana took advantage of Purdue’s offensive woes, building a commanding 28-3 lead by the halftime break.

While Indiana quarterback and Heisman hopeful Fernando Mendoza was held in check, going 5-12 for 42 yards, the Hoosiers still found success in the ground game. Indiana, who entered the night averaging 218.3 yards on the ground, leaned on that rushing attack in the first half.

Tailback Roman Hemby had 130 yards on nine carries, including an 82-yard scamper that put Indiana ahead 28-3 at the end of the second quarter. Kaelon Black added 52 yards and a pair of scores, while Mendoza chipped in 27 yards, as well. It was a 209-yard rushing effort in the first half that paced the Hoosier offense, and helped build a 25-point halftime lead.

While the Indiana offense was humming in a 21-0 second quarter, the Boilermakers were stifled. Purdue was held to 22 yards on 17 carries, and Ryan Browne was 13-26 for 125 yards and an interception. Purdue did get inside Indiana territory on three occasions, but those drives resulted in a field goal, a punt and a missed 54-yard field goal to end the first half.

Fernando Mendoza started playing like the Heisman Trophy candidate he has been declared in the second half, starting off 3-3 for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Those pair of touchdown tosses, one to Elijah Sarratt, and one to Omar Cooper Jr., extended Indiana’s advantage to 42-3 at less than four minutes left in the third quarter. That would also end the night for Mendoza, finishing with a line of 8-15 passing for 117 yards and the two scores.

The Hoosiers coasted to another blowout victory, adding two more scores in the second half to hand the Boilermakers its 10th straight loss.

Purdue surrendered a season-high 355 rushing yards and Friday night was most yards on the ground allowed since Notre Dame in 2024 The Hoosiers also put up 548 total yards of offense, which is the most given up the Purdue defense this season.

Ryan Browne and the Purdue offense were stood up against the top five national defense of the Hoosiers, having 282 yards of offense and being held without a touchdown for the second time this season. Purdue scored just four touchdowns over the final month of the season, with two against Michigan, and one apiece against Ohio State and Washington.

Browne finished with 238 yards on 25-47 passing, with an interception and a lost fumble. Nitro Tuggle emerged as the top pass catcher on the night, hauling in five catches for 80 yards. Michael Jackson III also had six catches for 66 yards to end his collegiate career.

Antonio Harris paced the ground game, which was limited to a season-low mark of 44 yards on 27 carries (a 1.6 yards per carry average). Harris was the lead back, handling 15 carries for 31 yards.

Purdue now drops to 2-10 on the season and finish Big Ten play at 0-9 for the second straight year. It is the first time in program history that Purdue had 10 or more losses in back-to-back seasons.

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