Purdue vs. Indiana: The 10 biggest blowouts in rivalry history

In terms of blowouts, Purdue’s series with Indiana has leaned heavily toward the Boilermakers.

Since World War II, Purdue has picked up victories in 9 of the 10 largest blowouts, the only outlier being the Hoosiers’ 45-point win at the end of the 1988 season. It’s not a surprise that Purdue has been the dominant team. Overall, the Boilermakers hold a 75-42-6 edge in the series and is 61–32–3 since the advent of the Old Oaken Bucket in 1925.

Let’s take a look back at the 10 biggest Purdue vs. Indiana blowouts in the modern (post-World War II) era:

Purdue 62, Indiana 10

Nov. 22, 2008 • Ross-Ade Stadium

Purdue wanted to send Joe Tiller to his retirement in style, and it did, blowing the doors off the Hoosiers on the last Saturday of the 2008 regular season. It was Tiller’s 87th victory as the Boilermakers’ head coach, which spanned 12 seasons from 1997-08. And boy, what a run it was, as Tiller restored a program that had hit near rock bottom the previous decade. Tiller took Purdue to 10 bowl games, including the Rose Bowl in 2001.

As for the game itself, it was completely dominated by the Boilermakers, as they scored on their 1st 10 drives. Curtis Painter passed for 5 touchdowns and 448 yards, while Kory Sheets scored 3 touchdowns to set the single-season rushing mark at 17.

Purdue wasn’t great in Tiller’s final season, only 4-8, but it was a heck of a lot better than the 3-9 Hoosiers.

No. 23 Purdue, 56, Indiana 7

Nov. 22, 1997 • Memorial Stadium

Purdue was the surprise of the Big Ten in 1997, as Tiller brought his wide-open “basketball on grass” offense to West Lafayette and took the league by storm.

Indiana got caught up in it in the last game of the season, when an 8-win Purdue squad smoked the 2-win Hoosiers. The Boilermakers racked up more than 500 yards of offense, yet it was only a 2-touchdown game until late through the 3rd quarter. Then, however, Purdue exploded, scoring 35 points in the final 16:08 to turn the game into a rout. Edwin Watson was the star for the Boilermakers, rushing for 163 yards and 2 touchdowns on Senior Day.

No. 10 Purdue 51, Indiana 6

Nov. 19, 1966 • Ross-Ade Stadium

In his last game in Ross-Ade, quarterback Bob Griese certainly delivered for the Boilermakers. The All-America QB, who finished runner-up in the Heisman Trophy vote to Steve Spurrier, threw 3 touchdowns, had 2 more rushing scores and kicked an extra point in Purdue’s 45-point win.

Not only did it give the Boilermakers the Old Oaken Bucket for the 17th time in 19 seasons, it also punched their ticket to the Rose Bowl for the 1st time in program history, allowing them to beat USC on New Year’s Day 1967. Jack Mollenkopf’s Purdue squad just destroyed the hapless Hoosiers, racing out to a 41-0 lead at the half that included 34 points in the 2nd quarter. Boilermakers great Leroy Keyes had a passing TD, a rushing TD and an interception.

Indiana 52, Purdue 7

Nov. 19, 1988 • Ross-Ade Stadium

Bill Mallory’s Hoosiers had suffered back-to-back losses headed to West Lafayette to end the 1988 season, but they found the perfect fodder in the Boilermakers, who were limping along in Fred Akers’ 2nd season.

Indiana, which would go on to win the Liberty Bowl over South Carolina for an 8-win season, punched Purdue early, going up 31-7 at the break on its way to a 45-point victory, the largest margin in the series in a Hoosiers victory.

Purdue 52, Indiana 7

Nov. 21, 1998 • Ross-Ade Stadium

During the Tiller Era, Purdue dominated the rivalry with Indiana, beating the Hoosiers 10 times in a 12-year span. And the 1st 2 were not only beatings, they were beatdowns.

Quarterback Drew Brees, who was in his 1st season as Purdue’s starter, passed for only 237 yards in the Purdue win, but 4 of his 20 completions went for scores. And the Boilermakers rolled up 220 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Indiana had trouble moving the ball, totaling less than 250 yards. IU scored the 1st 7 points of the game, but Purdue responded by tallying the next 52. And a month later, the Boilermakers completed a 9-win season by upsetting Kansas State in the Alamo Bowl.

Purdue 40, Indiana 0

Nov. 21, 1970 • Ross-Ade Stadium

In his 1st season taking over for the great Mollenkopf, Bob DeMoss scored a couple of nice early-season wins, vs. TCU and then-No. 3 Stanford, but by late November the Boilermakers were reeling, having lost 4 straight.

But Purdue blew out the Hoosiers — IU was having its own issues, with only 1 victory — in what is the biggest margin in a shutout in the series.

Purdue 63, Indiana 24

Nov. 20, 2004, Ross-Ade

By the end of the 2004 season, Purdue was ready to take out its frustrations on the visiting Hoosiers. After a 5-0 start, and No. 5 ranking, the Boilermakers saw their season go sideways, losing 4 straight games by a combined 10 points. Quarterback Kyle Orton, once a Heisman frontrunner, had been injured during the streak, derailing what had been a gigantic senior season.

But Orton was healthy again by the time the Bucket game rolled around, and he showed it, throwing for 522 yards and 6 touchdowns; his 530 total yards set a Purdue record. Wide receiver Taylor Stubblefield also had a record-setting day, catching 14 passes to give him an NCAA career record 309.

The game was never close. Orton needed only the 1st half to rack up 401 yards passing and 4 scores as Purdue was up 42-10 at the break. For the Boilermakers, the win was some measure of relief after the difficult stretch, although the Boilermakers won only 7 games in ’04.

Purdue 39, Indiana 0

Nov. 20, 1948 • Ross-Ade Stadium

Purdue 51, Indiana 14

Nov. 24, 1995 • Memorial Stadium

Jim Colletto’s Purdue wasn’t very good in 1995 — the victory over IU was only its 4th of the season — but the Hoosiers were worse, as Mallory’s crew was winless in the Big Ten and had only 2 Ws overall.

On Black Friday, the Boilermakers were definitely the better team in Memorial Stadium, as Mike Alstott was by far the best player on the field as the senior running back rushed for 264 yards and 3 touchdowns. Purdue scored the 1st 24 points of the game, then painted 3 more touchdowns on the scoreboard in the 3rd quarter.

Purdue 44, Indiana 7

Nov. 27, 2021 • Ross-Ade Stadium

The Boilermakers had found their groove in the 2nd half of the 2021 season, beating then No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Michigan State on their way to a 9-win season. The Hoosiers proved to be no match for Aidan O’Connell and Co.

O’Connell passed for 278 yards and 4 touchdowns, completing 26 of his 31 passes for the best completion percentage (.839) by a Boilermaker in an Old Oaken Bucket game. But it wasn’t only offense for Jeff Brohm’s squad; Purdue’s defense held the Hoosiers to 205 yards, helping to send IU to a winless Big Ten season.