BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP)—Joey Elliott threw a career-high four touchdown passes to help Purdue beat Indiana 38-21 on Saturday and retain the Old Oaken Bucket.
Both teams were eliminated from bowl contention last week, leaving them to play for pride and the trophy that goes to the winner of the annual in-state rivalry game.
Purdue won last year’s game 62-10, and Indiana planned to use the blowout as motivation. Indiana outgained Purdue 462 yards to 330, but the Hoosiers lost the turnover battle 4-0.
Jaycen Taylor ran for a season-best 110 yards on 20 carries and caught seven passes for 59 yards and a score for Purdue (5-7, 4-4 Big Ten).
Darius Willis ran for 142 yards and Mitchell Evans caught 10 passes for 112 yards for Indiana. Ben Chappell threw for 266 yards and two touchdowns, but he threw two interceptions for the Hoosiers (4-8, 1-7).
Indiana made it a game in the fourth quarter.
Chappell found Damarlo Belcher down the middle for a 28-yard touchdown pass to trim Purdue’s lead to 31-21 with 8:04 to play.
Indiana’s defense held Purdue to a three-and-out, and the Hoosiers took over in Purdue territory. Purdue’s Kawann Short intercepted a short pass by Chappell and returned it 15 yards to the Indiana 39. Indiana had one more shot but turned the ball over on downs in its own territory.
Elliott then threw his fourth TD pass of the day, a 31-yarder to Keith Smith, which gave the Boilermakers a 38-21 lead with 2:14 to play.
Things started poorly for Indiana.
Purdue’s Mike Neal forced Chappell to fumble on the Hoosiers’ opening possession, and Short recovered to give Purdue the ball at the IU 19-yard line.
Purdue’s Taylor converted on a fourth-and-1 at the Indiana 10, then scored on a 6-yard screen pass from Elliott to give the Boilermakers led 7-0 three minutes into the game.
Indiana tried to answer, but David Pender blocked Nick Freeland’s field-goal try. The Boilermakers moved down the field quickly, and this time Elliott found Dan Dierking in the flat for a 4-yard touchdown.
Indiana’s second threat came early in the second quarter. Willis broke loose for 64 yards, but the Hoosiers missed a field goal at the end of that possession.
Torri Williams’ interception of a Chappell pass set up another scoring pass from Elliott to a running back, this time a 13-yarder to Jared Crank, which gave Purdue a 21-0 lead.
Indiana drove again late in the first half and finally appeared to get a 9-yard touchdown pass from Chappell to Mitchell Evans. The play was reviewed and overturned, but Chappell scored on a 1-yard sneak on the next play to cut Purdue’s lead to 21-7 right before halftime. Willis ran for 108 yards in the first half as Indiana outgained Purdue 192 yards to 167.
Al-Terek McBurse returned the second-half kickoff 87 yards for a touchdown to put Purdue up 28-7.
Chappell threw a 12-yard touchdown pass to Evans to cut Purdue’s lead to 28-14 with just under four minutes left in the third quarter.
Carson Wiggs made a 38-yard field goal with 1:30 left in the third quarter to increase Purdue’s lead to 31-14.
