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BLOOMINGTON – This was part of Terry Hoeppner’s vision.
A sold-out home crowd for a meaningful Bucket Game.
The goal all year was to honor the late coach by playing 13 games. Indiana all but assured itself that opportunity with an emotional 27-24 victory Saturday over Purdue at Memorial Stadium.
Austin Starr made a 49-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining, and when cornerback Leslie Majors tackled Purdue wide receiver Dorien Bryant to end the game, many of the 50,741 fans stormed the field in a wild celebration.
“You don’t get the opportunity that often to see a locker room where kids are in there crying because they are so happy,” IU coach Bill Lynch said. “They are a resilient group. We had a comfortable lead, we let it get away from us. Purdue’s awfully good, but our kids came right back out and had that drive. Austin banged the one we needed.
“We put the ‘I’ on the bucket, and Jane (Hoeppner) was the one to put the ‘I’ on the bucket. (Terry Hoeppner) really loved Bucket week. He’d be proud of those kids.”
With the victory, IU snapped a five-game losing streak to the Boilermakers.
“Coming into the game, statistically if you looked at it, both teams were very, very close, and quite honestly, I thought it might come down to a field goal,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. “If you’re in position to win the game late in the game, which we were in, that’s the position you want to be in. So does this sting? Yeah, they sting. But I’ve never been around a loss that’s ever felt good.”
The Hoosiers also put themselves in prime position for a bowl by capturing their seventh victory.
“I will never take this moment back for nothing,” wide receiver James Hardy said.
It’s the first time IU (7-5, 3-5 Big Ten) finished a regular season with at least seven wins since 1993, the last time it appeared in a bowl.
“The great thing about those kids is that they bought into what Terry had taught,” Jane Hoeppner said. “And they did not ever give up on it.”
The fairy-tale finish almost became a nightmare. IU let a 21-point lead lead slip away as Purdue (7-5, 3-5) scored three touchdowns to tie the game. The Boilermakers recovered a Marcus Thigpen fumble at IU’s 36, and three plays later, Curtis Painter completed a 5-yard pass to Jake Standeford to even the game at 24 with 3:39 to go.
That set up the last-second heroics for Starr, whose game-winner was also a career long. As quarterback Kellen Lewis led IU down the field in the final three minutes, completing 5 of 6 passes, Starr went through his kicking motion on the sideline.
IU converted two third downs in the 45-yard drive, including a 12-yard pass from Lewis to Hardy.
Starr had missed a field goal earlier in the quarter, snapping a streak of 15 consecutive makes. He figured it was time to start a new streak.
“I knew I was going to make the kick. I’m glad I got another chance,” Starr said. “I had a dream that I was going to do this. I prepared myself the entire week to be the guy in order to beat Purdue. This season, this game is for coach Hep.”
IU also got a big game out of tailback Marcus Thigpen, who rushed for a career-high 140 yards
“It feels like a dream right now,” Thigpen said. “Our offensive line came together. Nothing was called back (because of a penalty). It was a good feeling.”
Lynch didn’t want to go too much into the different bowl scenarios, only saying, “I think this is a bowl team.”
“It’s the next step,” Lynch said of the season. “We have a winning record. We felt all along we were a better football team, but you have to prove it on the field.”
lpope@jg.net
