Pure bliss: Purdue basks in Bucket, bowl berth after beating IU
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There may have not been a show of a more singular focus all season for Purdue than on Saturday.
And it wasn’t when Anthony Mahoungou leaped over Rashard Fant to snatch a pass, firmly, with his hands, and then came down in play and raced for a 49-yard touchdown.
And it wasn’t when Da’Wan Hunte busted it, probably, 70 yards to chase down a running back and prevent a touchdown.
And it wasn’t when Markell Jones slipped a tackle near the line of scrimmage, popped outside and raced 31 yards before being pushed out of bounds.
And it wasn’t even when Garrett Hudson stepped in front of a pass on the first defensive play from scrimmage to snag an interception.
It was after all of that.
After all the work that went into Purdue snapping a four-game losing streak to Indiana, beating the Hoosiers 31-24, and securing a sixth victory on the season to reach bowl eligibility.
It was when they were perched on the sidelines, Danny Ezechukwu, Hudson, Kirk Barron, Race Johnson among them, and as soon as the buzzer was done, they bolted for the opposite sidelines.
A clear, unspoken goal in mind: Find the Bucket.
Soon teammates joined in, overwhelming Indiana’s sideline, searching behind benches, behind coolers, looking for the Bucket. Their arms went out in a where-is-it?? gesture. And then, 20 yards away in the opposite direction, on the actual field, someone was bringing out the case, and another Purdue player spotted it, and another vision of purpose was born, another flow of movement to a specific destination.
And, finally, finally, finally, finally — after four years of waiting for the moment for some of these Purdue players — the Boilermakers had their hands on the Bucket. They had it back. Where it belongs, they always say. But where it hadn’t been in so long there was embarrassment building, a concern lingering.
All that is gone now, though.
After this.
And the fans stormed the field, making it hard to spot where the players were vs. where the students and the community was. They were one, for moments Saturday, after it was all over.
And then, there it was. The Bucket popping up above the crowd, held aloft, and it started moving, and the swarm followed.
Eddy Wilson was near it, maybe even carrying it. Ja’Whaun Bentley, the three-time senior captain who did not play on senior day, was near it, even pulling out his phone — probably hidden in the sweatpants he was wearing — to capture the moment, the flood of people, the swell of well wishers.
And they all, seemingly, said something.
Markus Bailey was told, “I love you” by total strangers more times than he can count.
Other guys heard “thank you” for bringing the Bucket home, especially the older ones Jones encountered in the mob.
Ezechukwu turned the tables, telling fans thanks.
“That was unreal. I was like, ‘For six wins? You guys are awesome. Y’all are some great people,’ ” Ezechukwu said of the fans flooding the field, laughing, “because there are some people around here in college football who are like, ‘Six wins? Y'all got to be kidding me.’ But our fans? Six wins, they’re leaping over fences. We beat IU.
“I appreciate it, man, I really do.”
Hunte was in the same surreal state.
He’d only seen people rush the field on TV.
“For it to actually happen and for it to be for a good cause, I was just so happy, man, taking pictures with all the fans,” Hunte said. “They’re just things you don’t want to take for granted. It’s a day I’ll always remember.”
Ultimately, Hudson emerged from the swarm, Bucket secured, and trotted toward the north corner of the end zone — he was seeking out the band. For the last time, the senior wanted to hear what he always waited to hear at the end of games over his career, the fight song, surrounded by his teammates.
The song started, players danced, players sang, players smiled, players screamed, players hugged.
It was a pure feeling of elation so rarely experienced by this group, especially the seniors. But it was due. It was deserved.
And it was savored.
“It’s bigger than just this team,” Jones said. “It’s the community. They’ve been waiting a long time for this, so it feels great to bring it back to them and be a big part of that.
“Guys weren’t going to be denied, especially for our seniors going out like this. We weren’t going to let these guys come in here and beat us in our home stadium. It wasn’t going to happen that way.”
Jones certainly made sure that was the case.
The junior who’d led the team in rushing as a freshman and sophomore but had fallen to the back of the depth chart after a Week 1 injury was every bit his best self Saturday. And he didn’t even score a touchdown. Instead, he rushed for 217 yards on 31 carries.
Jackson Anthrop, a gametime decision because of an undisclosed injury, took care of the rushing TDs. He scored Purdue’s first — after Hudson’s INT gave Purdue the ball on IU’s 5 — on a jet sweep and added a second jet sweep score in the second quarter after a fake punt extended a drive. And Purdue led 14-7.
It pushed the lead to 21-7 on Mahoungou’s long TD, then added a field goal for 24-10.
IU’s offense, really, couldn’t keep pace early.
“We kind of made IU one-dimensional, really,” Ezechukwu said. “They like to pass anyway, but we knew they had to, so Coach Holt was able to dial up some things and put us in situations to get three-and-outs. We bent a little bit, but we never broke. That was really how it went.”
Jones really helped spur the rout, grinding out a 31-yard run in the third quarter, among other double-digit carries, and setting up Elijah Sindelar to Isaac Zico for a TD on third-and-goal that made it 31-10.
Purdue’s defense knew it couldn’t relent either, even if there was less than a quarter until the Bucket was theirs.
“I told those guys, ‘Man, we have a whole game left to play. Indiana is not going to give it to us.’ We went out there and played, and we finished the game off,” Hunte said. “Those guys do a great job over there, and it was a challenge. Going into this game, I knew it was going to be a challenge. They have some great wideouts and things like that. But we just came ready to play, and I’m just proud of my guys.”
Indiana did pull within one touchdown, but it was with 1:01 remaining after an 11-play drive took 2:29. So it needed to recover an onside kick — for the second time — to have a chance at the rally.
But Ezechukwu wasn’t going to let that happen.
When the ball bounced his way, the fifth-year linebacker pulled it in and didn’t let it go.
Wilson ran over and lifted Ezechukwu up to start the early celebration, one that probably has yet to end.
“I feel great, man. It’s so surreal,” said linebacker Markus Bailey, who had a team-high 11 tackles, including a sack. “I’m just dying on the last drive and the next thing I know, the crowd is rushing the field. You can’t even walk out there. It’s a crazy experience. I’m glad we got this done for the seniors.
“I’m letting myself enjoy this one. It’s not like we have a game next week. But I can’t wait to see where we’re going to play our bowl game at. I hope it’s somewhere warm. Then our next goal is going to be to win that game.”
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