Season, careers to end Saturday during defense of Bucket

The seats of Memorial Stadium have glowed red this week with from light of the
constantly illuminated scoreboard. It has beamed one message  all week
without fail: Beat Purdue.

Not only has the scoreboard been stuck on Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. matchup against
Purdue (5-6, 3-4), but IU Coach Kevin Wilson said he has noticed talk about the Old Oaken Bucket his entire time at IU.

“Since I’ve been here, that’s what everyone here talks about and not every school is lucky enough to have a rival,” Wilson said. “It’s great that in our situation, we have one and I think that’s one of the unique things of sports is when you are blessed with that opportunity.”

Since the trophy was first awarded in 1925, Purdue leads the series with a 56-27-
3 record, but the Hoosiers (1-10, 0-7) have won two of the last four Bucket games, including last season. If they were to beat the Boilermakers Saturday, it would
be the first back-to-back Hoosier victories since 1993-1994.

The Purdue defense might present some problems for the IU offense with playmakers like junior defensive tackle Kawaan Short, who ranks second in the Big Ten in sacks with 6.5.

Twenty IU seniors will end their collegiate careers with this game by lining up against Short and his teammates, and Co-Defensive Coordinator Doug Mallory said many players could be playing their final football game.

“You’ve got to make the most of it and it starts with the week of preparation,”
Mallory said. “The light’s not just going to go on Saturday and all of a sudden, you’re going to go out and play this unbelievable game.”

Wilson said one of his favorite parts about big games is the week leading up to the game, especially the practices. He said the team recovered quickly from its 55-3 loss last Saturday against Michigan State and there has been a little more bounce to the Hoosiers’ step.

The excitement of the week is making the job of coaches to fire up their players
much easier, Mallory said.

“I don’t know if it needs to take any motivating here from the coaches,” Mallory
said. “Particularly, the older kids have been around this rivalry for the last four or
five years. You would think some of that would filter down to the younger kids.”

Those younger players will also be playing the final game of a season filled with
opportunities for true freshmen like quarterback Tre Roberson or safety Mark
Murphy. The Hoosiers have played 32 freshmen (16 of them true freshmen) this
season, which is the most in the country.

Wilson said a number of players, young and old, have grown up cheering for
IU sports, so many of them know the importance of the Bucket Game. Senior
linebacker Leon Beckum said the experienced leaders of the team have taken it
upon themselves to educate the underclassmen on the meaning of Saturday’s game, which is set to air on the Big Ten Network.

“The younger guys, they need to know the importance of the game and the tradition it has so they can fight that much harder,” Beckum said.