WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Coming off a bye week, Purdue Football closes out the 2025 season by hosting Indiana in the annual battle for the Old Oaken Bucket on Black Friday. The rivalry matchup is set for 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
QUICK HITS
- While this will be the 127th meeting between Purdue and Indiana, Friday's contest will be the 100th game for the Old Oaken Bucket.
- While Purdue leads the all-time series 77-43-6, the Boilermakers also hold a 63-33-3 advantage when the Old Oaken Bucket is on the line.
- The Boilermakers have won five of the past seven matchups, including three of the past four.
- This marks the second time Purdue and Indiana have played on a Friday night, the other being a convincing 51-14 Boilermaker victory in Bloomington 30 years ago (Nov. 24, 1995).
- The Boilermakers beat the Hoosiers 26-7 in the first ever game at Ross-Ade Stadium (Nov. 22, 1924).
- Purdue has only faced a ranked Indiana team five times throughout history.
- The Boilermakers' month of November has featured opponents with a combined record of 39-5, including 28-4 in B1G play. That includes hosting the top two teams in the country and back-to-back weeks against the last two national champions.
- Dennis Kelly, a three-year starting offensive tackle for the Boilermakers (2009-11) before embarking on a 12-year NFL career, will serve a Purdue's honorary captain for Friday's finale.
- Friday's game will also by Senior Night for the Boilermakers.
- Averaging a Big Ten-best 10.9 tackles per conference game, one full tackle more than the second ranked defender, linebacker Mani Powell is looking to become the first Boilermaker in history to lead the Big Ten in tackle average. Powell's 103 tackles lead the Big Ten and rank 14th nationally.
- Powell is one of only two players in the country to tally at least 100 tackles, 10 TFLs and five sacks this season.
- Powell (103), Tahj Ra-El (98) and Charles Correa (91) combine for 292 tackles, the most by any trio of teammates in the Big Ten. While Powell leads the league, Ra-El ranks third (22nd nationally) and Correa ranks seventh (41st nationally).
- CJ Nunnally IV is one of four players in the FBS with at least nine tackles-for-loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one INT.
- The Purdue defense ranks fourth in the Big Ten in red zone defense (75%).
- Spencer Porath is 14-for-15 on field goals this season, ranking second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally in field goal percentage (93.3%). Porath is on pace to break Purdue's single-season record for field goal percentage.
- Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th nationally in net punting with a 42.3 average.
- The Boilermakers also rank 12th nationally in punt return defense, allowing only 3.7 yards per return.
- Jack McCallister ranks second in the Big Ten in punt average (44.7) and leads the conference with 19 punts pinned inside the 20-yard line.
A LOOK AT THE RIVALRY
- Friday’s game will be the 127th meeting between the Boilermakers and Hoosiers, but just the 100th edition of the Old Oaken Bucket Game.
- Purdue leads the all-time series 77-43-6, including a 40-23-4 at home. The Boilermakers defeated Indiana 26-7 in the first ever game at Ross-Ade Stadium (Nov. 22, 1924).
- Since 1925, Purdue and Indiana have played annually for the Old Oaken Bucket. The Boilermakers lead the Bucket portion of the all-time series 63-33-3, including 18 wins in the last 27 showdowns that started at the beginning of the Joe Tiller era.
- Purdue has won five of the past seven matchups.
OLD OAKEN BUCKET HISTORY
- The Chicago alumni groups of both schools came up with the idea for a traveling trophy, and Russell Gray of Purdue and Clarence Jones of Indiana were given the task of finding an appropriate object. They recommended that "an old oaken bucket would be a most typical trophy from this state and should be taken from a well somewhere in Indiana." Purdue's Fritz Ernst and Whiley J. Huddle of Indiana found the fabled bucket, in a bad state of repair, covered with moss and mold, on the Bruner farm between Kent and Hanover in southern Indiana.
- The Bruner farm was settled in the 1840s, and family lore suggests the bucket might have been used by Confederate General John Hunt Morgan and his soldiers during their incursion into Indiana in 1863 during the Civil War.
- George Ade, distinguished humorist from Purdue, and Harry Kurrie, president of the Monon Railroad, representing Indiana, formally introduced the Old Oaken Bucket in 1925. The Boilermakers and Hoosiers subsequently battled to a 0-0 tie Nov. 21 at Ross-Ade Stadium, resulting in an "I-P" link being attached to the bucket.
- Throughout its history, the bucket has been kidnapped by partisans from both schools – a couple of times missing so long that it was given up as lost, only to turn up mysteriously just before or after the annual game.
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
- In 137 seasons of Purdue Football, the Boilermakers have played on Fridays 15 times throughout history, recording a 5-9-1 record. Eight of those games have been night games and only three have been in Ross-Ade Stadium.
- Last season, the Boilermakers had two Friday games on the schedule for the first time in program history.
- Purdue has faced Indiana once on a Friday night, a dominating 51-14 victory in Bloomington 30 years ago (Nov. 24, 1995
SUCCESS VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
- Purdue has beaten seven ranked teams over the past seven seasons despite being the underdog in each one of those games.
- Three of those wins were against Top 3 teams, while Purdue handed five of those ranked teams their first loss of the season.
- The victories during the 2021 campaign (No. 2 Iowa, No. 3 Michigan State) gave Purdue multiple wins over Top 5 teams in one season for the first time since 1960 (No. 3 Ohio State, No. 1 Minnesota).
- Five of the seven wins have been by double digits, the biggest being a 29-point victory over No. 2 Ohio State in 2018.
MISSING MOCKOBEE
- For the rest of the season, Purdue is without one of the best running backs in program history.
- Devin Mockobee suffered an injury in the fourth quarter against Rutgers (Oct. 24), which required season-ending surgery.
- Mockobee missed the matchup at No. 21 Michigan (Nov. 1) due to injury, snapping a streak of 45 straight games played by the starting running back going all the way back to the 2022 season opener.
- Mockobee appeared in five games before earning the starting position midway through the 2022 campaign and never looking back.
- The Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year semifinalist ranks in the program’s Top 10 in several career categories: 100-yard rushing games (4th - 9), rushing yards (4th - 2,987), all-purpose yards (7th - 3,864) and rushing touchdowns (9th - 23).
- This season, Mockobee leads the team in rushing yards (521) and rushing touchdowns (4). He has also thrown a touchdown and caught a touchdown this year.
- Mockobee is close to becoming the first Boilermaker in program history to lead Purdue in rushing for four straight seasons.
CJ STUFFS THE STAT SHEET
- Joining Purdue after two years as a First Team All-MAC defensive lineman at Akron, CJ Nunnally IV has proven to be a major transfer pickup for Barry Odom’s Boilermakers.
- The Douglasville, Georgia, native leads Purdue in sacks (5.0), forced fumbles (2) and QB hurries (8), while ranking second in tackles-for-loss (9.5). He also has an interception and a fumble recovery to his credit.
- Nunnally is one of four players in the FBS this season with at least nine tackles-for-loss, five sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one interception (Xavier Adkinson - Auburn, Mitchell Melton - Virginia and Byrun Parham - UConn).
- He recorded the first interception of his career last game against No. 1 Ohio State picking off Heisman Trophy favorite Julian Sayin in the end zone. His interception was the first by a Boilermaker defensive lineman since George Karlaftis against TCU in 2019.
- Nunnally has picked up the pace lately, forcing two fumbles and intercepting a pass over the last four games.
- Nunnally IV is one of four players in the nation to record five or more sacks in each of the last three seasons - David Bailey (Stanford, Texas Tech), Isaiah Smith (SMU) and Malachi Lawrence (UCF).
SWARM THE BALL
- Mani Powell (103), Tahj Ra-El (98) and Charles Correa (91) have combined for 292 tackles this season, more than any other trio of teammates in the Big Ten.
- In Big Ten rankings, Powell leads the way, Ra-El ranks third, and Correa is seventh. Those numbers are even better in conference play. Powell’s 10.9 tackles per conference contest lead the Big Ten, while Ra-El (9.4) is second and Correa (8.5) rounds out the Top 5
- With Ra El’s career-high 15-tackle performance against Rutgers, Purdue became the second team nationwide to record at least three individual 15-tackle games this season (Buffalo).
- Correa and Powell led the attack against No. 22 Illinois, recording 15 and 14 tackles, respectively. They became the first pair of Purdue teammates to have at least 14 tackles in the same game since the Boilermakers’ 2021 Music City Bowl win over Tennessee (Chris Jefferson, Jaylan Alexander and Kieren Douglas).
FROM GEORGIA TO PURDUE
- In the offseason, the Purdue wide receiver room welcomed a pair of Georgia transfers who have become an important part of the Boilermaker offense.
- After making the move north, Michael Jackson III and Nitro Tuggle have combined for 86 catches for 924 yards and five touchdowns this season.
- Jackson leads the Boilermakers in receptions (57) and receiving yards (504), while Tuggle ranks second in both categories, 29 and 420, respectively, and his four receiving touchdowns are a team best.
- Jackson hauled in a career-high 14 receptions against No. 22 Illinois, the only Big Ten player to reach that mark this season. It was also the most catches by a Boilermaker since Rondale Moore (Minnesota Vikings) caught 15 passes against Minnesota (Nov. 20, 2020).
- Scoring a touchdown against Notre Dame, Tuggle became the first Purdue wide receiver to find the end zone in three straight games since Charlie Jones (Cincinnati Bengals) accomplished the feat during his 2022 All-American season.
SPECIAL SPENCER
- Spencer Porath has been a major factor in Purdue's special teams play this season, going 14-of-15 on field goals.
- His 93.3 field goal percentage ranks second in the Big Ten and sixth nationally, on pace to set a single-season school record.
- Porath is the only kicker in the Big Ten to make multiple 50-yard field goals this season.
- The sophomore kicked a career-long 53-yard FG at Washington, the third-longest in program history.
- Against Michigan, Porath connected on a 50-yard field goal. It was Purdue's first kick of 50 or more yards since J.D. Dellinger made a 53-yard boot against TCU in 2019.
- Porath’s perfection through his first nine kicks of the season matched the best start by a Purdue kicker since Mitchell Fineran in 2021.
- Porath went 7-for-11 as a freshman. He eclipsed his make total in game four this season.
- In just 19 career games, Porath ranks 14th on the Purdue career charts with 21 made kicks.
- His 80.8% career field goal clip (21-of-26) is currently the best in Purdue history.
- He made a career-high three field goals at No. 21 Notre Dame. That included a career-long 48-yard field goal in the second quarter.
- Against Southern Illinois, he scored 10 points thanks to a pair of field goals and splitting the uprights on four PATs. For his performance, Porath became Purdue’s first Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week since Dellinger six seasons ago (Nov. 11, 2019).
MANI’S THE MAN
- A leader on the field and in the locker room as a team captain, Mani Powell is the Big Ten’s leading tackler through the first 11 games of the season.
- Powell leads the conference in total tackles (103) and ranks 14th nationally with 9.4 tackles per game. He has been even better in conference play, as his 10.8 tackles per game in B1G games lead the league. The linebacker is looking to become the first Boilermaker in history to lead the Big Ten in tackles in conference games for a season.
- He also paces Purdue with 11.0 tackles-for-loss and 5.0 sacks, becoming one of only two players (Byrun Parham - UConn) in the country with at least 100 tackles, 10 TFLs and five sacks.
- Against Northwestern, the Columbus, Ohio, native produced one of the best performances this century by a Purdue defender. He made a career-high 20 tackles, the most by a Big Ten player in a conference game since 2018.
- Powell’s game marked the first time a Boilermaker recorded 20 tackles in a game since Willie Fells accomplished the feat against Iowa 28 years ago (Nov. 1, 1997).
TACKLING MACHINE
- Making the move with head coach Barry Odom from Las Vegas to West Lafayette, sophomore linebacker Charles Correa has made an immediate impact for the Boilermaker defense.
- Correa has made 91 tackles on the season and averaging 8.3 tackles per game to rank seventh in the Big Ten and 41st nationally.
- He was the first Boilermaker underclassmen with at least 49 tackles through five games since Ja'Whaun Bentley in 2015.
- Correa was the first Boilermaker since at least 1995 to record 10 or more tackles in four of the first five games and just the 14th Big Ten player to do so in that span.
- He is one of three underclassmen with 10 or more tackles in at least five games this season.
- With five double-digit tackle games, Correa is tied for seventh-most in a season at Purdue since 1995.
THAT’S A FACT, JACK – FOR THE BRAND
- A starting punter for the past three seasons at Washington, senior Jack McCallister had no problem bringing his talents from the Pacific Northwest to West Lafayette.
- A weapon for the Boilermakers, McCallister's punts forced opponents to a starting field position of their own 21.9-yard line; that number was the 10.8-yard line over the opening three games of the season.
- Purdue ranks 14th nationally and leads the Big Ten in net punting at 42.3 yards.
- McCallister has punted 42 times on the year for an average of 44.7 yards per boot. He has dropped 19 balls inside the 20-yard line and launched 13 punts of 50 yards or more with a long of 68.
- His punts have been returned just 16 times for an average of 3.7 yards per return.
- McCallister ran a fake punt for 10 yards and a first down through contact at Notre Dame, the first Purdue punter to run for a first down since Joe Schopper at Rutgers in 2017.
- Against USC, McCallister was called upon three times for an average of 54.3 yards per game, including a 68-yard boot.
- The 68-yard punt was the longest by a Boilermaker since Brooks Cormier's 69-yard punt against Minnesota in 2019.
- He is one of three Purdue punters to average 50+ yards on a minimum of three punts twice in a season since at least 1995, joining Jared Armstrong (2006) and Travis Dorsch (2000, 2001).
- In his Purdue debut, McCallister landed all three of his punts inside the 20-yard line for an average of 50.3 yards.
- He was named to the Ray Guy Award Ray's 8 after Week 1 and Week 3 of the season.