Bucket Bashing

WEST LAFAYETTE -- The Hoosier football team suffered a spanking in the Old Oaken Bucket game Saturday as IU gave up 763 yards of total offense in a 63-24 thrashing at the hands of arch-rival Purdue. With the loss, the Hoosiers end a disappointing 2004 campaign at 3-8 and 1-7 in the Big Ten. \nWhile the 763 yards set a new record for total yards given up in IU history and sets a new record in a conference game, it actually could have been worse with the Boilermakers putting up 42 points and 512 yards of offense in the first half alone. Purdue senior quarterback Kyle Orton led the attack with 522 passing yards and six touchdowns -- both tying Purdue records with former Boilermaker quarterback Drew Brees. \nThe only blemish in Orton's game came in the second quarter when junior defensive end Victor Adeyanju forced a fumble that was picked up by junior safety Will Lumpkin and returned 74 yards for the Hoosier touchdown. \nOrton wasn't the only Purdue player breaking records. Boilermaker senior Taylor Stubblefield is now the owner of the NCAA career receptions record with 309, after a 14-catch outing against the Hoosiers. Stubblefield was one of three players with more than 100 receiving yards, including 6-foot-9-inch sophomore wide receiver Kyle Ingraham, who gained 209 yards from 11 catches.\nPurdue coach Joe Tiller said the wide receiver core was instrumental in the big win. \n"We made some big catches today; Kyle Ingraham's physical play caused some problems for them," Tiller said. "As a whole, the offense had more drops in the first half than we had in the past two games combined, but I feel we had a good performance."\nDespite the huge loss, IU senior safety Herana-Daze Jones said he didn't think the Boilermakers were unsportsmanlike in their dismantling of the Hoosiers. \n"It's a game and they just played," Jones said. "I don't believe in going into a game and not trying to score even when you're up a lot. You can't tell a guy who comes in to not play hard just because you're embarrassing the other team."\nPrior to Saturday's game, the Hoosiers looked as if they had made major improvements over last season with the team losing three games by a touchdown or less. IU coach Gerry DiNardo said the Purdue game was a major step back from the relative strides the team has made during the season. \n"We certainly played the worst that we've played all year," DiNardo said. "I think it does (take away from the progress) on a day like today. The worst thing about ending a season with a day like today is that you tend to focus on today. It was ugly, there's no doubt about it, but the world's not caving in, although at times it looked like it was."\nOn the IU side of the ball, senior quarterback Matt LoVecchio finished the game with 239 passing yards and one touchdown. However, the Notre Dame transfer was sacked six times in the game, including four sacks from junior Rob Ninkovich who tied a Purdue record for the most sacks in a single game. \nLoVecchio was noticeably shaken after the tough loss, but expressed his thanks to both DiNardo and the Hoosier program as a whole for giving him a chance after his transfer in 2002. \n"We got spanked today and words can't really describe how I feel right now," LoVecchio said. "I just look back on my career and I'm just so grateful for everything that Indiana has given me. I'm thankful for the opportunity that coach DiNardo gave me." \nWith such an embarrassing ending to what could have been a very promising season, many of the returning Hoosiers said they are anxious to come back next year and correct some of this season's troubles. Junior linebacker Kyle Killion said he is desperate to come back next season in order to forget about this game. \n"It makes me want to come back for next season," Killion said. "This is a bitter taste and I want to get rid of it." \n-- Contact staff writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.