No. 2 Indiana moves to 12-0, earns Big Ten title game spot with 56-3 win at Purdue

Indiana running back Kaelon Black (8) celebrates with teammates after scoring during the first half of an NCAA college football game against Purdue, Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in West Lafayette, Ind. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) — Kaelon Black had two touchdown runs and Fernando Mendoza and Roman Hemby each ran for scores as No. 2 Indiana beat rival Purdue 56-3 on Friday night, completing the first perfect regular season in school history and securing a Big Ten championship game berth.

The Hoosiers (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) also likely locked up a second straight College Football Playoff berth. They’ll find out Saturday whether they’ll play No. 1 Ohio State, No. 5 Oregon or No. 15 Michigan a week later for the conference title.

Indiana celebrated by hoisting the Old Oaken Bucket in the series’ 100th trophy game, while Curt Cignetti became the first Hoosiers coach since Bo McMillin in 1934-35 to win his first two matchups against Purdue.

“I think we put on one or two,” Cignetti said when asked about his pregame remark that he wanted to finish the season with an exclamation point instead of a question mark. “It was a good day.”

Purdue (2-10, 0-9) endured more misery in the coldest game ever played at Ross-Ade Stadium, with a kickoff temperature of 24 degrees Fahrenheit. The Boilermakers closed coach Barry Odom’s first season with a 10th straight loss and posted their second straight winless season in conference play, the first since 1919-20.

It took the Hoosiers a quarter to adapt to the chilly conditions.

Mendoza, who grew up in Miami and previously attended California, struggled. He went 8 of 15 for 117 yards and two TDs in less than three quarters. So the Hoosiers flipped the script.

Black opened the scoring with a 1-yard run, Mendoza scooted 7 yards to make it 14-3 early in the second quarter, and Black spun away from a defender for a nimble 16-yard TD run with 3:40 to play in the first half. Hemby closed out the first-half scoring with an 82-yard TD run down Purdue’s sideline, stiff-arming the only potential tackler who had a chance to catch him, for a 28-3 lead.

The Hoosiers sealed it with Mendoza’s two third-quarter TD passes — 17 yards to Elijah Sarratt and 43 yards to Omar Cooper Jr.

Odom didn’t want to discuss how the Boilermakers suffered their worst home loss to Indiana one year after suffering the worst loss in school history to the Hoosiers, 66-0. Instead, he was pondering how to turn things around next season, starting in the transfer portal.

“I want guys that really like ball, guys that like the process of what it’s supposed to take,” he said. “There is going to be a high value placed on guys that have great toughness, that are not just chasing a check, they’re chasing the opportunity to get developed and get a degree.”

Hemby had 12 carries for a season-high 152 yards while Black ran 13 times for 66 yards. Indiana finished with 355 yards rushing, its second-highest total this season and sixth 300-yard game this season.

Purdue’s Ryan Browne was 25 of 47 for 238 yards and threw an interception on the second offensive play of the game. The Boilermakers had just 282 total yards.

The takeaway

Purdue: The Boilermakers were more competitive in 2025 than 2024. But the result was similar. Purdue enters next year on another losing streak, this time 10 games instead of 11, and still trying to snap its school-record 18-game skid in conference play.

Indiana: Many wondered if the Hoosiers would be one-hit wonders after last year’s historic season. But Cignetti promised there would be no decline in 2025 — and there wasn’t. With the nation’s second-best scoring offense and scoring defense, a Heisman Trophy front-runner and a perfect record, the Hoosiers are better positioned to make a playoff run than they were last year.

Up next

Purdue: Another offseason roster overhaul.

Indiana: The Big Ten championship game next Saturday in Indianapolis.

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