INDIANA, USA — It was a bit of a subdued week for college football in the state of Indiana.
All teams except Ball State and Notre Dame posted crushing losses on Saturday. The Fighting Irish are the only remaining Division I FBS team in the state whose season is not yet over.
The Indiana Hoosiers and Purdue Boilermakers both dropped their eighth respective games on Saturday as the two teams gear up for their annual matchup in the Old Oaken Bucket game next week.
Purdue enters the Bucket game having beaten Indiana in four out of their last five meetings. However, for the first time since 2016, with the exception of the COVID-shortened 2020 season, Purdue enters its final game having won less than four games.
Indiana had a chance to beat Michigan State on Saturday afternoon, but a missed game-tying field goal handed the Hoosiers their eighth loss of the year. All things considered, next week's Bucket game should be a good matchup, even if both teams are only playing for pride.
In NCAA FCS, the Butler Bulldogs' season came to an end after a hard-fought barn burner against Drake. Butler's loss dropped them from a tie for second place in the Pioneer Football League to fourth place, and out of FCS Playoff contention.
The Indiana State Sycamores and Valparaiso Beacons had their respective seasons come to an end as well on Saturday. Indiana State finished with just one win across ten games, while Valparaiso had a two-game winning streak snapped to end the season.
It was a difficult day for two of the teams that were granted small college playoff berths last week. The UIndy Greyhounds could not get anything going on offense against Pittsburg State, scoring once in the second quarter and once in the fourth. Quarterback Gavin Sukup was sacked four times and intercepted twice in what otherwise was another solid game under center.
Fresh off their Monon Bell win, the DePauw Tigers could not carry the momentum into the playoffs. After an undefeated regular season, DePauw could not make it past the first round of the postseason. Alma scored 25 points in the first half compared to DePauw's 14. Quarterback Nathan McCahill threw for 280 yards, but four sacks hurt the Tigers' offense.
Zionsville native and Bishop Chatard alum Carter St. John led the Alma Scots under center, putting up 153 total passing yards in 10 out of 19 attempts.
The two NAIA teams in the postseason, Indiana Wesleyan and Marian, had first-round byes to begin their playoffs and will play next Saturday.
Indiana college football scores for Nov. 18
Alma 32, DePauw 17
Pittsburg State 35, UIndy 14
St. Thomas 16, Valparaiso 10
Southern Illinois 38, Indiana State 9
