The Indiana football team enters Bucket Week ranked number 8 in the nation after beating then-No. 18 Wisconsin 14-6 on Saturday.
It was the Hoosiers third win over a ranked team this season, something they haven’t accomplished since 1945.
And they did it behind quarterback in Jack Tuttle, who made his first career start in place of the injured Michael Penix.
Tuttle threw for a pair of scores in a game that saw both defenses dominate. Tuttle briefly went to the locker room after taking a shoulder to the helmet, but he returned and did not miss a play.
“I thought that he showed tremendous toughness in that game,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said. “And that's what stuck out to me. You know, he made some really good throws and took some hits -- took some shots --- and just kept going back. That’s just a great, great message to your teammates and to your opponents as well.”
For Tuttle, it was a reminder of what playing football was like.
“It was not necessarily a wakeup call, but it was the first time I had really been hit in a year or year and a half, so I am a little bit sore,” he said.
Now the focus shifts to rival Purdue for the regular season finale. A win would give Indiana a school-record seven wins in a Big Ten season.
But Allen says the Hoosiers won’t be looking past the 2-4 Boilermakers.
“We know we're going to get Purdue’s very, very best,” Allen said. “And you can throw out the records. It’s rivalry week, and you just absolutely just show up and you better play your best football. And that's what we expect to do.”
The Hoosiers have played as much football as all but three other teams in the Big Ten this season as COVID-19 has forced a number of schools to shut down their programs for stretches this fall.
Six schools have cancelled one game, while two schools – Maryland and Wisconsin – have played just four games.
Allen credits his support staff with keeping the program going while others have had to shut down for one or two weeks at a time.
The drawback is that, unlike two-thirds of the teams in the conference, Indiana has not had a week off since the season began in late October.
“We made modifications to our preparation to make sure our guys are properly rested, properly prepared and ready to play the very best on Saturday,” Allen said. “So, yeah, we’re one of the few teams that have had to do this, but we're also blessed to be able to have had consecutive games and be able to take the field each week and be able to play. So, it's definitely been a blessing.”
After Saturday’s finale against Purdue, Indiana will play a Big Ten cross-over game against the team from the West Division that finishes in the same place as the Hoosiers. Right now, that’s Iowa.
