BLOOMINGTON -- What might have been was a question for later. For now, on a cooling Saturday night, it was celebration time.

And so the Purdue Boilermakers did, merging into a scrum at Memorial Stadium while thrusting the Oaken Bucket and the linked chain of P’s and I’s that symbolize this football rivalry with Indiana toward a cheering Old Gold & Black crowd. That it ended with a 38-21 Purdue victory was not surprising. The Boilers have won 11 of the last 13 meetings, including the last two by a combined score of 100-31. That it culminated an up-and-down season with an upper-half-of-the-Big-Ten finish provided validity to first-year coach Danny Hope’s rebuilding project.

“We had to bring the Bucket back with us,” he said. “To pull out of here without a win, the season wouldn’t have been the same.”

Purdue (5-7) won by not committing a turnover and forcing four, which negated Indiana’s 133-yard edge in total yards. It won by making big plays and big stops. It won by doing all the things that it didn’t do in five gut-wrenching losses that ruined what might have been a bowl-qualifying season.

“After a while, you have to let it go,” tailback Jaycen Taylor said. “That’s the only way to move forward.”

The Boilers moved forward enough to finish 4-2 after a 1-5 start, 4-4 in the Big Ten. But it was the Bucket that meant the most.

“We wanted to go home with OUR Bucket,’ Taylor said. “This was OUR Bucket and we weren’t leaving without it.”

Indiana (4-8) wound up last in the Big Ten at 1-7. It won one more game than it did last year, but lost eight of its last nine games. Still, senior tailback Bryan Payton said the program is headed in the right direction.

“The team is in good hands,” he said. “The young talent on this team will carry it to great heights.”

Purdue won the turnover battle for just the third time all season. It got freshman Al-Terek McBurse’s 87-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It got a season-high 110 rushing yards from Taylor (replacing the injured Ralph Bolden) and defensive stops by safety Torri Williams (one forced fumble, one interception, a game-high 14 tackles) and defensive tackles Kawaan Short (one fumble recovery, one interception) and Mike Neal (2.5 tackles for loss).

“For us it was a special season,” Hope said. “It was a team that defied all the odds. We started 1-5 and ended 4-2. We beat the top team in the Big Ten (Ohio State) that is going to the Rose Bowl. We won at Michigan for the first time in almost half a century. We beat Illinois and our arch-rival.”

The Hoosiers took a page from Purdue’s season of self destruction. Their fumble, blocked field goal and botched punt snap led to 14 first-quarter points for Purdue. Quarterback Ben Chappell’s second-quarter interception resulted in a third Boiler touchdown. His fourth-quarter interception ended Indiana comeback hopes.

Indiana had its moments. Tailback Darius Willis had a 64-yard run en route to 142 rushing yards. Receiver Tandon Doss returned a first-quarter kickoff 37 yards. Demetrius McCray had a 35-yard second-quarter kickoff return. Receiver Damarlo Belcher had a 27-yard third-quarter end around run and a 28-yard, fourth-quarter touchdown catch. IU had the first-half edge in total yards (192-166), first downs (11-7) and time of possession (15:57 to 14:03). It even sold out its expanded student ticket allotment of 15,200. That was the largest student crowd since 1989 and the fourth largest in school history.

That was big for Hoosier athletic department finances, but meant little to the football Hoosiers, who praised the leadership from the 21 seniors.

“We had a lot of close losses we should have pulled out,” junior receiver Mitchell Evans said. “If we had ended up winning those, everybody would be like this is a great senior class. I hope nobody overlooks their impact.”

IU blinked first barely two minutes into the game. Defensive end Ryan Kerrigan moved inside to sack Chappell -- his conference-leading 12th sack -- and force a fumble that Short recovered at the Hoosier 19-yard line. That set up quarterback Joey Elliott’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Taylor and a 7-0 lead.

Nick Freeland’s 48-yard field goal attempt was blocked and recovered by Neal near midfield. The Boilers needed six plays to score again on Elliott’s 4-yard pass to running back Dan Dierking.

Willis’ 64-yard burst up the middle -- the highlight of his 108-yard rushing half -- was wasted when Freeland missed a 31-yard field goal.

Williams’ second-quarter interception of Chappell led to Elliott’s 13-yard TD pass to Jared Crank and a 21-0 Boiler lead. Indiana got back into it with a two-minute, 53-yard touchdown drive capped by Chappell’s 1-yard sneak for a 21-7 halftime score.

McBurse’s 87-yard kickoff return to open the third quarter restored the three-touchdown lead. IU closed within 14 on Chappell’s fourth-down, 12-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Evans late in the third quarter. Purdue responded with Carson Wiggs’ 38-yard field goal for a 31-14 lead.

Chappell’s touchdown pass to Belcher made it 31-21 with eight minutes left. IU stopped Purdue and got the ball in Boiler territory, but Short’s interception of a Chappell screen pass clinched the Purdue victory. Keith Smith caught a 31-yard TD pass to complete the scoring.

“We took some good steps forward,” Hope said. “This is a sign of progress and development of our team and program. This was huge in so many ways.”