One deeply held tradition in America over the years has been sports. It allows people to watch other athletes display their talents and put on an entertaining show. For avid sport fans like myself, varying games, matches, and races captivate us and allow them to enter a fun-filled environment. Typically sports are broken up into levels based on skill. People can start when they’re young and reach high school, college, and maybe even professional level if they put the work in. One level particularly exhilarating to watch is anything college related. This is the level next to professional leagues, and its athletes put tremendous effort into their game, which makes the events all the more enjoyable to watch. For Purdue fans, they just came off a spectacular weekend, and their boilermakers are on fire right now.

The two sports that Purdue performed very well over Thanksgiving weekend were basketball and football, and they are typically Purdue’s best as well. To start, Purdue basketball played Western Virginia on Thanksgiving last week and took home a win with a score of 80-68. Purdue center Zach Edey had a double-double that game with 24 points and 12 rebounds and played a crucial role in winning against the Mountaineers. That was a solid win, and it helped propel boiler basketball to have a successful rest of the week. 

The following day after Thanksgiving the Purdue basketball team also played number six ranked Gonzaga and won against them too with a commanding score of 84-66. The team seemed to sink up together as a whole, and they definitely got the job done. Zach Edey scored 23 points and Freshmen Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer both contributed 14 to ensure the victory over the bulldogs. Winning this game proved that Purdue could hang with the top teams in the country and have a promising season overall. 

The next day on Saturday the 26th, Purdue football played in The Old Oaken Bucket game in Bloomington against IU and took the win as well 30-16. This win definitely was very satisfying for Purdue fans, as IU is their rival. In fact, after every kickoff, Purdue fans yell “IU sucks” to further enforce their dislike for IU. The stat leaders in that game for Purdue was Aidan O’Connell passing for 290 yards and 2 touchdowns, Devin Mockobee rushing for 99 yards and 1 touchdown, and Charlie Jones receiving for 143 yards and 1 touchdown. It was a bit of a slow start for the boilermakers, but they eventually pulled through and took home the win. As a result of winning that game, Purdue is headed to the Big Ten championship at Lucas Oil on Saturday the 3rd to take on the undefeated Michigan Wolverines. 

To finish off the weekend, Purdue basketball took on number eight ranked Duke and won handsomely 75-56. The fact that Purdue can blow out top college basketball teams means a lot and proves just how good they are. Once again Zach Edey was a massive presence in the paint and ended up with 21 points and 12 rebounds, receiving him another double-double. What makes Purdue basketball especially dangerous is their access to 7’4” Zach Edey, dynamic incoming players Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer, and defensive studs Ethan Morton and Mason Gillis. The combination of those assets creates a squad that plays smoothly and effectively. Purdue showed that they can still play well even without Zach Edey, which is crucial to their success because Zach Edey gets tired easily. With this week full of victories under their belt, Purdue basketball went from being ranked 24th to 5th. Overall, Purdue sports had a great Thanksgiving weekend and are ready to take more wins home in the future.