How did Purdue pummel Ohio State? Here's how

On the first play of the fourth quarter in West Lafayette, Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer surrendered. HIs team soon followed. Down 21-6 to Purdue and facing a fourth-and-1 from the OSU 29, Meyer elected to punt the ball. The host Boilermakers drove 76 yards in eight plays and scored to put the game away.

You should always be able to trust a battalion of blue-chippers to gain a single yard, but you almost can’t blame Meyer for blinking — almost every time his Buckeyes had needed to make a play, they had failed.

Most of those plays came in the red zone.

Through three quarters, Ohio State had created five scoring opportunities (first downs inside the opponent’s 40) to Purdue’s three. That would typically result in an eight- or nine-point lead.

But while the Boilermakers had scored touchdowns on all three of their tries, the Buckeyes’ five chances had resulted in three field goal attempts (one missed), a punt, and, most recently at that point, a turnover on downs.

So by game’s end, the overall stats were misleading.

Ohio State gained 546 yards to Purdue’s 539 and went 11-for-22 on third downs, compared to Purdue’s 6-for-15.

But the Boilermakers’ stunning red zone execution, on both offense and defense, made all the difference.

On Purdue’s third possession, the Boilers converted a fourth-and-1 near midfield (ahem), and David Blough completed a 23-yard pass to D.J. Knox on a second-and-25, then found Isaac Zico, who made a one-handed catch in the right corner of the end zone to go up 7-0.
Ohio State charged back and created a first-and-goal at the PU 7. But two J.K. Dobbins carries gained just one yard, and Antonio Blackmon broke up a pass to Terry McLaurin, and the Buckeyes settled for a field goal.
Late in the first half, OSU again drove into the red zone, but after Dobbins again couldn’t find any space, Blackman broke up another potential touchdown pass, this one to Binjimen Victor. Blake Haubell missed a 37-yard field goal.
Eight plays later, Purdue was up 14-3. A 37-yard pass to Zico and a four-yard fake field goal carry by punter Joe Schopper set up a Rondale Moore score with 27 seconds left in the half.
Ohio State began the second half by creating a first-and-goal at the 10. With the Buckeyes having given up on the run, Haskins again couldn’t hit Victor on third down, and Haubell hit a 23-yard field goal.
After a silly roughing the punter penalty extended Purdue’s ensuing drive, Blough found Jackson Anthrop and Brycen Hopkins for 15-yard receptions, and Knox scored from a yard out to make it 21-6.
Desperate to stay close, Ohio State created another goal-to-go situation. But they only made it as far as the 2, and K.J. Hill dropped a fourth-down pass that clearly shook Meyer up.

A tennis match can be as even as possible on paper, but if one player wins every break point, on both his serve and his opponent’s, the final score will look like a rout.

Purdue basically won every break point.

The fourth quarter was a track meet, and the Buckeyes’ offense finally found a rhythm. But Purdue responded to every score with one of its own, and every response seemed to further demoralize the OSU defense, which began to miss tackle after tackle.

And after Moore, the star newcomer, scored on a 43-yard catch and run ...

... Markus Bailey piled on with a 41-yard pick six.

Bailey’s seen some things. So has Blough.

Both were starters in 2016, when Purdue went 3-9 and got head coach Darrell Hazell fired. The Boilermakers had won nine games in four years before Jeff Brohm arrived. And now, with a prime time kickoff and a national spotlight, Blough, Bailey, and the Boilers made every play that Ohio State couldn’t. It was the Buckeyes committing stupid penalties and the Buckeyes missing tackles.

And in the areas where the game is decided, Purdue decided the game.

Brohm called the win “beautiful” in his post-game interview, and he was dead on.

But the win also creates a potentially beautiful mess in the Big Ten race. At 4-1 in conference play, Ohio State no longer leads in the East, standing one game behind Michigan and facing what might be a winner-take-all showdown in Columbus in a month.

But ... look at the West:

Northwestern 4-1 (4-3)
Wisconsin 3-1 (5-2)
Iowa 3-1 (6-1)
Purdue 3-1 (4-3)

Wisconsin goes to Northwestern this coming Saturday and heads to Purdue on November 17. The Boilermakers also host Iowa on November 3, and Iowa hosts Northwestern on November 10. This battle royal could be as fascinating as it was unexpected.

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