Buckeyes Hammer Boilermakers, 49-0; Move To 7-1

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Grading the Game: Ohio State 49 - Purdue 0

Offense:  A

The Ohio State offense mixed a methodical running game with an explosive passing attack, and it paid  off to the tune of 42 first half points, and 49 overall. Compiling 489 yards on 73 plays (6.9 yards per play), the Buckeye offense could not have been any different from the one that struggled against Purdue last season. Terrelle Pryor had five passes of 20 yards or more, going 16/22 (73%) for 270 yards and three touchdowns. The two interceptions that Pryor threw, one while being hit on a blitz, and the other just a flat-out bad throw, are the only miscues preventing this grade from being an "A+."  

Boom Herron was once again the sparkplug for the Buckeye ground game, running for 74 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Boom took advantage of the offensive line's effectiveness in the run game, and so did the rest of the running backs, as they ran for 112 yards apart from Herron.

Four different receivers caught passes of 20 yards or more, and four different receivers caught touchdown passes on the day. DeVier Posey returned to spectacular performance after a poor week before, and Dane Sanzenbacher held firm as the most consistent Buckeye receiver. True freshman Corey Brown caught his first touchdown pass, an impressive post route that just made it into the endzone.

Defense: A+

A shutout is an automatic "A" in my book, as the difficulty in obtaining a goose-egg is tremendous. It was Ohio State's first shutout of the season, and what's even more impressive,  it happened with multiple backups playing in place of injured starters. Coming off the heels of a disappointing performance against Wisconsin a week ago, the Silver Bullets responded with a mauling of an injury-plagued Boilermaker offense. Holding Purdue to only 118 yards on 55 plays (2.15 yards per play), the defense gave the beleaguered Boilermaker's no chance at scoring, yet alone pulling off an upset.

Safety Orhian Johnson and backup linebacker Storm Klein both recorded the first interceptions of their young careers. It truly is a dominating day defensively when your second string has no noticeable drop-off from the first.

Special Teams: A

Not only did the special teams coverage units finally have a solid performance, but they also forced and recovered a fumble on Purdue's first kickoff return of the afternoon. This good fortune led to another Ohio State touchdown, putting the Buckeyes up 14-0 early. If Purdue had any chance at staying in the game at that point, falling behind two scores took that thought away. Continued performance will be important for the coverage units to maintain, so look forward to that next weekend against Minnesota.

Player of the Game: It is very difficult to pick just one in a game like this, so I'm going to give it to all three players who had a notable first- Corey Brown, Storm Klein, and Orhian Johnson. The first touchdown reception of any receiver's collegiate career is special, while any interception from a defender is a moment to be cherished. Congrats to those three, and Go Bucks!

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Five for Purdue: What You Need to Know as the Buckeyes Take on the Boilermakers

1. Mental Health of the Team. After suffering a tough defeat at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers last Saturday, Ohio State will have to rebound quickly against Purdue this weekend. The Boilermakers defeated the Buckeyes last season in what ended up being the worst game of Terrelle Pryor's career. The junior signal-caller cannot afford to have a repeat performance of that game, where he threw two interceptions and also fumbled the ball twice.

Any hangover or pity that the team may be dealing with must not prevent them from taking care of business against Danny Hope's Boilermakers. Last season's defeat to these same Boilermakers should be enough of a reminder that any team can lose if they do not take their opponent seriously.

2. Physical Health of the Team. Perhaps more tangible than any possible mental side effects from the Wisconsin loss last weekend, the depth chart at Ohio State is being tested by a rash of injuries that continued against the Badgers. Starting weakside linebacker Ross Homan is out an indeterminable time, true freshman "star" Christian Bryant had surgery to remove an infection in his foot- Bryant was already the replacement at the star position for Tyler Moeller, who is out for the season with another injury- and safety Orhian Johnson was banged up in run support last weekend, so he will be at less than one hundred percent.

3. The New Purdue. Offensive coordinator Gary Nord has reconfigured the Boilermaker attack to protect redshirt freshman quarterback Rob Henry, who was thrust into the starting role after starting quarterback Robert Marve was lost on the season to a knee injury. Nord has gone to a running attack mixed with some option in order to take advantage of Henry's natural athletic ability without throwing him to the wolves in the passing game.  The Purdue of last season with Joey Elliot tossing the ball around on every play is no more.

4. The Running Game. For the second week in a row, senior running back Brandon Saine did not receive one carry. He has clearly been phased out of the true running back role, yet he is still an active part of the offense as a pseudo-H-Back.  Boom Herron took the bulk of the carries against the Badgers, but true sophomore Jordan Hall received time as well. Against a Purdue defense that has struggled against the run this season, it will be important for the Buckeyes to involve more players than just Boom Herron in the running game.

5. Special Teams. Did you really expect anything else? After yet another breakdown on the coverage units, Ohio State has once again adjusted personnel and had another week of practice emphasizing the importance of lane integrity. Kickoff specialist Drew Basil must improve his distance and, most importantly, his height on kickoffs, and the coverage units must own their lane. Purdue is near last in the country in both punt and kick returns, so this is the perfect game for the special teams to dominate.

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Buckeyes Look To Bounce Back Against Purdue At The 'Shoe

 The Ohio State Buckeyes' place atop the college football world was short lived as they suffered their first loss of the season last week at Wisconsin, but coach Jim Tressel's club knows the Big Ten title and a spot in the BCS National Championship Game is still a possibility so there is no time to waste as they turn their attention to the Purdue Boilermakers who pay a visit to the Horseshoe in Columbus this Saturday.

Purdue has won its last two games after splitting its first four, and at 2-0 in conference, the Boilermakers are just a game behind first-place Michigan State heading into the weekend. Despite their favorable record, the jury is still out on whether the Boilermakers have what it takes to challenge for the top spot in the Big Ten as their wins have come over the likes of Western Illinois, Ball State, Northwestern and Minnesota.

Head coach Danny Hope had nothing but praise for his team after last week's win over the Golden Gophers, "We thought we'd be 6-0 and ranked high. That was our goal but I'm very excited about where we stand currently. There are only two or three undefeated teams in the Big Ten and the Purdue Boilermakers are one of them."

Purdue hasn't won three straight Big Ten bouts since 2006, and hasn't started 3-0 in conference since 2003.

Ohio State opened the year with six consecutive victories and was ranked No. 1 in the nation last week, but a 31-18 loss to Wisconsin dropped the Buckeyes all the way down to 11th. Coach Tressel's teams have done well over the years following a loss, going 19-2, 12-1 in such games played at Ohio Stadium.

OSU has won 39 of its last 44 Big Ten bouts, and the Buckeyes are one of only three FBS teams to record at least 10 wins in each of the past five seasons.

Ohio State owns a 37-13-2 lead in the all-time series with Purdue, but the Boilermakers won last year's meeting in West Lafayette.

Despite being devastated by injuries, the Purdue offense has performed admirably this season with QB Rob Henry leading the way both with his arm and his legs. Henry, a redshirt freshman, has rushed for 356 yards this season and in last week's win over Minnesota, threw for 163 yards and a TD while rushing for 57 yards and three scores.

RB Dan Dierking isn't far off Henry's pace, having churned out 353 yards and four TDs, and he too had a solid outing against the Golden Gophers, producing 126 yards on the day. Purdue wound up rushing for 230 yards, marking the fifth straight game the team had churned out at least 200 yards on the ground -- its longest streak since 1973.

Defensively, the Boilermakers are led by All-Big Ten lineman Ryan Kerrigan, who has a club-best 28 tackles thus far. Kerrigan, who has 5.5 sacks and has caused three fumbles already this season, leads the conference and ranks second nationally in TFLs with 14.

Purdue has had its difficulty against the pass this season, yielding 220.8 ypg, while its effort against the run has been better with foes averaging 123.5 ypg. Minnesota gained just 65 net rushing yards last week.

Ohio State averages more than 443 yards and 39 points per contest this season. The Buckeyes are led by Terrelle Pryor, who is a mere 90 passing yards shy of 5,000 for his career and 247 yards away from becoming the program's all-time leading rusher among quarterbacks. Pryor, 25-4 as the Buckeyes' starter, is coming off a game in which he rushed for 56 yards and threw for 156 yards with an INT. He was sacked three times.

RB Dan Herron scored both of OSU's TDs, finishing with 91 rushing yards on 19 carries, and he has now scored a TD in six straight games. WR Dane Sanzenbacher had six catches for 94 yards.

Tressel, while obviously disappointed with the outcome of last week's game, liked the fight he saw in his team, "I was proud of the way our kids fought back. A lesser bunch in an environment like that may have folded their tents. But to Wisconsin's credit, they stepped up and kept that 10-point cushion and came up with the win."

Wisconsin's John Clay became the first running back in 29 games to rush for 100 yards against the Buckeyes, netting 104 yards and two TDs. Jermale Hines was the only OSU defender to reach double digits in tackles (10) against the Badgers.

Despite the recent setback, the Buckeyes are allowing just 16.0 ppg while yielding a Big Ten-low 251.1 total ypg -- of which only 93.7 ypg come on the ground. They lead also the Big Ten in turnover margin (+1.43).

Expect an ornery Ohio State bunch to put an end to Purdue's perfect run in conference, dominating both sides of the ball in what should be a comfortable victory in front of the hometown faithful.