The Purdue Boilermakers’ fortunes against top-five ranked teams came to a screeching halt Saturday against No. 5 Ohio State with a 59-31 loss.
The loss to the Buckeyes wrapped up a stretch of three games this season against top-5 teams with the Boilers (6-4, 4-3 in the Big Ten) previously winning two of them. Purdue’s successful run of games against top-5 teams actually dates back to Oct. 20, 2018, when the Boilers upset the Buckeyes that year.
OSU (8-1, 6-0) took the lead for good, 14-7, with seven minutes to go in the first quarter on a three-yard rush up the middle by Buckeye freshman TreVeyon Henderson. for a 14-7 advantage on Purdue (6-4, 4-3). Henderson then scored on OSU’s next possession with a 57-yard TD run.
Midway through the first quarter, things fell apart for Purdue with a combination of a mishandled kickoff, a fumble, and defensive miscues. The Buckeyes scored 28 unanswered points from the end of the first quarter, and it continued into the second quarter in a span of less than nine minutes.
“(Ohio State) got it to their playmakers, it seemed like, whenever they wanted,” said head coach Jeff Brohm after the game, “We were lucky to hold them to 59.”
The Boilermaker defense was no match for OSU’s firepower as the Buckeyes almost doubled the yards the Purdue defense allowed per game this season before Saturday. The Buckeyes totaled 624 yards; the Boilers gave up an average of 329.6 yards per game. The Buckeyes averaged nine yards per play on the day.
“They out-played us and out-maned us,” said Brohm, “They really beat us in every category, so I give them a lot of credit.”
Following his Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week honor as a result of his performance against fifth-ranked Michigan State last week, senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell passed for 390 yards. He used nine different receivers and threw for four touchdowns, but the Boilers’ offense couldn’t keep up with OSU’s production on the day.
Purdue’s final two opponents are Northwestern and Indiana University, who both sit at the bottom of their respective divisions. Kickoff against Northwestern is set for noon next week at Wrigley Field.