Buckeyes Record-Breaking In Rout Of Boilers
WEST LAFAYETTE – Ohio State continued on its quest to challenge for a national championship, completely overwhelming Purdue, 56-0, Saturday afternoon at Ross-Ade Stadium.
It was literally all Ohio State from the outset. On just Purdue’s second play from scrimmage, a Danny Etling pass was picked off by Doran Grant and returned 33 yards for a touchdown just 57 seconds into the game. The rout was on.
Buckeye quarterback Braxton Miller found tight end Jeff Heuerman for a 40-yard touchdown just two minutes later, the first of four touchdown passes for Miller on the day. Miller would play just the first half but threw for 233 yards on 19-23 attempts. Miller also found Nick Vannett, Corey Brown and Ezekiel Elliott for scores.
Backup quarterback Kenny Guiton was just as effective for Ohio State, throwing for 59 yards and rushing for 98 more, totaling three touchdowns. Guiton’s one-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter put Ohio State up 56-0, which placed the Buckeyes as the owners of the most points scored at Ross-Ade Stadium, a record that was set just this past Sept. 28 when Northern Illinois scored 55 points. The 28 points scored by Ohio State in the first quarter also tied a record against Purdue in a quarter.
Carlos Hyde, who averaged 155 yards per game in his last three games, ran the ball just eight times but gained 111 yards on the ground. Heuerman led Ohio State with five catches for 116 yards and the score.
Ohio State (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) racked up 350 yards and a 42-0 lead at the half. The lead tied a record for the highest point output in the given up by the Boilermakers in the first half in its history. The Buckeyes in 2010 and the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame, both in the first half in 1988, scored 42 against Purdue. The Buckeyes finished with 640 total yards, just a half-field short of the all-time record of 698 given up by Purdue to Michigan State in 1971.
The Boilers were not able to get much going offensively against one of the toughest defenses in college football. All Purdue was able to generate was 116 total yards, 23 on six carries by Akeem Hunt and 89 yards through the air from Danny Etling. The Purdue quarterback was stifled by the Buckeye defense, held to 13-29 attempts and was sacked six times.
“We have to have early success, and we had just the opposite,” said Purdue head coach Darrell Hazell. “It’s unfortunate. Especially against a great team. We spotted them 28 points right off the bat, and you can’t do that against a quality opponent like Ohio State.”
Purdue (1-7, 0-4) had won three of the last four meetings with Ohio State in West Lafayette, but were no match Saturday. Purdue has now lost its last six games after winning the home opener against Indiana State.
The Buckeyes with the win improved to 21-0 with Urban Meyer at the helm.
Ohio State’s band was also in top form, performing at halftime and bringing out the tyrannosaurus rex to gobble up an Indiana University representative.
Ohio State’s schedule is favorable heading down the stretch, with a bye next week before facing Illinois and Indiana before the showdown Nov. 30 in the Big House against Michigan.
Purdue will host Iowa before heading to Penn State then close with Illinois and Indiana for the Old Oaken Bucket.