Five Things: Ohio State Rides 24-Point Second Quarter to 34-10 Win Over Purdue in West Lafayette

By Chris Lauderback on November 9, 2025 at 10:15 am
Jeremiah Smith
Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
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No. 1 Ohio State improved to 9-0 on the season including 6-0 in B1G action with a 34-10 spanking of Purdue yesterday in Ross-Ade Stadium. 

Matt Patricia's suffocating defense held Purdue to 186 total yards and 19:04 of possession time for the game and just 77 and 8:10 in the second half. 

Meanwhile, the OSU offense cranked out 473 yards including 170 and three scores on the ground.  

After Purdue opened the scoring via a 40-yard field goal to take a 3-0 lead with 4:23 left in the first quarter, Ohio State scored the next 34 points before the Boilers finally found the end zone in mop up time to round out the scoring. 

The Buckeyes are back in action next weekend on the muddy banks of the Olentangy as they welcome a bad UCLA squad to town for a primetime kick. Before we turn focus to the Bruins, here are Five Things from a 24-point win in West Lafayette. 

RUN GAME LOOKS.. BETTER? 

Like many, I've questioned if Ohio State's run game is championship caliber. That said, there's still plenty of time improve and even if that doesn't happen, not every facet of championship teams are elite. Hell, last year's rushing attack was outside the top-25 in yards per carry, as was OSU's red zone scoring rate and 3rd down conversion rate, as a for instance. 

As long as Day and Brian Hartline don't try to prove a point in the run game that doesn't need proven in any particular game, the Buckeyes could very well win it all with a rushing attack that fails to scare any opponent the rest of the way. 

Entering yesterday's contest, Ohio State slotted No. 46 nationally averaging 4.64 yards per carry. Against the Boilers, Day wanted to establish the run. 

"We wanted to run the ball. In order to get the run game going, you have to give it a chance to get going. … For the most part, it was efficient. It wasn’t great. But there were some good hits on there.”– RYAN DAY ON OSU RUN GAME

The run game looked great on Ohio State's first snap as Bo Jackson broke through a nice hole on the left side before unleashing a nasty jump cut about 10 yards downfield, then heading up the right sideline for a 70-yard touchdown. The play was called back due to a needless Jeremiah Smith block in the back. 

Despite 70 yards vanishing from his stat line, Jackson still led the backs with 75 yards on 5.4 per attempt while new backup Isaiah West, at least for this game, tallied 60 yards on 6.7 per try. Short yardage guy CJ Donaldson was exactly that with five carries for just 12 yards but two touchdowns. James Peoples chipped in 26 on 3.3 per attempt. 

In all, the Buckeyes ran for 170 yards - the most they've generated in a B1G game so far this season - although it came against a Purdue defense ranked 92nd nationally giving up 160.6 yards per game. OSU's 3.95 yards per carry was hurt by two sacks. Subtract those and the mark jumps to 4.61 against a defense giving up 4.24 yards per carry on the season, good for just 79th nationally entering the contest. A positive came as both Jackson and West had three carries for at least 10 yards on the afternoon. 

Through nine games it seems pretty clear Jackson and West are the two most talented ball carriers, Donaldson is the most trusted near the goal line, and Day is bent on spreading the carries around to (1) keep guys fresh and (2) make sure his young duo at the top of the depth chart gains experience. 

While neither Jackson or West feel like big time game breakers, the main limitation in the run game is up front as inconsistent blocking across the offensive line, especially at right guard, has to get better if the Buckeyes have designs on the run game being viewed a legit strength. 

NO TATE, NO PROBLEM

The way Ryan Day tells it, Ohio State didn't realize until pregame warmups wide receiver Carnell Tate would be unavailable meaning Jeremiah Smith wouldn't have his sidekick. 

Though Tate's absence allowed Purdue to more aggressively attempt to slow down Smith, it didn't matter as JJ posted a career-high 10 receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown to notch his ninth 100-yard game as a Buckeye. 

Fans were buzzing when he was damn near tackled on an obvious pass interference call and still managed to tip the ball and make the catch. 

But for me, it was his concentration and body control on this 33-yard connection with Sayin that stood out as his best snag of the day. 

His touchdown grab, a 35-yarder giving the Buckeyes a 14-3 edge in the quarter, was his 25th in 25 games, good for a school record. 

The football hasn't touched the ground when Sayin has targeted Smith over the last two games. During that span, Smith has 16 catches on 16 targets for 260 yards and three touchdowns. Seems good. 

ISN'T THAT SPECIAL

Knowing Five Things often points out the typically glaring special teams miscues committed by the Buckeyes, I've got to shout out some guys for solid performances against the Boilers. 

Jayden Fielding drilled a career-long 49-yard field goal just before the end of the first half giving OSU a 24-3 lead. It was only his second attempt from beyond 40 yards this season and the first from the 40-49-yard range. 

After a scoreless third quarter, Fielding again took the field early in the fourth and buried a 45-yarder to make it 27-3 good guys. He's now 14-for-18 from 40-49 yards over his two-plus seasons with the Buckeyes (0-for-3 from 50+).

Averaging a pedestrian 41.1 yards per punt entering the contest, Joe McGuire booted a 45-yarder in his one and only punt of the day and Purdue's return man fair caught it at the 7. McGuire entered the game ranked outside the top-60 in punting average and just five of his 15 punts had been downed inside the 20. 

Finally, punt return man Brandon Inniss had another effective day, returning two punts for 24 yards including a nice 15-yarder in which he quickly got north/south allowing Ohio State to start its first offensive series from the 30 instead of the 15. Inniss is averaging 12.1 yards per return on the season, good for a spot in the top-15 nationally. 

DEFENSE DOES IT AGAIN

I don't need to tell you Purdue's offense isn't any good but the fact remains, Ohio State's defense showed up and did what it has done all season. And it dominated even as Arvell Reese and Caden Curry had just one tackle each, the Buckeyes didn't register a sack and Davison Igbinosun was flagged for pass interference.

Ohio State stifled the Boilermakers over the first seven possessions, holding them to 20 yards or less six times, only allowing an early 12-play, 70-yard field goal drive. 

Purdue tallied a mere 111 yards on 3.26 yards per play over that span which stretched into the fourth quarter, before allowing a meaningless 75-yard touchdown march over the final five minutes. 

Purdue's longest rush was 12 yards and the pass defense, after allowing a 30-yard catch, didn't allow another over 12 yards as starting quarterback Ryan Browne finished 10-for-19 for 76 yards and an interception. 

The dominance was almost boring as Purdue possessed the ball for 19:04 of game time. Salute to Payton Pierce as he led the way with seven stops while Caleb Downs did Caleb Downs things including tipping a pass Jermaine Mathews would intercept and return 23 yards to the Purdue 30.

The big play paved the way for the OSU offense to score a touchdown nine plays later to take a 21-3 lead with 1:12 left in the first half. Purdue would gain just 20 yards on five plays in the third quarter as Ohio State coasted to victory. 

The Silver Bullets have now held three-straight opponents to 200 yards of total offense or less after Purdue managed 186 yesterday.

HEISMAN NO-MENT

Apparently it's back page news but Julian Sayin improved his FBS-leading completion percentage as he connected on 27-of-33 throws (81.8%) for 303 yards with a touchdown and an interception. He's now completed 203-of-251 passes on the year, or 80.9%. Through nine games, he's yet to throw three consecutive incompletions in a game and he's only thrown back-to-back incompletions 3 times (once each versus Ohio, Texas and Penn State).

Yesterday marked his sixth 300-yard passing game of the season and while the interception was a terrible decision - it was also his first in 173 attempts. 

Meanwhile, in Happy Valley, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza was completing 14-of-22 throws for 131 yards and a costly interception leading to Penn State's offense scoring to take a 24-20 lead with 6:27 left in regulation. 

To his credit, when given one last chance to keep the Hoosiers undefeated, Mendoza completed 6-of-10 tosses for 87 yards including the game-winning touchdown aided by a truly remarkable catch by Omar Cooper Jr. Maybe I'm on crazy pills but Gus Johnson immediately crowning Mendoza as the Heisman Trophy winner was hyperbolic even for Gus. 

Take a breath, my man. Was it a solid throw? Yes. Was it a better catch? 1000% yes. Was the last gasp touchdown drive and spectacular catch needed because up to that point Mendoza was kinda mid? Also 1000% yes. 

It was a clutch drive from Mendoza that was only necessary because he (and the IU defense) weren't that great for the 95% of game time preceding it. 

Mendoza's full stats on the day read 19-of-30 (63.3%) for 218 yards, one touchdown, one pick, a 128.7 rating, and six carries for 20 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Indiana put up 27 points in a 3-point win. 

How did Sayin perform against that same defense a week ago? 20-of-23 for 316 yards, four touchdowns, a 259.8 rating, and two carries for 13 yards. Ohio State put up 38 points in a 24-point win. 

Maybe Gus and some others in the media should let the full season tell the story instead of manufacturing short-sighted narratives based on one throw/drive without context. Make no mistake, Mendoza's a great player having a great season - he very well could win the Heisman - but the totality of his performance yesterday should not be putting him in the driver's seat and causing Gus to say things like that especially when there's so many games left to be played. 

Just Sayin'. 

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