Another week, another 60 minutes of dominance against Ohio State. All signs indicate that the next two games will be the same for the Buckeyes. Writing these Stock Up/Down introductions is getting redundant.
If this past Saturday taught us anything, it’s that sometimes that aforementioned dominance can be boring. Ohio State smacked Purdue 34-10 in West Lafayette in a game that dragged quite a bit in the second half. The Buckeyes doubled the Boilermakers’ time of possession, 40:56 to 19:04, and almost doubled their number of plays, 76 to 44. Neither team scored in the third quarter after OSU took a 24-3 lead into halftime, the Silver Bullets smothering any hope the Black and Gold had.
Issues persist on the Buckeyes’ offensive line, though a solid running back rotation is finally emerging, fueled by two freshmen. Otherwise, stocks are once again soaring for Ohio State. Boringly excellent. Especially as a lot of mid is out there in college football.
Stock Up
Quick-Stop Silver Bullets
Plenty of running plays definitely helped in Ohio State’s time of possession domination, but quick stops were an emphasis for the Buckeyes’ top-ranked defense after Penn State stitched together a few drives (seriously, like two) in their previous game. Five of Purdue’s eight drives resulted in a punt or turnover after five plays or less, and its lone touchdown drive came against Ohio State’s second-string defense.
“I think it was really just putting an emphasis on it,” safety Caleb Downs said after the game. “Last week, we didn't really do that at a high level. We gave up a couple plays on third down that we shouldn't have gave up, so just really being intentional this week about it.”
Isaiah West
Sharp cuts. Feet always churning. The freshman West took the second-most carries in Ohio State’s backfield after fellow freshman Bo Jackson and racked up 60 yards in just nine carries vs. the Boilermakers, a team-high 6.7 yards per carry. It felt like a game where the three-star prospect solidified himself as the No. 2 running back in the Buckeyes’ rotation.
Back-to-back runs by Isaiah West that had to be blown dead by the refs. pic.twitter.com/lDaUlVIvq2
— Tony Gerdeman (@TonyGerdeman) November 10, 2025
44-Second Drills
Ohio State stayed aggressive before halftime and went 45 yards in seven plays with just 44 seconds coming off the clock to set up a 49-yard field goal and go up 24-3 entering the locker room. Julian Sayin showed surgical precision to get the job done, going 4-of-5 for 35 yards passing with a 10-yard scramble on the ground to put the Buckeyes into range.
Jayden Fielding
Speaking of that 49-yard field goal, Fielding had a fantastic game as a placekicker, knocking down a 45-yarder in addition to that near-50-yard boot to finish 2-of-2 on field goals and 4-of-4 on extra points. Both snuck inside the left upright with plenty of leg. For the season, he’s now 11-of-13 (84.6%) on field goals and 38-of-38 on extra points.
Recruiting
The Buckeyes have landed four commits for their class of 2026 in the past five days, three of them four-star prospects and all of them former commits to other schools. Ohio State’s long-term strategy seems to be paying off on the NIL front. Welcome to the party, four-star cornerback Jay Timmons, three-star offensive lineman and Buckeye legacy Mason Wilhelm, four-star defensive tackle Emanuel Ruffin and four-star athlete Legend Bey.
Texas A&M
The No. 3 Aggies have emerged as college football’s third elite team alongside No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana this year. They kept rolling with a 38-17 road win over then-No. 22 Missouri on Saturday, nearly doubling the Tigers in total yardage 464 to 284. The program has seen many teams with high ambitions sputter out before, but this season is truly starting to look different.
Stock Down
Tegra Tshabola
Tshabola’s lapses in technique continue to permeate his play, even when there are some good stretches mixed in. He had several that cost the Buckeyes significant yardage against the Boilermakers, including the screen pass below, where he seems to stand still rather than move his feet and block the defender in front of his face.
This is a TD if Tegra lands his block. Watch the sideline reaction by Day and Bowen pic.twitter.com/3S7nk3y3kv
— Buckeye HQ (@RealisticBuck) November 8, 2025
Ohio State’s right guard finished with two pressures allowed in the passing game, per Pro Football Focus, in addition to these kinds of plays that hurt the team on screens and running plays. Ryan Day is rarely one to criticize any of his players before watching film, so him affirming that Tshabola was inconsistent postgame was quite telling. Joshua Padilla’s injury couches the chances the a change is made at the position, but Padilla will continue rolling with Tshabola when he returns against UCLA or Rutgers, at least per the timeline Day gave.
“I agree with you (that he was inconsistent) because I watched it and saw it,” Day said of Tshabola. “Then there were some other things that were good. But we need to grade out a champion here, and that's for everybody. So that's what the expectation is. And we'll continue to look at it.”
Alright, the Whole Offensive Line
Center Carson Hinzman and left guard Luke Montgomery were also hit with their share of struggles vs. the Boilermakers. The advance stats have regressed for the Buckeyes’ offensive line in recent weeks, despite playing some of the worst run-defending fronts they’ll see all year in Penn State and Purdue. Both do present pass-rushing problems, but it doesn’t excuse what’s happening there, either.
Sayin suffered his first multi-sack game against the Boilermakers with two, but it’s only because of the Heisman Trophy contender’s elite pocket presence and ability to avoid pressure that he didn’t take more. Hinzman gave up three pressures, including one of the sacks. Montgomery surrendered two pressures of his own. That’s a combined seven pressures between the interior trio. It should be noted that the offensive line kept their quarterback clean on 75.7% of his dropbacks, at least, and one of the two sacks was due to a failed blitz pick up by West.
The run-blocking metrics are bad all around, however. Averaging 4 yards per carry against one of the Big Ten’s worst run defenses is not up to Ohio State’s standard. Adjusting for sacks, it was still a subpar 4.6 yards per attempt. But the major indictment on the offensive line’s performance is that an average of 3.1 of those 4.6 sack-adjusted yards came after contact. Jackson and West were making much more of their carries than the offensive line provided them. That doesn’t seem sustainable against better run defenses.
Hopefully, the best passing game and defense in the country keep carrying Ohio State to dominant wins. But run-blocking is a crack in the team’s armor.
The ACC
Then-No. 14 Virginia was upset 16-9 by Wake Forest. Then-No. 15 Louisville got handed a 29-26 defeat by Cal in overtime. The ACC is looking more and more like a one-bid league to this season’s College Football Playoff, with no undefeated teams and only one one-loss team, 8-1 No. 14 Georgia Tech, remaining.
Washington
Ohio State saw a ranked win drop from its résumé when then-No. 23 Washington traveled to Wisconsin and handed the Badgers their first Big Ten win of the season in 13-10 fashion. A needed breath of fresh air for former Buckeye Luke Fickell, Wisconsin’s head coach. The students rushed the field afterward.
