Opponent View/Scouting Ohio State

Where were you in 1988? That’s the last time Purdue beat Ohio State in Columbus. Since then, the Boilermakers have lost 10 in a row in the Horseshoe.

All signs point to more Buckeye dominance when the teams meet at noon ET on FOX. No. 3 Ohio State (7-1 overall; 4-1 Big Ten) is coming off an impressive 20-13 win at Penn State thinking national championship under Ryan Day. Meanwhile, Purdue (1-7; 0-5) will limp to Columbus with a seven-game losing streak with no end in sight.

Veteran Ohio State scribe Bill Rabinowitz of the Columbus Dispatch breaks down the Buckeyes in advance of Purdue’s trip to Columbus on Saturday.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Ohio State offense?

Rabinowitz: The big question going into the Penn State game was whether the offensive line would hold up. They lost both their top left tackles. The big one was losing Josh Simmons. He was playing really well. They lost him in the Oregon game, and the line really struggled. They moved Donovan Jackson, the left guard, to left tackle. Moved Carson Hinzman, who was the starting center last year and was a backup this year, to left guard. The line played pretty well against Penn State. Jackson got beat a couple times by Abdul Carter, which is going to happen when you go against Abdul Carter. But the line in the last five minutes of the game just bulled Penn State, 10 plays almost 60 yards, to clinch the game.

Will Howard has played well at quarterback. Last week was his worst game. He threw a pick-six and also fumbled at the goal line. Cost OSU 14 points. But, generally, he’s been solid. He’s not CJ Stroud. He doesn’t have that kind of arm, but he’s a better runner. He’s very accurate on short and medium passes. And, of course, he’s got tons of weapons around him. TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins in the backfield. Emeka Egbuka and Jeremiah Smith, a phenom freshman, and Carnell Tate at wide receiver. So, they’re loaded.

Chip Kelly is now calling the plays. I thought he called his best game against Penn State, some misdirection stuff. So, it’s an offense that when it’s clicking is pretty unstoppable.

GoldandBlack.com: What can we expect from the Buckeye defense?

Rabinowitz: That was an impressive performance on Saturday. The only touchdown Penn State scored was on a pick-six, so the defense only gave up two field goals. The big sequence was the goal line stand. Penn State had the ball down 20-13 with 10 minutes to go at the Ohio State 3-yard line. For whatever reason, and James Franklin’s getting a lot of heat about this, but Penn State ran the ball three times up the middle; fourth-and-goal they attempted a pass. There were tons of Ohio State defenders in the end zone, and the pass was incomplete. That was the big sequence.

They really did a nice job against the run. They really held (Penn State RBs) Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen in check. Weren’t really hurt much in the passing game. Penn State kind of dinks and dunks down the field, anyway.

It’s a defense, really, without any major holes. They’re really strong up front. J.T. Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer haven’t had big statistically years, but they’re still really good players. J.T., in particular, played really well on Saturday.

Cody Simon has settled in at linebacker as a fifth-year senior. He is the captain. He’s played very well. The corners have been shaky, surprisingly. Denzel Burke and Davison Igbinosun played well against Penn State last week, Igbinosun is very handsy. In fact, coaches put oven mitts on him in practice last week to keep him from being so handsy. He played well. He had a pick in the end zone at the end of the first half. That was huge. Denzel Burke had a terrible game against Oregon, but he’s bounced back the last two weeks.

The best player on the defense is Caleb Downs. He’s the transfer from Alabama who led Alabama in tackles last year as a freshman. He hasn’t had an amazing year, but he just triggers on the ball so fast. There are times when you see the handoff for a quick pass, you say, “Okay”OK, there’s a hole there,” and Caleb Downs just diagnoses it and makes the tackle. They got Lathan Ransom back last week. He missed the Nebraska game, so it’s a really solid defense.

GoldandBlack.com: How do you see this game unfolding?

Rabinowitz: The only chance Purdue has is if Ohio State does have a major letdown, or if it’s just a fluky game with a bunch of turnovers, or, God forbid, Will Howard gets hurt, or something like that. On paper, it’s a mismatch, and I don’t think anyone’s trying to pretend otherwise.

Purdue, at times, especially in West Lafayette, has been a house of horrors. In Columbus, not so much. There was the famous 2012 game in the undefeated season for Ohio State. But that was the closest call I can actually recall. They had to come back with a backup quarterback to win in overtime. I would be shocked if that happens this week.

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