Ten observations: Purdue-Ohio State

Here’s what has us talking after Purdue’s 41-7 loss to No. 3 Ohio State on Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium.

1 – One of those days

No shame in losing to the No. 3 Buckeyes. But, this one was an eye-opener for Purdue, which has had a history of pantsing Ohio State in recent years. There would be no upset magic on this day.

File this blowout along with the others of recent vintage Purdue has suffered vs. the Buckeyes: 59-31 in 2021; 56-0 in 2013; 49-0 in 2010. At least Purdue avoided its first shout since the aforementioned 59-0 blanking.

This was a rainy, dreary day for fans … and Purdue.

“When you look at it, (Ohio State is) at a place as a program where we’re trying to get to, and that’s to be in a position where you’re consistently competing for championships,” said Ryan Walters. “You see how far and how much work we got to do. I feel like at times, we’re in position to make plays and they made the competitive plays almost every time.”

2 – Where’s the O?

Purdue marched 44 yards on the game’s opening drive (9 plays) and 48 on the last drive of the half (10 plays). In between, the Boilers had 18 yards. The Boilermakers finished with a season-low 257 yards.

Meanwhile, Ohio State worked largely unfettered in notching 269 yards in the first half and building a 20-0 lead and finished with 497 yards, the most Purdue has yielded in 2023. The only OSU blemish? A missed PAT.

3 – Feeling run down

Let’s face it: Purdue’s defense had no answer for Ohio State. The Buckeyes converted their first six third downs in building a 20-0 halftime lead. It could have been worse, as OSU lost a fumble in the end zone in the first half.

The rout was on, as Ohio State finished with 497 yards and was largely unstoppable. And this was a Buckeye squad playing without RB TreVeyon Henderson, RB Miyan Williams and WR Emeka Egbuka. And RB Chip Trayanum got knocked out of the game in the first half. Regardless, OSU rolled.

4 – DOINK!

The final drive of the first half encapsulated the day. Purdue drove 48 yard in 10 plays, down to the Ohio State 1-yard line. But, a penalty and negative plays saw the Boilermakers end up with a 4th and goal from the 22-yard line. And Julio Macias‘s 39-yard field goal hit the upright. It was a deflating moment.

Purdue entered the locker with no mojo and no points.

“It kills you from a momentum standpoint,” said Walters. “Offense was moving the ball that last drive going into halftime. It really shouldn’t have gotten to a point where we’re kicking a field goal, though. We got the ball on the inch line and went backwards. Wanted to get points on the board to try to give us some momentum, missed the kick.”

5 – Not getting their kicks

Macias had the leg on his 48-yard first quarter field-goal attempt but was off the mark. His second attempt–from 39 yards–drilled an upright. His third was a shank from 27 yards. It got to the point that Purdue used kickoff man Caleb Krockover to boot the lone PAT of the game.

So, for the year, Purdue is 3-of-9 on field-goal attempts. Macias is 2-of-6; Ben Freehill is 1-of-3. It’s hoped Freehill is able to play in the next games after missing last four games with a blood clot.

“We can’t go for it on fourth down every time,” Walters. “I do think Freehill, we’ll get him back for the next game. So, we just got to continue to work and continue to try to build confidence with our specialists right now.”

6 – Call him Mr. Mockobee

With Tyrone Tracy out with injury, Devin Mockobee delivered for a second week in a row. He had 89 yards rushing on 20 carries at Iowa last week. Today, he hit the 100-yard mark (110 yards on 18 totes, 6.1 ypc). He was the lone bright spot on an otherwise dreary day for the Purdue offense.

“He continues to be a workhorse,” said Walters. “He gets tough yardage. He has a great vision, he’s able to find those slivers of windows and to get north and south to try to get some more yards and I thought he did a good job today.”

7 – Deflated pass game

Chief among Purdue’s offensive issues today? A limited pass game. Hudson Card finished with only 126 yards, hitting 13-of-32 passes.

8 – Explosive-less

This offense continues to be largely devoid of big plays. Purdue had two pass plays over 15 yards and four runs over 10.

9 – Third down woes … again

The game is usually dictated by how well teams do third downs. And, well, Purdue didn’t do well.

The offense converted just 3-of-17 third downs, while the defense allowed Ohio State to convert 8-of-13.

“I thought we were able to get to the quarterback a little bit and try to get him to get rid of the ball and then we just had bad technique down the field when the ball was floating in the air,” said Walters.

“We have a ways to go as a program, as a team, to be able to compete with a team like Ohio State. They’re number three in the country for a reason. And they are sitting where we want to go as a program.”

10 – Time off coming

Purdue will have a bye next week. And, it couldn’t come at a better time for this program, coming off a loss like this. The Boilermakers can heal up and regroup this coming week. Purdue (2-5 overall) will need to win four of its last five games to become bowl eligible.

Purdue will resume action on Oct. 28 at Nebraska.

“I think everybody in this building will tell you that the seniors that are here deserve to play in the postseason,” said Walters. “So, we got to get at least four of the next five. And so we’ll use this week to rest up, to hit the ground recruiting as a staff to try to get some extra practices in and get young guys and guys that haven’t done a whole lot of playing some good work and reps throughout the week. And then we’ll add some Nebraska prep towards the end of the week and get a good Sunday practice heading into the game week and try to go get a win and Lincoln.”