by Photo via Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch
After going on the road and beating No. 3 Penn State last week, not only did the Ohio State football team get their season back on track but they primed themselves for a jump in the first College Football Playoff Rankings of the year. The rankings, which came out on Tuesday for the new 12-team playoff had the Buckeyes at No. 2 following their big win, leapfrogging Georgia, who had been second in the AP Poll ever since their win against Texas a few weeks ago. Now, Ohio State will get a bit of an easier test as they head back to Columbus to face Purdue, who is 1-7.
The Boilermakers, under second-year Head Coach Ryan Walters, have not had a good season this year by any standards. After beating Indiana State in their first game, they’ve now lost seven in a row, including five losses to Big 10 opponents.
Purdue is quarterbacked by Hudson Card who is in his second season with the program after playing at Texas for three years. While Card was a heavily coveted transfer in 2023, the results have not quite been there for the Boilermakers during his tenure as the starting quarterback in West Lafayette and his job stability has come into question multiple times this year. So far this season, Card’s thrown for 1,005 yards with eight touchdown passes and four interceptions. Those numbers are slightly down from last year, especially when you consider the rushing stats, when last year Card had 203 yards on the ground with five scores compared to this year’s -4 yards and no touchdowns.
Perhaps one reason why Card and the offense have struggled is because the weapons are just not great. Devin Mockobee leads the team in rushing with 539 yards and Reggie Love III has 325 yards as well, which is not bad at all, but the receiving room lets them down. Tight end Max Klare has been by far the best option, with 462 yards with two touchdowns and wide receivers Jahmal Edrine and Jaron Tibbs have been key contributors as well.
Defensively, Purdue is awful. The Boilermakers give up the most yards per game in all of the Big 10 by a wide margin and they force the least amount of turnovers in the conference as well. Their run defense is perhaps the worst of it, as they concede over 200 yards on the ground each game. A big reason for that is likely the transfer of star edge rusher Nic Scourton to Texas A&M last spring. Scourton, a likely first round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, led the Big 10 in sacks last season, but the rest of the unit could not entice him to stick out one more year. Ouch.
Facing a defense like the Boilermakers is just what Ohio State needs, as they can build off their strong rushing performance against Penn State. The Buckeyes were absolutely dominant in the run game as both TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins got back to form, and Will Howard controlled the game with his duel-threat ability. Purdue is also the perfect opponent for the makeshift offensive line to get some good reps with relatively low stakes. Many questions arose regarding the situation at left tackle, but Donovan Jackson slid over smoothly from the guard position and Carson Hinzman has done a good job on the inside.
Defensively, Ohio State just needs to keep improving. They hit their season low against Oregon (hopefully) and have looked better and better with each week since then. The big goal-line stand last week really solidified the talent of the defensive front and the unit could wreak havoc again this week. They may still have to do it, however, without star defensive tackle Tyleik Williams, who is questionable with an ankle injury. Although, Kayden McDonald looked like a future star off the bench last Saturday, so getting him some reps no matter what should be an emphasis for Head Coach Ryan Day and the staff.
For the rest of the Buckeyes, this is an important game to just make it quick. Purdue is an inferior opponent and there’s no reason why the Boilermakers should still be hanging around in the second half. Let’s get the starters out as soon as we can, because like we said earlier in the season, there are tougher threats ahead. Particularly, a potential top-10 opponent in just two weeks time.
