Buckeyes beat Boilermakers, 49-0

Ohio State bounced back quickly after losing to Wisconsin last weekend, scoring on their first drive of the game. Boom Herron ran from 10 yards away and put the Bucks on the board with a dive into the pylon.  Purdue did exactly what we believed they would defensively; they mirrored Wisconsin's defensive gameplan of a week ago, playing various forms of two-deep coverage in order to limit the Ohio State passing attack. The Buckeye offense responded by running the ball right at the Boilermakers front seven. In total, Ohio State ran for 185 yards and three touchdowns, with much of those yards coming in the first half on the back of Boom Herron (16 carries, 75 yards, two touchdowns.) Herron picked up right where he left off last weekend, running like a man possessed for the entire first half. He set the tone on the ground for the Bucks, and his success helped open up the passing game for Terrelle Pryor.

Through the air, Pryor had a largely efficient day, although his two interceptions color his passing effort negatively. He was 16/22 (73%) for 270 yards and three touchdowns. Big plays were the theme today, with four different receivers having 20+ yard receptions. Dane Sanzenbacher led the receivers with 86 yards on four catches and a touchdown, but DeVier Posey was close on his heels with 84 yards on four catches and a touchdown. True freshman Corey Brown made his presence known with the first touchdown reception of his career, a beautiful 23 yard catch on a vertical route down the seam of Purdue's defense

Aiding the offensive explosion, the Silver Bullets returned with a vengeance, dominating the injury-plagued Purdue offense. The Boilermakers were held to 117 yards on 54 plays for a paltry 2.17 yards per play. Redshirt freshman quarterback Rob Henry was knocked out of the game late in the 3rd quarter with a busted finger, and true freshman Sean Robinson stepped in to the fold. Predictably, he struggled and the Purdue offense even failed to move the ball against Ohio State's combination 2nd/3rd string defense. The defensive tackle option play was well defended by Ohio State, and the overmatched Boilermakers had nothing else to turn to after that failed.

I'd be remiss if I did not mention the excellent job the special teams coverage units did today, finally. Not only did they hold Purdue to a 17 yard average on kick returns, but the reconfigured coverage team recovered a Purdue fumble on a punt return early in the game. This recovery directly led to Ohio State's second touchdown of the game, putting any thought of a Purdue upset away for good.

This victory against an average Purdue team is certainly not a big victory, but it is a reassuring one. Any fear that the Wisconsin loss would affect the Buckeyes this weekend was proven to be false, and Ohio State generally took care of business on the day.

Game Balls

• Boom Herron. His tough running on the first drive of the game set the tone for the rest of the day, and his 4.7 yard average on 16 carries reinvigorated a Buckeye rushing attack that had struggled in earlier games against Big Ten competition. When you hand the ball to Boom Herron, you know you will get someone who runs hard and finds whatever yards are there.
• The Linebackers. Ross Homan's injury forced strongside linebacker Andrew Sweat to move to the weakside, with true sophomore Jonathan Newsome filling in on the strongside. Newsome struggled last weekend against Wisconsin, but he and the entire linebacking corp were excellent today.
• The Offensive Line. They've suffered through a ton of criticism since the Wisconsin loss, but the entire unit had their way with the Purdue front seven in the rushing game. J.B. Shugarts had some trouble in pass protection against Ryan Kerrigan, but he prevented Kerrigan from dominating the game like he did a year before. The interior group of Boren, Brewster, and Browning continue to do well every week, even being one of the bright spots against Wisconsin.
• Orhian Johnson. O.J. had the first interception of his career in the 2nd quarter, picking off Rob Henry and returning it seven yards.