A grade card on Ohio State’s 59-31 win over Purdue:
OFFENSE: A+
Ohio State rolled up 624 yards of total offense. Quarterback C.J. Stroud passed for 361 yards and five touchdowns. And the running game returned in a big way by producing 263 yards after being quiet for OSU’s last two games before Saturday. The Buckeyes had a 45-17 lead at halftime. Purdue coach Jeff Brohm looked at the carnage after the game and said, “We were lucky to hold them to 59.”
Enjoy watching junior wide receiver Garrett Wilson now because he will be a first-round NFL draft choice next spring. Wilson scored four touchdowns on catches of 24 yards, 21 yards and 12 yards and a 51-yard end around. TreVeyon Henderson had 98 yards rushing on 13 carries and scored two touchdowns, including a 57-yard run on which no Purdue defensive player put a hand on him. His back-up Miyan Williams ended up as the game’s leading rusher with 117 yards on 14 carries.
The offensive line was improved and the Buckeyes scored touchdowns on four of their six trips into the red zone after going 2 for 9 in that category against Penn State and Nebraska.
DEFENSE: C
If giving up 31 points doesn’t look bad enough on its own, consider that Wisconsin, Minnesota, Notre Dame and Illinois all held Purdue to 13 points and the Boilermakers scored only 24 against Iowa.
OSU was never in danger of being upset by Purdue, like Iowa and Michigan State were. But giving up back-to-back touchdowns on drives of 75 yards and 87 yards in the third quarter after the offense had built a 52-17 lead was not a good look. Purdue quarterback Aidan O’Connell hit nearly 80 percent of his passes (40 of 52) for 390 yards and four touchdowns even though OSU sometimes rushed only three players and dropped eight into pass coverage.
SPECIAL TEAMS: A
Noah Ruggles made his only field goal attempt and punter Jesse Mirco punted only once.
OVERALL: B+
OSU’s offense got a confidence boost from this game. Its defense has improved since earlier in the season but this game showed it hasn’t fixed everything.
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