Staff Picks: Buckeyes Back Home to Host Purdue

Coming off a huge road win against Penn State, the Buckeyes return home to face a struggling Purdue team. Ohio State is a near 40-point favorite on Saturday afternoon in The Shoe but are the Buckeyes in danger of a letdown game?

Ross Fulton

This seems like a pretty easy spot for Ohio State to have an early let down. That said, look for the Buckeyes to stuff the spread sheet by getting JJ Smith and Emeka Egbuka going early and often.

Ohio State 44 Purdue 5

Tony Gerdeman

I still want to see more from Donovan Jackson alone at left tackle before I’m sold on the offensive line, but there’s no doubt it’s better than the previous iteration.

We’ll get to see how Jackson handles a 3-4 defense this week. Purdue’s run defense has improved the last few weeks but there are still big plays to be made on the ground.

Similarly, the Buckeyes need to continue working on the deep passing. They failed to connect on their two attempts last week. They should have a couple of successful shots in this one. Defensively, the Buckeyes shouldn’t be giving up (m)any points in this one — at least not the first team.

Purdue has decent offensive skill and an experienced line but they have trouble putting it all together at the same time for an entire series. This should be an opportunity to get some snaps for the freshmen, including Julian Sayin and James Peoples. It’s also an opportunity for Jeremiah Smith to get back into the end zone. And don’t be surprised if it’s more than once.

Ohio State 45 Purdue 7

Marc Givler

Yes, the possibility exits here for an Ohio State letdown after last weekend’s huge win in Happy Valley. But the possibility also exists for a Purdue team that doesn’t have much to play for at this point, and can’t seem to catch a break, also having a tough time in The Shoe on Saturday afternoon.

Personally, I think it’s going to be the latter. I think the bigger letdown spot is next week against Northwestern and that this week, the Buckeyes are eager to get back out on the field after last week reinforcing that all of the team’s goals are still on the table and within their control.

I’m already on record saying Jeremiah Smith will find the endzone twice on Saturday and I think it will be a big day for the offense after some execution errors last week left plenty of points on the table.

Ohio State 51 Purdue 10

Kevin Noon

For those who don’t want to read a long answer, just know that I am picking Ohio State to win in a big way. Purdue is being outscored by nearly 17 points per game, can’t run the ball and honestly can’t throw it. I have not seen a single thing from watching two (abbreviated) Purdue games this year that shows me that Purdue can even keep close with Ohio State.

The only thing that will keep Ohio State close to Purdue is Ohio State, and that means turnovers, bad execution or a malaise. The good news is, next week is just as ‘tomato canny’ as this week, so there won’t be a case overlooking this team.

Picking a shutout is risky business, they don’t happen all that often, especially in league games (Ohio State’s last shutout was earlier this season against Western Michigan, it’s last B1G shutout was 2017 against Rutgers). But to heck with it… 

Ohio State 48 Purdue 0

Tom Orr

The real question here is how much the Buckeyes want to beat the Boilermakers by. OSU could play its starters for three-plus quarters and get creative on offense and defense, and might be able to win this game by 56 points. They could also give their starters just a cursory run through the first 20-25 minutes and then open things up for the young guys to get an extended run and probably still win by a couple of touchdowns without too much trouble. 

Realistically, it will fall somewhere in between those two. Ohio State is substantially better than Purdue in every phase of the game, and it would take a significantly weird series of events to have this one in doubt beyond halftime. This is a game where the Buckeyes should play three quarterbacks, see four running backs carry the ball, have significant rotation on defense, etc. 

This is a “just handle your business” game for the Buckeyes, and they will.

Ohio State 45 Purdue 6