Jack Sawyer gets his first collegiate touchdown on a scoop and score during a rout of the Boilermakers in Ohio Stadium. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Brian Bayless)
Some big plays by each unit, including a blocked punt and a defensive touchdown, lead the Buckeyes to an expected blowout of the Boilermakers.
Columbus, OH – By the start of the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon, the fans remaining in the Horseshoe might not have been enough to fill Purdue’s Ross-Ade Stadium (capacity 61,441).
Maybe the departed had leaves to rake.
Following three straight games of high intensity, fourth-quarter madness and season-saving drives and goal-line stands, Purdue’s visit was, on the surface, predictably ho-hum. The performance had the look of a perfunctory effort. But the No. 2 Buckeyes did what they were supposed to do in all three phases against a one-win Big Ten team.
The Buckeyes beat Purdue 45-0 systematically and in every way imaginable. They made it look almost too easy.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes Ohio State football and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
But the postgame mood in the interview wasn’t ho-hum. It’s November and they want to be trending up. That’s why the room had more juice than after, for instance, the Western Michigan game. There were good feelings among the 8-1 Buckeyes and a room-wide buzz that they played their most complete and mistake-free game.
“The last eight or nine games have been starting out pretty shaky, not playing our best game,” freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith said. “But I feel like this week we started off fast and left no doubt.”
After their emotional and signature win at Penn State, Smith said there was no let up this week in preparation. And that’s not an easy thing to accomplish when a 1-7 team is coming to town.
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“Don’t be one-hit wonders – that’s one thing coach preached this week,” Smith said.
The Buckeyes didn’t miss a beat.
The defense allowed only nine pass completions, scored a touchdown and only let Purdue get into scoring range twice. The Boilermakers obliged the shutout wish with two field goal misses.
The Buckeye defense played lights out, including this pass breakup by Davison Igbinosun.
Special teams blocked a punt to set up the offense for the game’s first touchdown.
The offense rushed for 204 yards, scored at least one touchdown in every quarter and Will Howard passed for over 200 yards (260) for the eighth time in nine games and for at least three touchdowns for the fourth time.
“It’s not about them, it’s about us,” Howard said. “If we’re going to be who we are, who we say we are, the baddest team the country … we have to be that every single week.”
Fomenting the mood were three particularly happy events for the Buckeyes to talk about that sold this win as a team effort.
The first was defensive end Caden Curry’s blocked punt in the first quarter. He and fellow end Mitchell Melton were side by side, and it was Curry’s hand that met the ball. The Buckeyes recovered at the eight and scored on fourth-and-goal from the one when Howard followed running back Quinshon Judkins into the end zone.
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The Buckeyes scouted something in Purdue’s punt protection that gave them an idea that Curry and Melton might be able to make a play attacking from the left.
“We felt like, especially in the first half of this game, coming off the emotional win of last week, getting a special teams play to either steal a possession or a big play, could jump start us in the game,” Day said. “I thought it did.”
A 40-year old record falls. Jeremiah Smith now owns a trifecta of freshman wide-receiving records, including total receptions, total touchdowns and total yards held by Cris Carter since 1984.
The rest of the half belonged to Smith. His third catch, which came on the Buckeyes’ first long drive, was No. 42 of the season to surpass Cris Carter’s freshman record set in 1984. That play helped set up Howard’s 15-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gee Scott.
Then in the final minute of the half, Smith caught a 17-yard touchdown for a 21-0 lead for his ninth touchdown catch. Carter held the record at eight. Last week at Penn State, Smith surpassed Carter’s freshman yardage record, and with 87 yards Saturday pushed that number to 765.
“A blessing, for sure, to be able to break Cris Carter’s freshman records,” Smith said. “But just got to keep it going. Don’t stop here.”
Howard, who is 23, understands what he has in teammates like the 18-year-old Smith and the entire receiving corps.
“I’m not surprised in the slightest,” Howard said. “As a freshman, I think he’s the best receiver in the country. I think we have the three best receivers in the country on our team. Obviously, I’m biased, but I’m lucky to have guys like that doing what they’re doing.
“I knew Jeremiah was going to be special from the first time I met him, and he’s just continued to get better and better. He’s a great kid, and I’m really happy for him getting that record today.”
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However, the biggest smile in the room belonged to defensive end Jack Sawyer. He scored his first touchdown since his junior year playing quarterback at Pickerington North High School. And it was his first defensive touchdown since ninth grade.
Emeka Egbuka makes a reception and slips a Purdue tackler for six, adding to the Boilermakers’ pain.
Fellow end J.T. Tuimoloau forced the fumble for a sack, and Sawyer scooped the ball and ran 11 yards for the touchdown.
“When I’m coming around the edge, I see J.T. punch it out,” Sawyer said. “I said it downstairs (in the locker room), there was no chance in hell I was diving on that ball. I was trying to scoop and score it no matter what.”
When Sawyer got to the end zone, he regretted some related missed opportunities.
“I haven’t scored a touchdown in five years, so when I scored, I kind of blacked out,” he said. “I had all sorts of celebrations planned the last three years if I scored a touchdown. Then you do it, and it all just falls away for a second. You don’t know where you’re at.”
Sawyer also didn’t think to keep the ball as a souvenir. He hopes someone gets it to him, and he hopes he gets another chance to preform his celebration. But he’s not telling what it is.
“I’m going to save that for if I score again,” he said.
Jack Sawyer sports a rare smile on the field after he scooped up a Purdue fumble and sauntered into the endzone.
Sawyer’s touchdown was one example of how connected the defense continues to play since the Oregon loss. Only Nebraska scored a touchdown against them in three games. Against Purdue the improving pass rush had four sacks and five hurries, which helped the secondary break up six passes.
Day and defensive coordinator Jim Knowles talked earlier in the week about how they simplified the defense by going back to basics. Instead of trying to match every nuance of the opposing offense, they are lining up quickly and exploding toward the ball. Less thinking, more aggression.
“When you know what you’re doing, it makes it a lot easier to play fast,” Sawyer said.
The defense made crucial goal-line stands against Nebraska and Penn State. And when Purdue reached the 3-yard line late in the first quarter, Jermaine Mathews blanketed a receiver on third down to force a short field goal try that was wide right.
“What we pride ourselves on is being able to get those big stops like we did last week against Penn State on the 1-yard line,” Sawyer said. “That’s who we want to be in our DNA, being tough, physical up front, at linebacker, and with safeties coming downhill and hitting on the goal line.”
TreVeyon Henderson gets around the edge and dives for the pylon, scoring another Buckeye TD.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Buckeyes scored for the final time on Howard’s 10-yard pass to Emeka Egbuka. It was the only catch of the day for Ohio State’s leader in receptions (47). And a lot of people missed it because they left early.
And at least one person in the stadium missed it. Soon after Egbuka scored, the scoreboard showed a fan who had fallen asleep. The person next to him immediately woke him up.
He presumably was awake for a lot of good plays but missed that one. At least he didn’t leave early.
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