The Ohio State Buckeyes had looked sluggish all afternoon at Ohio Stadium.The offense had been erratic,the battered defense looked unable to keep up with the speed of the Purdue Boilermakers and a penalty in the end zone handed Purdue a safety and an eight point lead.
Braxton Miller had been taken from the game on the next to last play of the third period and with over sixty yards to go with just 47 seconds remaining and no timeouts with backup quarterback Kenny Guiton taking the snaps,things looked bleak for the Scarlet and Gray.
Fast forward a bit and see Guiton hit Chris Fields for a touchdown with three seconds to put the two point conversion in play for a tie and overtime.
With the outcome on the line,Guiton flipped a pass to Jeff Heuerman-the same Heuerman that had been called for holding in the end zone that created the eight point Purdue lead.
Heuerman hauled the pass in and forced overtime for the Buckeyes,who then scored quickly on a Carlos Hyde run to take the lead.
The defense stepped up with a stop and Ohio State escaped with a 29-22 win victory.
The now 8-0 Buckeyes will travel to State College PA and a suddenly resurgent Nittany Lion squad that will be pointing to this game as their "Bowl Game" next week....
Buckeye Leaves
1) Braxton Miller was released from the hospital with no symptoms,so his status is unknown for Penn State.
As well as Kenny Guiton played on that final drive,I wonder if he can do that for an entire game against a team that is playing well and that in their home stadium....
2) For a game that the team played not so well,the ending and play of Kenny Guiton insures that this game will be remembered for a long time.
Much longer than most wins over Purdue would be with the 2002 exception with the fourth down heave from Craig Krenzel to Michael Jenkins...
3) Perhaps the injuries has sapped the defense,but Purdue seemed just so much faster than the Buckeyes.
Urban Meyer is a speed coach and he will most certainly address this in future recruiting classes,but this could be a huge factor in next weeks game against Penn State and in the final two games against Wisconsin and the last team that the Buckeyes play....
4) An 80 yard pass play for a TD on the first offensive play?
Well,that proves the point on speed as this was not a long pass play down the field,it was more of a catch and run.
Lack of speed can make a defense vulnerable to those types of plays...
5) Special Teams can make the difference in a game and sometimes that difference comes early in a game.
Ohio State blocked an extra point on the initial touchdown seconds into the game and that block enabled Ohio State to force overtime and win this game.
Garrett Goebel blocked the extra point and I think it was Jonathan Hankins that blocked a later field goal attempt and that was part of a nice game for the defensive lineman,who went out of the game twice with injuries,but hung in for a great performance...
6) However,the special teams again made a big mistake as they allowed a second quarter kick return for a touchdown that occurred immediately after a Buckeye touchdown that gave them the lead that they held for the amount of time that it took to allow the touchdown.
Urban Meyer runs the special teams himself and it has to be driving him crazy.
Another problem that might take a year or two to fully address in recruiting...
7) Purdue was shredded by the run in their last two losses against Wisconsin and michigan,but managed to control the Buckeyes to 152 yards on the ground.
Ohio State does have a tough inside runner in Carlos Hyde,but Braxton Miller was not allowed (with one exception) to get up the field and use his moves/jukes to make people miss and break into open field.
8) I thought the tackle on Braxton Miller should have drawn a penalty,although it was not a dirty hit.
I thought it was a horsecollar tackle,which may not have resulted in the injury to Miller,and should have been 15 yards...
9) 12 tackles for Ryan Shazier,who continues to improve each week.
Shazier is the only healthy original starter in the linebacking corps and despite being targeting as the player to control on the OSU defense continues to make plays..
10) The Buckeyes might have lost a starting wideout as well as Corey Brown left with an injury.
Chris Fields replaced him and was pivotal in the game tying drive with a nice punt return and the touchdown catch on what was a low throw by Kenny Guiton.
11) Purdue continues to be the lower level team in the conference that consistently battles OSU tough.
The Boilermakers have not won in Columbus since 1988,but have split the last six games in West Lafayette.
That happens sometimes in cycles,I remember a time period when Michigan State always gave Ohio State a tough time and sometimes even won....
Photo Credit:Marvin Fong-Cleveland Plain Dealer
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