Go figure the Ohio State Buckeyes. They still haven’t beaten a ranked team, but they are suddenly one upset away from taking control of the Big 10 race.
The 24th-ranked Buckeyes set up a first-place showdown with top-ranked Penn State by slaughtering Purdue 48-14 Saturday afternoon in front of 92,865 in Ohio Stadium.
The Buckeyes (6-2, 3-1) crawled out of their offensive shell behind quarterback Bobby Hoying, who notched career highs of 20 completions, 304 yards and five touchdowns in only 33 minutes of action. Now they’re ready to climb Mount Nittany next weekend in State College, Pa.
“It was, in my opinion, just a little taste of what we’re capable of,” said tailback Eddie George.
This rout, which was broadcast by ESPN, must have caused a few eyebrows to knit over in Happy Valley, where the Nittany Lions took the week off. That’s assuming they have cable television in the mountains of central Pennsylvania.
Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky might have been expecting to confront a tank unit next week in Beaver Stadium, but now he has to worry about whether a squadron of fighter planes will show up.
Ohio State scored 21 points in the span of six offensive plays in the first half. That’s an eruption worthy of the high-scoring Nittany Lions.
“It’s just got to give Penn State something else to think about,” Hoying said. “It was kind of scary.”
Since when is third and 2 a passing down at Ohio State, not to mention first and goal from the 3?
Since the Buckeyes realized they have more weapons than George, as talented as he is. They have one of the best wide receivers in the country in Joey Galloway and a swift and sure-handed flanker in Chris Sanders.
“From the standpoint of saying we’re going to hand the ball to Eddie and beat these teams on our schedule-no way,” offensive coordinator Joe Hollis said. “We’re smarter than that.”
It didn’t take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out that the Buckeyes could throw, or run, against Purdue. The Boilermakers probably will retain their pregame ranking as the 11th-best defense in the Big 10 after giving up 500 yards.
“They have such great speed, and there’s no possible way for us to keep up with them,” Purdue coach Jim Colletto said.
Hoying, who came into the game with seven touchdown passes in seven games, threw five in just over a half.
The fireworks began on Ohio State’s second possession, when Hoying fired a 41-yard bomb to Sanders.
On the next drive, Hoying tossed a 42-yarder to Galloway, who snared the ball over the middle, split a seam and raced in for a score.
And on the next drive, Hoying faked a handoff and lobbed a 2-yarder to Galloway in the back of the end zone.
It was 41-0 at halftime. The whipping was so sound it seemed impossible that Purdue, not Ohio State, entered the afternoon nipping at Penn State’s heels in the Big 10 race.
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“I’m very happy to beat the Purdue Boilermakers as badly as we did,” said Ohio State coach John Cooper.
As bad as Purdue (4-2-1, 2-1-1) looked, it is still in the bowl picture. If the Boilermakers split their last four games-Iowa, Michigan, at Michigan State and Indiana-they are almost certain to be playing somewhere during the holidays.
Even Saturday’s mauling shouldn’t be too disheartening for a team that finished 1-10 last year. After all, it’s nearly the end of October and Purdue still has fewer losses than Notre Dame.
The Boilermakers saw this game as a chance to step back into the national limelight after a long absence, but their touted backfield duo of Mike Alstott and Corey Rogers, both Chicago-area products, managed only 132 yards, about 70 below their combined average.
The lone Black and Gold highlight came when quarterback Rick Trefzger wound up and found Craig Allen on a 90-yard touchdown streak late in the third quarter.
That made the score 48-7. By then, the Buckeyes had to be thinking about their confrontation with Penn State.
“This is definitely the way Ohio State can play,” said Buckeye defensive end Matt Finkes, who had one of two blocked punts. “I think it will carry over to next week. We’re playing as well as we have all year.”