The Ohio State Buckeyes continued to roll through the Big Ten last night, beating previously undefeated Purdue 23-7:
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) -Ohio State’s defense shoved the Buckeyes into the national championship picture on Saturday night.
The fourth-ranked Buckeyes shut down one of the nation’s highest-scoring teams in a 23-7 win over No. 23 Purdue. The Boilermakers had averaged 45 points and 496 yards per game, but Ohio State held them to 272 total yards.
”I didn’t think that their offense had seen a defense like ours,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said, ”but still, it was their place, it was a big game, and they were all fifth-year seniors that have played against everything. Our guys did a great job.”
It was Ohio State’s first win over a ranked team this season, but the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) were more concerned with maintaining their conference lead.
”If we keep winning, then the rankings will take care of themselves,” quarterback Todd Boeckman said. ”If we win the Big Ten, we know we’re going to have a shot at the national championship.”
Purdue (5-1, 1-1) ran for just 4 yards on 17 attempts, and Jared Armstrong tied a school record with 12 punts. Ohio State gave up the shutout with 10 seconds left when Jeff Lindsay caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Curtis Painter .
”I’d be lying if I wasn’t upset we didn’t put up the big zero,” Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis said. ”Overall, to control that offense, you know you’ve done something OK.”
Painter, who had averaged more than 300 passing yards in his first five games, finished with 268. Much of that was gained in the fourth quarter against Buckeye reserves.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller said his offense was out of synch all night. Painter was sacked three times and rushed consistently after he was barely touched his first five game
Meanwhile, over in New Jersey, the Scarlet Knights faced another Ohio team and had the same round of bad luck they did last year:
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - Ben Mauk ’s passing and opportunistic defense. It’s been an unbeatable combination for No. 20 Cincinnati.
Mauk threw two of his three touchdowns in a 19-second span late in the third quarter and Cincinnati forced four turnovers, including a game-saving interception by linebacker Ryan Manalac with 1:19 to play, as the Bearcats defeated No. 21 Rutgers 28-23 on Saturday night.
”I knew we were going to face adversity,” Cincinnati coach Brian Kelly said after his team rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit. ”It’s just a matter of we’ve got to lead them through it. We’ve got some young guys who showed a little inexperience and made some mistakes, but we never, never broke apart.”
Mauk threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Dominick Goodman in the first half and found Marcus Barnett on a 2-yard toss and Marshwan Gilyard on a 27-yard pass in the lightning quick third-quarter spree that helped Cincinnati (6-0, 1-0 Big East) send Rutgers (3-2, 0-1) to its second straight defeat.
”Quite honestly we had not been tested in the fourth quarter and we had to find what we are made of,” Kelly said. ”I think tonight we grew up more than anything else. That allows you to move to that next level.”
The Scarlet Knights had a chance to pull the game out in the final minutes as they drove from their own 20 to the Cincinnati 17. On a second-and-3, Manalac stepped in front of a Mike Teel pass to Tim Brown and sealed the win with an interception.
For the Knights, this probably means a drop out of the Top 25. For the Buckeyes, given USC’s loss to Stanford, it means a move closer to No. 1 yet again.
