Sure, Michigan has struggled to beat Ohio State in recent years, losing six out of the last seven times they have met, but now the Wolverines can’t beat a struggling 1-4 Mid-American Conference team from the state of Ohio.

The Toledo Rockets, who had lost three straight games before entering The Big (Out)House, had a defense that was surrendering 35.8 points per game and an offense that didn’t score a point…

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Right: Ohio State’s Etienne Sabino after he scored on a 20-yard blocked punt return for touchdown.
AP Photo

Hit and miss.

That’s how head coach Jim Tressel described his offense in Ohio State’s 16-3 win over Purdue, Saturday afternoon, in front 105,378 fans at Ohio Stadium.

Instead of looking more like a sleek sports car revving up on all cylinders, Ohio State’s offense looked more like a big ol’ Buick sputtering and backfiring down the road.

Newsflash to coach Tressel: The forward pass has been legal in NCAA football since 1906.

The Buckeyes’ had 56 offensive plays, but passed just 14 times. Starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor was 10-of-14 chucking the rock for 97 yards.

Ohio State ran the ball 42 times with Beanie Wells getting 22 carries for 94 yards, even though he missed some practice time during the week while battling flu-like symptoms.

Here’s what coach Tressel said following the game about his lackluster offense:

There was a moment where you looked good and there was a moment where you went backwards and we’re not consistent at all and it will be interesting to watch the film, but from where I was, we certainly didn’t control the line of scrimmage, that’s where it starts. “

Again, the offensive line didn’t perform as they should. Even with Tressel himself going down to yell and scream at the O-line during drills at practice, nothing has changed. Maybe it’s time to look at the depth chart and start weeding out the dead weight.

While Pryor didn’t look so freshman-like in previous starts, he clearly showed his age at times against Purdue. It just seems to me that he’s pressing to much to make a big play when he’s better off chucking the ball into the seats to avoid a sack.

Purdue did a good job of attacking, keeping their lanes and containing Pryor, not letting him outside where he’s more dangerous. But again, that’s goes back to the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage.

Purdue head coach Joe Tiller on his defense and playing against Pryor:

We knew that we had to contain him somehow. We didn’t want him to get on the perimeter. We tried to get him in a position and pull him up and hopefully tag him on the backside to try to make a good play and maybe get a fumble.”

Coach Tressel on the struggling O-line, the pressure put on by Purdue, and the play of Pryor:

I think it’s tough on the quarterback and we’ve got to have a little bit more experience to be able to ignore those things, but we couldn’t stand there all day today, that’s for sure.”

The Boilermakers came into the game dead-last in the Big Ten in total defense, giving up 435.8 yards per contest. The Buckeyes managed just 222 total yards of offense against the worst defensive team in the conference.

One glaring problem is Ohio State’s red zone offense. The Buckeyes were inside the Boilermakers’ 10 yard line twice, once in the first quarter and again in the third, but came away with two field goals.

In the first quarter after a face mask penalty on Purdue gave Ohio State a first-and-goal at the 9, Beanie was stuffed for no gain, Pryor rushed up the middle of two yards, then on third down, Pryor’s pass into the end zone was broken up by Brandon King. Ryan Pretorius came on and kicked a 24-yard field goal.

In the third quarter after Pryor hooked up with fellow freshman Lamaar Thomas for a 16-yard pitch and catch, the Buckeyes set up shop at the Boilermakers’ 8 yard line. Three running plays, one by Mo Wells and two by Pryor, netted OSU minus-3 yards and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Pretorius.

Six offensive plays inside the 10 yard line and just one pass attempt.

Coach Tressel when asked about his red zone offense and how it needs to be more productive:

Score touchdowns. I hate to say that. We had first and goal twice on the nine and didn’t get in, not that that’s the easiest place to get in from, but we have to be able to gain a little bit more on first down. We were getting two or we got one on second down and had some penetration that knocked us backwards when we were in there and you’ve got to know that the field has shrunk and they’re going to be coming harder and you’ve got to break some tackles and complete some tackles and we just didn’t get that done. “

But without a balanced offensive attack, Ohio State’s future opponents are going to stuff the box and put a spy on Pryor to keep him bottled up. It’s time to give Terrelle an opportunity the throw the ball more often.

Ohio State’s defense played well, holding Purdue 298 yards of total offense. While that number seems a little high for a Buckeye unit that was only giving up 251.8 yards per game, the Boilermakers didn’t cross the Buckeyes’ 30 yard line until there were just 39 seconds left in the game, and never once did they cross the 25. Purdue’s lone points came on a 53-yard field goal by Carson Wiggs in the third quarter.

Ohio State’s only touchdown came in the first quarter when Malcolm Jenkins blocked a Chris Summers’ punt and Etienne Sabino picked up the bouncing ball and returned it 20 yards for a score.

Up next, Ohio State travels to East Lansing to take on Michigan State, Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m., and the game will be televised by ABC.

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Final	1	2	3	4	-	T
PURDUE	0	0	3	0	-	3
OHIO STATE	10	3	0	3	-	16
SCORING SUMMARY
OSU: 1st QTR - Etienne Sabino 20-yard blocked punt return (Ryan Pretorius made PAT)
OSU: 1st QTR - Ryan Pretorius 24-yard FG
OSU: 2nd QTR - Aaron Pettrey 49-yard FG
PUR: 3rd QTR - Carson Wiggs 53-yard FG
OSU: 4th QTR - Ryan Pretorius 22-yard FG

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BUCKEYES vs. BOILERMAKERS

No. 12/11 Ohio State (5-1, 2-0) vs. Purdue (2-3, 0-1)

Date: Saturday, October 11

Time: 3:30 PM ET

Place: Ohio Stadium - capacity 101,568

TV: ABC will televise the game. Ron Franklin will call the play-by-play with analysis from Ed Cunningham. Jack Arute is the sideline reporter.

Radio: WBNS-AM 1460 The Fan in Columbus is the flagship station for the 73-station Ohio State Radio Network. The Jim Tressel Pregame Show airs 30 minutes prior to kickoff. “Big Daddy” Paul Keels will call the play-by-play and will be assisted by former Buckeye Jim Lachey in the booth and Marty Bannister on the sidelines.

Weather from AccuWeather.com: Sunny skies and a game time temperature of 77 degrees.

Latest Line: Ohio State is an 18 1/2-point favorite. The Over & Under is 45.

Series History: This is the 51st meeting between the two schools. Ohio State owns a 36-12-2 record against Purdue.

Last Season: Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman threw two touchdown passes in the first quarter, one to Ray Small and another to Brian Hartline, and the staunch Buckeye defense shutout the 23rd-ranked Purdue Boilermakers for 59 minutes and 50 seconds to claim a 23-7 victory at Ross-Ade Stadium. Boeckman finished with 200 yards on 17-of-29 passing, with two scores, but a career-high three interceptions. The law firm of Wells & Wells combined for 159 yards on 33 carries. Brandon Saine, playing in his first game since arthroscopic knee surgery following the Northwestern game, has 21 yards on six rushing attempts. The Ohio State defense held Purdue to just 272 yards of total offense, with just four of those coming on the ground.

Analysis and Prediction: So is Purdue’s defense not as bad as I thought, or did Penn State just have an off-day last Saturday when the Nittany Lions went into Ross-Ade Satdium in West Lafayette and walked out with a 20-6 win? I think I may be a combination of both, thought you can add that I don’t think Penn State is all that great. Purdue got off to an easy start to begin the season, facing FCS-member (Division I-AA) Northern Colorado, a team that went 1-11 in 2007 and won 42-10. Week two was a much tougher challenge for the Boilermakers, facing then-16th ranked Oregon in West Lafayette, losing to the Ducks 32-26 in two overtimes. The following week, Sheets broke loose for a 46-yard touchdown run with a minute left in the game to lift Purdue to a 32-25 victory over Central Michigan, as the Boilermakers narrowly avoided a huge upset. Week four had the Boilermakers traveling to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where Purdue was handed a 38-21 defeat. Then last week against Penn State, Purdue’s defense played much better holding the Nittany Lions to just 20 points, but offensively the Boilermakers struggled to put any crooked numbers on the scoreboard and lost 20-6. Playing at home with Terrelle Pryor getting more comfortable and a lot more confident as the starting quarterback, I think the Buckeyes will have a feast day on the Boilermaker defense. Offensively, Purdue managed to get just 224 yards of total offense, with 83 of those yards coming on the ground against Penn State. They will have an even harder time moving the ball gainst the Buckeyes. Ohio State 34, Purdue 10

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Right: Ohio State’s men’s hockey coach John Markell prefers to stand during games because his seat is too hot.
Jim Davidson/The-OZone.net Photo

If there was one Buckeye coach with his cheeks firmly planted on the hot seat, it would be Ohio State’s men’s hockey coach, John Markell.

Markell is entering his 14th season as head coach, and since the 1995-96 season, he has guided the Buckeyes to the NCAA Tournament five times, marking the only appearances in the program’s history which included a Frozen Four berth in 1998.

But the problem is under Markell, Ohio State is coming off their third-straight losing campaign and their worst since the 96-97 season. Last year, the Buckeyes finished 11th out of 12 teams in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) with a record of 7-18-3, and were 12-25-4 overall.

Could you imagine Jim Tressel sticking around if the football Buckeyes had three-straight losing seasons?

The CCHA held its annual media day two weeks ago and the league announced the annual preseason polls. Notre Dame was picked first by the coaches, followed by Michigan and Miami, with Ohio State ranked seventh. The media selected the Wolverines as the conference favorite, followed by the Irish and Michigan State, and ranked the Buckeyes ninth.

Just four years ago, Ohio State was 27-11-4 and finished second in the CCHA with a record of 21-5-2, the Buckeyes’ highest finish in more than 20 years. The 27 wins tied for the second-most in program history and helped the team reach the NCAA tournament for the third consecutive year. Ohio State’s win over Michigan State in the CCHA Super Six semifinals put the team in the tournament’s title game for a second year in a row.

That was then, this is now.

The 26-player Ohio State roster is dominated by underclassmen. The squad includes just three seniors and two juniors, who are joined by 13 sophomores and eight freshmen. Last year, at least nine freshmen were regularly in the Ohio State lineup each game.

Peter Boyd, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound sophomore forward, is the Buckeyes’ top returning scorer with 24 points last season. Boyd is also the top returning goal scorer with 6-foot-1, 190-pound sophomore forward Kyle Reed with 10.

Ohio State’s top returning assists leader is 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward John Albert, who had 17 helpers during the 2007-08 campaign.

Along the blue line, the top returning defensemen are 5-foot-9, 185-pound senior Nick Biondo (4 G, 6 A), and 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore Shane Sims (1 G, 10 A) .

Hard-hitting 6-foot-2, 220-pound senior forward Zach Pelletier returns after sitting out all of last season with an ankle injury that required surgery.

Between the pipes, 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior goaltender Joseph Palmer returns after playing in 34 games last season. He had a goals against average of 3.12, a save percentage of .888, and a record of 10-19-4 during the 2007-08 season.

Top newcomers include 6-foot-1, 175-pound freshman forward Zac Dalpe, who was the 45th overall pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2008 NHL draft, the highest Buckeye draftee since Tom Fritsche went 47th in 2005. Others include 6-foot, 180-pound forward Taylor Stefishen, a fifth-round (136th overall) pick by the Nashville Predators, and 6-foot-1, 203-pound freshman defenseman Matt Bartkowski, a seventh-round (190th overall) selection by the Florida Panthers.

Ohio State has already played its’ only exhibition game on the schedule for 2008-09 season in which the Buckeyes defeated York, 9-3, last Friday at the OSU Ice Rink.

Sims had a goal and two assists, while Albert and sophomore forwards Todd Rudasill and Patrick Schafer each had two assists. Freshman forward Cory Schneider added a goal and an assist.

The Buckeyes begin the regular season portion of the schedule when they host the Miami RedHawks at Value City Arena, Friday night. Both teams will meet again Saturday night at the Steve Cady Arena in Oxford, Ohio. Faceoff for both nights is scheduled for 7:05 p.m, and Saturday’s game will be televised on ONN.

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Right: Greg Oden, doing his best Abe Lincoln impersonation, made his NBA debut last night.
Getty Images

Who would of thought that two former Ohio State centers would make their NBA debut on the same night?

Well that’s just what happened with Greg Oden of the Portland Trail Blazers and Kosta Koufos of the Utah Jazz on Tuesday.

Of course one figures to be a prominent fixture in the starting line-up while the other will be fighting for garbage time even if he sticks in the Association.

Oden was in the starting line-up for the Trail Blazers as they hosted the Sacramento Kings in both team’s preseason opener at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft, Oden had to sit out all of last season after he underwent microfracture knee surgery in September 2007.

Oden scored on a two-hand jam just two minutes into the game and finished with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and was 3-of-5 from the foul line. He also had five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots in 20 minutes of game action.

About his performance, Oden had this to say to Jason Quick of The Oregonian:

It was all right. But there’s always room for improvement. I know I’m not in the best shape of my life and all I can do is work through that.”

Portland went on to defeat Sacramento 110-81.

Meanwhile down the left coast, the Jazz were taking on the defending Western Conference champion Los Angeles Lakers at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

Koufos, the 21st-overall selection in the 2008 NBA Draft, played just two minutes and scored two points and did not accue any other statistics.

Koufos entered the game with just under two minutes left in the first quarter and drained a 21-footer from the right baseline in his only shot attempt. Shortly thereafter he left the game with a slight hamstring injury and did not return.

Since the Jazz already have three centers on the roster, starter Mehmut Okur and backups Kevin Lyde and Jarron Collins, Koufos is likely ticketed for the NBA Development League as a rookie at some point during the season.

Leaving early wasn’t the wisest move, huh?

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Right: Apparently, Coach Tressel is interviewing for Eric Wedge’s job. Would Jimmy T. use the “bunt” as an offensive weapon?
Plain Dealer Photo

Ah, it’s that time of the week Buckeye fans as Lord James Patrick Tressel addresses the media-type folks at Jack & Benny’s on North High Street and Hudson.

Going incognito, which means I pull on a wig and wear glasses, a goofy golf shirt, and khaki Dockers to look like every other reporter who covers the Buckeyes, I am armed with my laptop and a hand-held voice recorder to bring you Coach Tressel’s press conference.

Each week, Coach T. names the players of the game from the following weekend, which happened to be Wisconsin. The Buckeyes walked out of Camp Randall Stadium in Madison with a 20-17 win over the Badgers, last Saturday.

Junior running back Chris Wells was the Offensive Player of the Game after rushing for 168 yards on 22 carries and a score.

Coach Tressel on Beanie:

I wasn’t a hundred percent sure how much he could play because he’d only carried it a dozen times the week before and for him to step up after Boom got hurt and carry it over 20 times was a real plus for us, and to me, he looked healthier than he’s looked since preseason. And he got a little sore after the game, but in the last couple days he’s felt good and he was our offensive player.”

The Defensive Player of the Game was sophomore Ross Homan. He had 10 total tackles, one tackle for loss, and a fumble recovery.

In his opening statements, Coach Tressel talks about the Wisconsin game:

They went up into a tough environment against a tough team and kept playing and playing and believing and we were awfully proud of them for that. At the same token, we also know that we’ve got to play a lot better than that if we’re going to have a chance here in the Big Ten. The thing that jumps into my mind the most is you can’t have the ball on the ground as much as we had it. I think it was on the ground five or six times. Good fortune was with us where we only lost one of them.”

Later, a reporter asked Coach Tressel if the last drive of the Wisconsin game would give Terrelle Pryor a boost of confidence:

The thing about Terrelle is, he’s only going to think about the things he didn’t do well. That’s his nature. And I hope it gives him confidence that, hey, I can do that, because he’s his own biggest critic, he should have made this throw, should have made this decision, should have read that, I had the dig on the one route, all those things, but he’s a perfectionist. That’s what he is. And he’s not going to stop competing until the game’s over.”

Then Coach T. was asked if there are any similarities between Terrelle and Troy Smith:

I think Terrelle and Troy are very different, but yet I think they do have some similar characteristics, and that might be one of them, is that they’re highly competitive, hold their teammates accountable, and not bashful.”

Following that question, Senator Sweater Vest was asked about what impressed him the most about that last drive vs. Wisconsin:

To me, the thing that jumped up at you is we just held in there and hung in there. I think the first play of the drive, we had a route open and we didn’t hit it, so we’re second and 10 and to me it was just the fact that there was a focus that as long as we had one more play, we’ve got a chance.”

During the player’s press conference following the Wisconsin game, Terrelle said he still thought he made some “young” plays out there before the last drive and Coach Tressel was asked what he thought that he meant by that:

Well, I think that a young thing is a thing that you haven’t slowed the game down and just made a crisp decision, the right decision. The thing about Terrelle, as I said, he is going to analyze every single thing that he didn’t do perfectly, and if he threw it too soon or if he could have hung on or if he didn’t look at when the first option was taken over and he didn’t look at the dig or whatever it happens to be, he’s going to be tough on himself from that standpoint, and he is going to really focus on what he didn’t do, where the rest of us sometimes focus on what he does do and maybe that’s why he gets good, because until he plays a perfect game, I don’t think you’re going to see him smiling and happy in a post-game thing because he’ll be thinking about that one pass he should have made or one check-off he didn’t do or something like that.

Jimmy T. was then asked if he was surprised by Terrelle’s poise:

I heard one analyst say he had spring practice so he got to learn the system, and I’m thinking, I don’t know where he was at spring practice, he came in in August. For a guy to come in in August and step up — he’s passionate about learning. He’s got an innate need for information and some guys don’t have that. Some guys would just rather go out and play, but he wants information because he wants to play as well as he can play.”

Also during the press conference, Coach Tressel was asked what he thought of his defensive line so far this season:

I think they’ve been solid. I don’t know that they’ve been out of this world and I think they know that, that we’ve got to get better, we’ve got to play lower, we’ve got to play faster, but it’s still a team defense and I think it’s not like we’ve had D linemen out of a gap or missed assignments or those kinds of things, but winning comes down to defeating the guy trying to block you and being in your gap and defeating the guy trying to block you and I’m sure we have to get better at that.”

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RB Beanie Wells

This week, Beanie Wells has been named BuckeyeBanter.com’s “Best Damn Player of the Game” after rushing for 168 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown against Wisconsin.

Beanie’s 168 yards was a season-high and it included a 54-yard run in the third quarter, Ohio State’s longest play from scrimmage this year.

It was also his third 100-yard game of the season, the 12th of his career and his fifth-consecutive dating back to last season.

Beanie scored on the game’s opening possession, darting 33 yards for his second touchdown of the season. His last four touchdown runs have been runs of 65 yards vs. Michigan, 62 yards vs. LSU, and runs of 43 and 33 vs. Youngstown State.

Beanie’s last four touchdown runs against the Badgers (dating back to last season) have been 33, 23, 30 and 31 yards.

Now that’s taking it to the house!

QB Terrelle Pryor	LB Ross Homan

Freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor made his third-consecutive start at quarterback for the Buckeyes, and is now a perfect 3-0 as a starter. Pryor was 13-of-19 passing for 144 yards. He also gain 20 yards rushing, which included an 11-yard TD run to win the game with 1:08 to play.

Sophomore WILL linebacker Ross Homan had 10 total tackles, which included a tackle for loss and a fumble recovery. It was the second-straight game that Homan had 10 or more tackles.

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Right: Um, coach, you might want to flip that over every now and then, there might be some better plays on the back side.
Getty Images

Well it’s that time of the season where I hand out the interim reports cards on the progress of the 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes

So far, the Buckeyes are 5-1 on the year, just as I expected them to be through six games this season. While I did predict that USC would beat OSU, never in a million years did I think that that the Trojans would take them to the woodshed like they did.

A lot of things have happened in those six games as well. Offensively, Beanie Wells miss three contests due to a toe injury, and sixth-year senior Todd Boeckman was replaced in the starting lineup by freshman Terrelle Pryor four games into the season. Defensively, the line was overhauled as ends Doug Worthington and Cameron Heywood moved to tackle, with Thaddeus Gibson joining Lawrence Wilson at end.

With as many returning starters back from last year’s team, the Buckeyes were in a state of flux, but it seems that Tressel has steadied the vessel.

Offense

Here are a few interesting numbers:

As someone who studied Political Science at The Ohio State University, the term always used with surveys was “sample size.” Yes, Beanie was only played on three games, so this is all I have to work, but the numbers below demonstrate how valuable Beanie is in the lineup, who is arguably the best player in college football. Even the passing numbers are better because at times there are safeties creeping up to stop the run.

More numbers:

Offensively, the Buckeyes have fared slightly better with Pryor as the starting quarterback, though for one game he had to do without Beanie against Troy.

Even more numbers:

As you can clearly see, the offense is more potent with Terrelle and Beanie in the same backfield. With just two games under their belt, things can only get better for the Buckeyes. I still think that the passing average has to improve to make Ohio State more balanced.

While I feel all of those numbers will improve, statistically Ohio State is at the bottom of most categories. The Buckeyes are 10th in the Big Ten and 81st among the 120 teams in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) in total offense (337.3 ypg). Even worse, OSU comes in 11th in the Big Ten and 105th in the NCAA in passing offense (151.3 ypg). In scoring offense, Ohio State ranks eighth in the Big Ten and 65th FCS (25.7 pgg).

Those are absolutely awful numbers for a team that still clings to an outside chance of making it to a third-straight BCS title game.

One other blemish, Ohio State is also dead-last in the Big Ten and 106th in the NCAA in sacks allowed, giving up 2.67 per game.

Offense’s Grade: C-

Defense

In Tressel’s seven-plus years as head coach of the Buckeyes, the defense has always been a notch above the offense statistically. But this year’s D has not been as dominant in recent years.

Never mind the fact that Ohio State gave up 35 points and 348 total yards against USC, but the Buckeyes have also given up huge chucks of real estate to Troy (315) and Wisconsin (326), too.

Last season, the Buckeyes were tops in the nation in both scoring defense (12.8 ppg) and total defense (233.0 ypg). So far through six games this season, Ohio State is tied for 18th in scoring defense (16.2 ppg) and 18th in total defense (262.2). Those stats are good for second and fourth, respectively, in the Big Ten.

Another problem is penetration and getting to the quarterback. The Buckeyes are dead-last in the Big Ten in sacks (1.50) and tackles of loss (4.50).

Defense’s Grade: C+

Special Teams

Wow, what a mixed bag here. Ohio State is second in the Big Ten in net punting, first in punt returns, but 10th in kickoff returns. Ryan Pretorius is 11-of-14 kicking field goals, and 16-of-17 on PATs. A.J. Trapasso is averaging 44.9 yards per punt.

Special Team’s Grade: B

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Right: Senior quarterback Curtis Painter is second in the Big Ten in passing yards.
AP Photo

Purdue
2-3, 0-1 Big Ten

Known as the Godfather of spread offense in the Big Ten, Boilermakers’ head coach “Average” Joe Tiller is entering his final year at the helm, going 86-56 in 11-plus seasons and became Purdue’s all-time winningest coach after their victory over Central Michigan more than two weeks ago. His 85 victories tops the previous mark of 84 set by Jack Mollenkopf from 1956-1969.

Tiller has already handpicked his successor, hiring Danny Hope from Eastern Kentucky, who was an assistant coach under Tiller from 1997-2001. Hope is the offensive line coach this season before taking the reigns next year.

One benefit Tiller thought he had entering this season was senior quarterback Curtis Painter, who threw for 3,846 yards with 29 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 2007.

While Painter is second in the Big Ten in passing yards with 1,225, he’s completed just 57.5 percent of his throws (110-of-191) with five touchdowns and five interceptions.

Last Saturday against Penn State, Painter was 13-of-22 passing for 112 yards and a pick before he was pulled in the fourth quarter in favor of 6-foot-2, 220-pound junior quarterback Joey Elliott, who lead the Boilers’ to their only scoring drive of the day.

While Painter is expected to start against Ohio State on Saturday, don’t be surprised if Elliott gets into the game if he struggles.

The ground game is handled by 6-foot, 206-pound senior running back Kory Sheets, who has 498 yards in 98 attempts (5.4 ypa) with eight touchdowns. No other back has more than seven carries.

Purdue’s top receivers are 6-foot-3 senior Greg Orton, who leads the team in receptions with 30 for 330 yards, and 6-foot-1, 199-pound senior Desmond Tardy, who tops the roster with 393 receiving yards and two touchdowns while haling in 25 passes.

Three starting offensive linemen returned from last season’s team which is anchored by 6-foot-7, 325-pound senior left tackle Sean Sester, who has made 43 consecutive starts for the Boilermakers.

Last year, the Boilermakers led the Big Ten in scoring offense (34.3 ppg) and total offense (435.9 ypg). But this year, Purdue has struggled to put points on the board. Through five games, the Boilers’ are ninth in the Big Ten in scoring offense (25.4 pgg) and seventh in total offense (371.4 ypg).

And it’s not only that Purdue can’t score, but they can’t stop a fat lady from an all-you-can-eat buffet, either. The Boilermakers are ninth in the Big Ten in scoring defense (25.0 ppg), and dead-last in total defense giving up a whopping 435.8 yards per outing. And they are equally as bad at the stopping the run (196.0 ypg) as they are the pass (239.8), since both categories also rank last in the conference.

The defense is led by 6-foot-2, 230-pound senior linebacker Anthony Heygood, who has 44 total tackles. Defensive tackles Ryan Baker, a 6-foot-5, 280-pound senior, and 6-foot-4, 293-pound junior Mike Neal share the top spot with four TFLs. Neal also shares the lead with 6-foot-4, 295-pound senior defensive tackle Alex Magee, who both have two sacks.

Purdue got off to an easy start to begin the season, facing FCS-member (Division I-AA) Northern Colorado, a team that went 1-11 in 2007.

Painter passed for 286 yards with two touchdowns, Tardy caught three passes for 112 yards while Sheets ran for 81 yards and two more scores as Purdue defeated Northern Colorado 42-10.

Week two was a much tougher challenge for the Boilermakers, facing then-16th ranked Oregon in West Lafayette, losing to the Ducks 32-26 in two overtimes.

Purdue led at one point 20-3 early in the second quarter, and went into the locker room with a 20-6 advantage at halftime. But Oregon tied the game late in the third, rattling off 14 unanswered points before both teams traded field goals in the fourth quarter. Boilers’ kicker Chris Summers missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired in regulation.

Both teams scored on field goals in the first overtime session, and Purdue go the ball first to start the second, but the Boilermakers had to settle on a 47-yard field goal that was no good. Oregon won when LeGarrette Blount rushed up the middle for 3-yard TD with their chance with the pigskin.

The following week, Sheets broke loose for a 46-yard touchdown run with a minute left in the game to lift Purdue to a 32-25 victory over Central Michigan, as the Boilermakers narrowly avoided a huge upset.

The Chippewas scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion with 1:18 left to play that appeared to give Central Michigan the stunning victory.

Week four had the Boilermakers traveling to South Bend to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish where Purdue was handed a 38-21 defeat.

The game as tied 14-all at halftime, but the Irish scored 14 unanswered points in the third quarter and never looked back.

Last week against Penn State, Purdue’s defense played much better holding the Nittany Lions to just 20 points, but offensively the Boilermakers struggled to put any crooked numbers on the scoreboard and lost 20-6.

For the game, Purdue managed to get just 224 yards of total offense, with 83 of those yards coming on the ground.

Sept. 6 vs. Northern Colorado: Won, 42-10
Sept. 13 at Oregon: Lost, 32-26 (2 OT)
Sept. 20 vs Central Michigan: Won, 32-26
Sept. 27 at Notre Dame: Lost, 38-21
Oct. 4 vs. Penn State: Lost 20-6

Tags: Buckeye Football by Matt Barker
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