While the Boilermakers got on the board first in Saturday’s matchup, the Buckeyes looked spectacular on both sides of the ball as they blew past Purdue, 34-10. Even special teams delivered something to
write home about, making it hard to pick just one play of the game. So this week, I’m going to pick three — one for each unit, as a little treat.
Offensive Play of the Game
Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith are such a spectacular duo; they give macaroni and cheese a good run for their money. Without Carnell Tate, who missed Saturday’s game out of an abundance of caution after a minor injury in pre-game warmups, the game became The Sayin and Smith Show. Both took the opportunity to make a Heisman case for themselves, never more than on a 35-yard touchdown pass midway through the second quarter.
On first down from the Boilermakers’ 35-yard line, Sayin laid it out to Smith, who beat out multiple Purdue defenders to make the catch and put the Buckeyes up, 14-3. It was Sayin’s 23rd touchdown pass this season and Smith’s ninth TD reception this year.
The touchdown came just one drive after Smith made two separate plays that could arguably be the play of the game for any other player on any other team: A diabolical 8-yard catch made in the face of pass interference from Purdue, and a 31-yard catch over the head of a Purdue defender to put the Buckeyes on Purdue’s 1-yard line and set up their first touchdown of the game.
Watch the duo tack on seven more for the Buckeyes:
Defensive Play of the Game
As if to add salt to an open wound, the Silver Bullets quickly intercepted Purdue just a few plays after the 35-yard touchdown pass from Sayin to Smith. On 2nd and 15 from Purdue’s 33, Caleb Downs deflected a pass from Boilermaker quarterback Ryan Browne, setting up Jermaine Mathews Jr. to pick the ball and return it 23 yards to the Purdue 30. The interception set the Buckeyes up for another touchdown on their next drive, this one a 3-yard rush from Lincoln Kienholz.
Watch Downs and Mathews make a spectacular defensive play:
Special Teams Play of the Game
With less than a minute to play in the first half, Ohio State got the ball back on its own 24-yard line. Sayin, with the efficiency we’ve come to expect from him, he then got his team to Purdue’s 31-yard line in just 39 seconds before handing things off to Jayden Fielding.
Fielding then nailed his first of two field goals on the day, a career-long 49-yard kick that gave the Buckeyes a three-touchdown lead heading into the half. Watch the kick here:
