If Ohio State fans are nervous for Saturday’s game at Purdue, there certainly are reasons for them to be. West Lafayette has not been a kind place the Buckeyes this century, with the Boilermakers infamously
winning against the No. 2 Buckeyes 49-20 in 2018.
That’s one of four times Purdue has beaten Ohio State when the Buckeyes are in the top five.
This Purdue team is only 2-6 and 0-5 in Big Ten play, but it has improved significantly from its disastrous 1-11 season in 2024. These Boilermakers don’t get blown out often, and have played within one score in each of its last two games.
Let’s look at this year’s Purdue team ahead of Ohio State’s road contest.
Quarterback: Ryan Browne
Hailing from Clarkston, Michigan, Browne played high school football in Florida and led his team to a state championship in 2021.
After throwing for just 532 yards in 2024 in eight appearances and two starts, Browne is up to 1,822 yards and nine touchdowns this season. He’s completing 61.3 percent of his passes and averaging 202.4 passing yards per game.
Four Players to Watch on Purdue
1. Michael Jackson III (WR)
Jackson is in his fifth season of college football and first with Purdue. He spent the 2024-2025 season at Georgia, playing in five games as a backup wide receiver and kick returner before redshirting.
This season, Jackson leads the Boilermakers with 50 receptions for 456 yards and a touchdown. Jackson has five games with at least five receptions, including a 14-catch performance for 94 yards against Illinois in early October.
2. Nitro Tuggle (WR)
Tuggle also played at Georgia last season, playing in eight games and catching three passes for 34 yards.
So far this season, Tuggle has 14,5 yards per reception and a team-high four touchdowns, while catching 24 passes for 348 yards.
At Northwood High School, Tuggle was the No. 17 wide receiver in the 247Sports Composite and was selected to the All-American Bowl. In his senior year, Tuggle caught 86 passes for 1,456 yards and 19 touchdowns, and he also had two kickoff return touchdowns.
3. CJ Nunnally IV (DL)
Nunnally leads the Boilermakers in sacks with five and has 7.5 tackles for loss. In addition, Nunnally has seven quarterback hits and two forced fumbles.
Prior to Purdue, Nunnally was a two-time First-Team All-MAC selection at Akron, with 13 sacks and 26.5 tackles for loss across those two seasons.
At South Paulding High School in Georgia, Nunnally had 128 tackles, 31.0 tackles-for-loss, 16.0 sacks, and one interception.
4. Mani Powell (LB)
Powell is a former player at McKinley High School in Canton, Ohio, and he was named First-Team All-Ohio in his Junior season. He comes over from UNLV with Barry Odom.
Powell is currently tied for the team lead with 81 total tackles. Powell is the team’s leader with 8.5 tackles for loss, and he has three sacks and a forced fumble.
At UNLV, Powell helped the Rebels finish 23rd in the FBS with 115 rushing yards per game in 2024. He had nine tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
Head Coach: Barry Odom (1st Season, 2-6; 7th Season Overall, 46-40)
Odom comes to West Lafayette after leading the UNLV Rebels to their winningest two-season stretch in program history, with 19 wins across the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. The 2023 Mountain West Coach of the Year, Odom led the Rebels to a 10-3 season in 2024.
UNLV won 20 combined games over the five seasons prior to Odom’s arrival.
A Third-Team All-Big 12 in 1998 at Missouri, Odom would later serve as the school’s head coach from 2016-2019, following Gary Pinkel’s retirement. Odom began his tenure at Missouri in 2003 as a graduate assistant and worked his way up to defensive coordinator.
He was also a defensive coordinator at Arkansas from 2020-22.
Offensive Coordinator: Josh Henson (1st Season)
Henson was USC’s offensive coordinator in 2022 when Caleb Williams won the Heisman Trophy. He was also the offensive coordinator at Missouri from 2009 to 2015, two seasons after serving as the tight ends coach at LSU during their national championship season in 2007.
As a player at Oklahoma State, Henson started 37 games along the Cowboys’ offensive line and was named Second-Team All-Big 12 in 1997.
Defensive Coordinator: Mike Scherrer (1st Season)
Scherer comes over to Purdue from UNLV, where he was Odom’s defensive coordinator for two seasons. He was also Arkansas’s linebackers coach from 2021 to 2022 and a defensive analyst in the 2020 season.
As a player at Missouri, Scherer was a linebacker who had 266 tackles, 17 TFL, one sack, and one interception, seeing action in 38 games over his four-year career.
Keys to the Game
1. Air the ball out
This is a game where the Buckeyes need to continue doing what has been working for them all season. Julian Sayin had, arguably, his best game of the season against Penn State this past week.
Let Sayin cook and boost his Heisman candidacy.
2. Run the ball
The Buckeyes are seemingly finding their rhythm in the running game, which is a good thing. Purdue allows 160.6 rushing yards per game this season, so this is a good game for the Buckeyes to build on their fourth-quarter breakout against Penn State in the running game.
3. No scoring lulls
It never felt like the Buckeyes went a lengthy stretch without scoring against Penn State, but it’s still important not to go too long without scoring against Purdue so as to not let them hang around.
4. Set the tone on defense
Getting after Ryan Browne will send a message that he and the Boilermakers’ offense are going to have a tough day moving the ball.
Score Prediction: Buckeyes 45 – Boilermakers 14
This Buckeyes team is too dominant and too focused to let any ghosts of West Lafayette haunt them on Saturday. Ohio State’s dynamic offense and dominant defense should both take control of this game early, preventing Purdue from getting back into it.
