The No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes went to West Lafayette this week and handled business, as Ryan Day called it, defeating the Purdue Boilermakers 34-10 in a game that was in control the entire time.
Here is
our report card for the ninth win of the Buckeyes’ season.
A+: Jeremiah Smith’s Heisman odds
Coming into this game, Julian Sayin lead the Heisman betting odds at +175, while Jeremiah Smith was at +2500, according to FanDuel.
Smith is the best player in the country, and on a day where none of Fernando Mendoza, Julian Sayin or Ty Simpson really padded the stat sheet, Smith had 10 catches for 137 yards and a touchdown and played even better than the stats showed.
Smith’s 10 catches were the most in any game of his career. He was also targeted ten times.
If Smith has one more game like that or better this season, he will fly up the boards.
A: Third down efficiency
Ohio State was 9-for-13 in this one on third down, and they have been one of the best teams in the country on third down this season. The Buckeyes are third nationally with a 54 percent conversion rate. Indiana is first at 58 percent, and Washington is second at 55 percent.
This is one of the more important stats in the game as teams try to compete for a national championship, and it is something the Buckeyes have gotten better at as the season has progressed.
A: Winning on cruise control
In general, I understand the sentiment that games like this are boring, but they are great to have in a long season. Even the top teams struggle sometimes against lesser opponents, and the Buckeyes were 3-5 in their last eight trips to Purdue, so a game that was in control from the first to last whistle is never a bad thing.
C: Injuries
Most of it was out of precaution, but Carnell Tate, Phillip Daniels, and Josh Padilla did not play in this one. None of those injuries are expected to be long term, but injuries suck for everyone and every team.
Games are way more fun when all teams are at their best.
F: Broadcast awareness
As mentioned above, Carnell Tate did not play in this game, but that was news to the broadcast at around the 10 minute mark in the second quarter, when they realized he wasn’t on the field for a third down and then realized he had not played all day.
It is not their fault for not knowing what was going on, and they ended up getting the answer, but kind of crazy to seemingly not even realize one of the best players on the team has not played for more than a whole quarter.
F: Jim Knowles
He got an F last week after losing to Ohio State, and he gets an F this week after allowing the Indiana Hoosiers to go 87 yards without their best receiver to win this week. He blitzed every play and it only worked once.
