Ohio State overwhelms Purdue 56-0
Braxton Miller threw four touchdown passes in the first half to help No. 4 Ohio State roll past Purdue 56-0 on Saturday afternoon.
Miller connected on 19 of 23 passes for 233 yards. His backup, Kenny Guiton, ran for two touchdowns and threw for another.
Jeff Heuerman had a career-high 116 yards receiving and Carlos Hyde ran for 111 yards on eight carries for the Buckeyes (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten), who are trying to stay in the national title picture. Urban Meyer won his 21st consecutive game to start his Ohio State coaching career. The win streak is the nation’s longest.
The 42 points Purdue allowed in the first half tied a school record for most points allowed in a half set against Notre Dame in 1988 and Ohio State in 2010. The Buckeyes outgained Purdue 640 yards to 116.
It was Purdue’s sixth straight loss after barely squeaking out a win against Football Championship Subdivision team Indiana State. The Boilermakers (1-7, 0-4) surpassed their record for most points allowed at home set earlier this season against Northern Illinois.
Purdue quarterback Danny Etling completed just 13 of 29 passes for 89 yards and was sacked seven times.
Ohio State’s Doran Grant intercepted Etling’s first pass and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown 57 seconds into the game.
Just a few minutes later, Miller found a wide-open Heuerman for a 40-yard touchdown.
Late in the first quarter, Miller tossed another touchdown pass, this one seven yards to Nick Vannett. After Purdue fumbled an exchange and Ohio State recovered, the Buckeyes wasted no time. Miller connected for his third touchdown pass of the quarter, a 2-yard strike to Corey Brown, to bump the Buckeyes’ lead to 28-0.
Guiton’s 1-yard touchdown pass to Chris Fields bumped the advantage to 35-0 with 8:20 left in the second quarter.
Miller fired another touchdown pass, a 10-yarder to Ezekiel Elliott, with 1:46 left in the second quarter to push Ohio State’s lead to 42-0 at halftime, and the Buckeyes rolled from there.
NOTES: Purdue wore black helmets, jerseys and pants. It was a black out game for the crowd, but half the crowd was wearing Ohio State’s red. … Purdue defeated Ohio State 26-23 in overtime in 2011. Ohio State won 29-22 in overtime last year. … Miller was named the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week last week. … Ohio State has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season. … Ohio State is one win short of matching the longest streak in school history. The Buckeyes won 22 straight from 1967-69.
