No. 4 Ohio State strolls past Boilermakers
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Unbeaten Ohio State was unblemished Saturday.
Doran Grant picked off Danny Etling’s first pass, returning it for a touchdown, and Braxton Miller threw for 233 yards and four touchdowns to lead the fourth-ranked Buckeyes to a record-breaking 56-0 victory at Purdue.
Ohio State (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) kept its national title hopes alive by extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 21 in a row — and they did it in a venue where they had lost three of their last four.
Coach Urban Meyer, who hasn’t lost in 34½ months, tied his personal best by winning a 22nd straight game, a streak that includes his final victory at Florida. Meyer also won 22 in a row with the Gators in 2008-09.
Ohio State won this one in dominant fashion, too, scoring the most points and producing the most lopsided victory in the history of this 56-game series. Both of the previous marks came in 2010 when Ohio State beat Purdue 49-0. Miller was 19 of 23 despite not playing in the second half.
Backup Kenny Guiton threw for one TD and rushed for two more on a day that five Buckeyes receivers caught touchdown passes.
Freshman quarterback Danny Etling was 13 of 29 for 89 yards and was sacked six more times. He’s now been sacked 19 times in four games. Purdue (1-7, 0-4), meanwhile, has lost six straight and endured its second straight shutout for the first time since 1953.
The Boilermakers still have not beaten a Football Bowl Subdivision team in coach Darrell Hazell’s first season as coach, and they haven’t taken a snap in the red zone since late in a Sept. 28 loss to Northern Illinois.
This one was ugly right from the start.
On the game’s second snap, Grant stepped in front of B.J. Knauf, picked off Etling’s pass and sprinted 33 yards to make it 7-0.
Miller then threw a 40-yard TD pass to a wide open Jeff Heuerman on the Buckeyes’ second offensive play to give Ohio State a 14-0 lead. Before the first quarter ended, Miller threw an 8-yard TD pass to Nick Vannett and a 2-yard shovel pass for a TD to Corey Brown to make it 28-0.
Not enough?
Guiton threw a 1-yard TD pass to Chris Fields midway through the second quarter, and Miller hooked up with Ezekiel Elliott on a 10-yard scoring pass later in the first half to make it 42-0 at the half. And it could have been worse. Brown’s 60-yard punt return for a score was called back on an illegal block.
Guiton ran for two scores, breaking the scoring record on a 1-yard TD run with 10:37 left in the game.