Purdue knows it won't get any easier this week
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- There's precious little time for Purdue to recover from its humbling loss to Ohio State on Saturday night -- a trip to the Big House awaits.
Purdue's next test after the 23-7 loss to the fourth-ranked Buckeyes will be at Michigan in front of more than 100,000 fans.
Purdue coach Joe Tiller said the Boilermakers have the right mentality to regroup.
"I like our players in terms of them being positive and listening," he said. "They're disappointed that they didn't win the football game, but I don't believe anybody's waving a white flag."
Maybe not, but the Boilermakers posted one of the worst offensive performances in coach Joe Tiller's 11 years at the school. Purdue (5-1, 1-1 Big Ten) gained 88 of its 272 total yards on its final possession against Ohio State's reserves and didn't score until 10 seconds remained in the game, barely avoiding the second shutout in Tiller's tenure.
Running back Kory Sheets had three consecutive 100-yard games before being held to 20 yards on seven carries against Ohio State. Dorien Bryant had the worst game of his career with two catches for minus four yards.
Quarterback Curtis Painter, who passed for 268 yards against the Buckeyes, tried to put a positive spin on it.
"We got some good practice against a really good defense," he said. "We'll watch the film to let us know the specifics of what we need to work on, but I think that the bottom line is we just need to execute better."
Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) was so dominant that the Buckeyes were fielding questions about whether this defense was the best Jim Tressel had coached. The Buckeyes have allowed just 43 points in six games.
"We don't spend the time to compare halfway through the season," Tressel said. "But I'll say this. These guys work hard, and the position coaches do a fabulous job of getting them ready. The defensive players fly around and do a heck of a job."
All wasn't bad for the Boilermakers. Ohio State scored on its first two possessions of the game, but never reached the end zone again.
"I thought we played well tonight and took another step as a team," Tiller said. "I said earlier in the year that we'd get better as a team defensively as the year went on, and tonight we took a big step."
Purdue had been getting off to fast starts all season, but that changed against Ohio State.
The Buckeyes stopped Purdue to start the game, then scored on their first possession. Todd Boeckman threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to Ray Small to finish a nine-play, 87-yard drive that gave the Buckeyes a 7-0 lead.
The Buckeyes forced a three-and-out, then took over at the Purdue 43 after a poor punt. Five plays later, Boeckman threw his second touchdown pass of the opening quarter, a 6-yarder to Brian Hartline.
Ryan Pretorius kicked a 44-yard field goal early in the second quarter to stretch the lead to 17-0.
Purdue's defense tried to keep the Boilermakers in the game early in the second half. Brandon King intercepted Boeckman at the Purdue 28 on a play that was reviewed and reversed. On Ohio State's next possession, Purdue's David Pender intercepted Boeckman at the Purdue 2.
Purdue failed to take advantage, and Pretorius kicked a 39-yard field goal with 7:43 left in the third quarter that increased Ohio State's lead to 20-0. He added a 23-yarder at the beginning of the fourth.
Boeckman passed for 200 yards and two touchdowns, Chris Wells ran for 85 yards on 18 carries and Pretorius made all three of his field goal attempts.
Tiller emphasized that it was just one loss.
"This is game six," he said. "There's six more regular-season games scheduled, and we plan on winning all six of them, and we'll go to work on it like we're going to."