Ohio State Upset in West Lafayette by Purdue

Surprise! Ohio State came out looking flat for a noon game that they should've handled without a problem. Noon games tend to be the Buckeyes' weakness, especially if it's against one of the teams at the bottom of the Big Ten. This proved true last weekend as the Buckeyes were upset by Purdue in West Lafayette for the second time in a row.

The blame goes to the anemic offense yet again. Watching the Buckeyes with the ball is almost a chore because they are so incredibly boring and predictable. The run-heavy offense was held to three three-and-outs to start the game by a defense that has been absolutely horrendous against the run in the past few games. After having three 100+ yard rushers the game before, this seemed like a favorable match up for Ohio State, but it ended up working out in Purdue's favor.

After going into the half losing 17-7, the Buckeyes seemed to pick it up a little bit. They forced a stop right out of the game that seemed like it would get things going, but the offense still was lagging behind. It took a miracle touchdown pass from Braxton Miller to Jordan Hall to even force an overtime. But overtime could have been avoided if it weren't for the mishap on the extra point attempt.

After scoring a touchdown to even the game up at 20 apiece, all the Buckeyes needed was an extra point to sneak out of West Lafayette with a win. Apparently that task was too much to handle for the special teams. The offensive line was overpowered by Purdue's line and they blocked an awful extra point attempt from kicker Drew Basil. Had the kick been a high one and not a low line drive, it probably would have gotten in.
Nevertheless, Ohio State still had overtime. But the offense was stopped in three plays and was forced to kick a field goal and hand it over to Purdue. After having the Boilermakers at third and twelve, quarterback Robert Marve completed a 14 yard pass to the half-yard line. He followed it up with a one-yard QB sneak to wrap up the upset and basically end Ohio State's chances of making it to the Big Ten Championship Game.