Ohio State football now currently sits at 8-1 with a record within the Big Ten of 5-1 thanks to its most recent blowout of the Purdue Boilermakers, 45-0. Now Purdue is not a great football team and now thanks to this loss sits at 1-8 with a record within the Big Ten of 0-6, but domination is impressive no matter who it is against.
The Buckeyes were as close to mistake-free as possible while accumulating 433 yards of offense and holding the Boilermakers to 206 yards while blocking a punt and forcing a turnover. Ohio State will get another week against a much weaker opponent in the Northwestern Wildcats next week in a game at Wrigley Field, which we can assume will be filled with mostly Buckeye fans.
These confidence-building moments are vital to the long-term success of Ohio State as it will see a top ten ranked Indiana Hoosier squad as well as an always tough Michigan Wolverine team before the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff, but before we get to that let’s dive into the top five observations from today’s contest.
The defensive line rotation is working well
Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer (33)
There were some concerns in regard to the defensive line early in the season as they appeared to lack enough depth to make a championship run, but today we saw the emergence of freshman, Eddrick Houston on the interior of the defensive line and a few other pieces get more action than usual such as Mitchell Melton and Caden Curry.
Jeremiah Smith is still elite
Ohio State Buckeyes wide receiver Jeremiah Smith (4)
Jeremiah Smith has lived up to his five-star billing and today he placed his name in the Ohio State record books. The freshman phenom now owns the Ohio State freshman records for most receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. There are still three games left in the regular season, it’s pretty obvious he is elite.
Will Howard can guide this team to a championship
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18)
The discourse among Ohio State fans in regard to Will Howard is hilarious. He had another impressive day completing 21 of his 26 passing attempts for 260 yards and three touchdowns to go with nine carriers for 26 yards and a touchdown. I understand people miss C.J. Stroud, but Howard is getting the job done.
Carson Hinzman is healthy
Mandatory Credit: Barbara Perenic/USA TODAY Network via Imagn Images
The Ohio State offensive line has dealt with too much injury already this season. Donovan Jackson and Tegra Tshabola missed some time early in the season, then Josh Simmons went down for the season and his replacement Zen Michalski has been injured as well. Carson Hinzman and his top-notch performance last week was a breathe of fresh air so when he went down today, tears almost went down my face. Hinzman did return though and looks ready fro next week.
The Ohio State offense is smooth
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18)
We already discussed Will Howard, Jeremiah Smith and the offensive line, but I want to use this last slide to reiterate my confidence in the entire offense. The Ohio State offense is efficient and can be quick or slow and methodical. Whether or not the defense has a rough day in the future Chip Kelly has shown that there is plenty of juice to bail them out.
