Steamrolled: Buckeyes derail Boilermakers

Talk about a contrast in first-half performance.

One week after trailing Wisconsin 21-3 at the break before falling as the No. 1 team in the nation, Ohio State racked up 42 points and 415 yards of offense before intermission against Purdue on Saturday.

The Buckeyes (7-1, 3-1) finished off the Boilermakers (4-3, 2-1) with ease, winning 49-0, a drastic turnaround from the teams' meeting a year ago, when an unranked Purdue squad shocked OSU.

"The only thing after a tough loss is to come back with a win," senior receiver Dane Sanzenbacher said. "I've never been a part of this team where we had to come off a loss straight into a team that beat us last year. We all had a lot of emotions coming into the game. Not a lot needed to be said. Everyone was ready."

OSU outgained Purdue by 371 yards before halftime, racking up a 42-0 lead at the break. In all, the Buckeyes gained 489 total yards while holding Purdue to 118.

"We didn't make some of the errors that we made a week ago, and our opponent didn't make some of the plays that our opponent did a week ago," coach Jim Tressel said after the game.

Running back Dan "Boom" Herron continued to prove his worth as the starting running back, carrying the ball 16 times for 75 yards. He scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns.

On OSU's opening drive, Herron toted the ball on all five plays, gaining 45 yards and punching in the game's first score from 11 yards out.

"I think ‘Boom' got us started, which ‘Boom' has that ability to electrify the huddle and the room when he walks in it," Tressel said.

One week after allowing 184 rushing yards to the Badgers, OSU limited Purdue to 28 yards on the ground.

Purdue's passing attack wasn't much better. Redshirt freshman quarterback Rob Henry completed just 9 of 18 passes for 59 yards and an interception before leaving in the third quarter with an injury. His replacement, true freshman Sean Robinson, completed 6 of 10 pass attempts for 30 yards and an interception.

"To get a shutout against a team that had a quarterback that was able to run the ball and was able to shut him out from running the ball and trying to throw the ball, it was just great," senior linebacker Brian Rolle said. "We had to keep our foot on the pedal, and the guys did that."

Sophomore Jordan Hall capped a 91-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown to give the Buckeyes a 21-0 advantage in the first quarter. Hall gained 13 yards on eight carries.

As a team, OSU rushed 48 times for 185 yards. Nine players carried the ball for the Buckeyes.

"When you can run, a lot can work because all of a sudden the pass rush, unless they blitz, is not going to be quite as bad," Tressel said.

The Boilermakers held OSU to 66 rushing yards on 28 carries a year ago, with only quarterback Terrelle Pryor and running back Brandon Saine carrying the ball.

Purdue forced Pryor into four turnovers in last year's upset in West Lafayette, Ind. On Saturday, the junior threw for 270 yards and three touchdowns before halftime.

In the last five minutes of the first half, OSU doubled its lead from 21-0 to 42-0. Pryor found receiver DeVier Posey for a 22-yard score, then minutes later connected Sanzenbacher on a 7-yard touchdown.

"We talked this week about starting off fast," Saine said. "Last week, we got behind and this week we needed to change the pace. We went out, tried to execute, and things went our way."

Sanzenbacher finished with four catches for 86 yards. Posey caught four passes for 84 yards.

"They weren't open, they were wide open," Purdue coach Danny Hope said.

Following an interception by safety Orhian Johnson, freshman receiver Corey Brown hauled in the first touchdown reception of his career, making a leaping grab above a pair of defenders.

"That was nice seeing him go up in the air," Tressel said. "That's the kind of thing you have to have at the goal line. You have to have people that can go up in the air and make plays."

Pryor was far from perfect, however.

He threw a first-half interception when attempting to force a pass into double coverage inside the Purdue red zone.

The signal-caller played two series in the third quarter, throwing just one pass, for an interception. Pryor has thrown 18 touchdowns and six interceptions this season.

OSU added its final touchdown in the fourth quarter when backup quarterback Joe Bauserman found Spencer Smith for a 23-yard touchdown.

Tressel hinted that the loss to Wisconsin provided OSU with more motivation than last year's defeat at Purdue.

"Most recent misery probably trumps past misery," he said. "But I don't have any empirical data for that."

The Buckeyes head to the Twin Cities for a meeting with Big Ten bottom-feeder Minnesota on Saturday.