WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — No one would call Ohio State quarterback Craig Krenzel the next Drew Brees, but Krenzel did his best impression of the former Purdue signal caller in the Buckeyes’ 10-6 win over Brees’ former team. In his career, Brees, now a member of the San Diego Chargers, became known for engineering late fourth-quarter comebacks, including a win against Ohio State two years ago, which virtually guaranteed a trip to the Rose Bowl for the Boilermakers.
Instead of a Rose Bowl for the Buckeyes, Krenzel may have guaranteed a trip to the national championship game at the Fiesta Bowl as Oklahoma, one of the three remaining major unbeatens, lost 26-30 to Texas A&M. With the Boilermakers leading 6-3 with just three minutes remaining in the game, Krenzel provided some comeback magic. Starting at the 50-yard line, the game-ending drive did not start well for Krenzel. After being sacked for a four-yard loss, Krenzel missed a wide open Ben Hartsock as the tight end streaked across the middle of the field. Then on third-and-14, Krenzel found Hartsock, although it was one yard short. With just one yard standing in the way of a possible perfect season for OSU, Krenzel came through. With the Boilermakers expecting run, Krenzel sent three receivers down the field. Hartsock was once again three yards in the middle of the field. Instead, with his tight end covered, Krenzel opted to throw deep to wide receiver Michael Jenkins who was running a deep go pattern. Krenzel lofted the ball over the Purdue defense and Jenkins was able to come up with the catch in the end zone with just 1:36 left in the game. Krenzel finished the day with 173 yards on 13-of-20 passing. “The play was always a pass with the thought of maybe stepping up if no one was open,” Krenzel said. “Ben was over the middle and if he was open, that’s where I was going to throw it. Thank God he wasn’t open.” With visions of two years ago fresh in their minds, the Buckeye defense knew they couldn’t let up. Facing a third-and-four from their own 39-yard line, Purdue quarterback Kyle Orton, much like Brees had done two seasons earlier, tried to throw deep down the field. However this time, much like he has done all season, two-way star Chris Gamble came up huge, making a diving interception to seal the Buckeye victory. “I wanted to mess with the quarterback on the play,” Gamble said. “I tried to make it look like the receiver was open and then just use my speed to go to the ball.” Gamble’s play was indicative of the defense’s play all game long. Despite giving up 341 yards of total offense, OSU held the Boilermakers out of the end zone. “Our defense plays like crazy,” OSU football coach Jim Tressel said. “Purdue’s very efficient in throwing the ball, but we did a great job of keeping them out of the end zone.” The Boilermakers attacked the OSU defense right from their opening drive. Starting at his own 20-yard line, Orton completed four of his first five pass attempts, bringing the Boilermakers down to the OSU 35-yard line. After two unsuccessful runs, Orton hooked up with John Standeford and Taylor Stubblefield on two consecutive passes. But like so many times this season, the Buckeyes came up big in the red zone. This time, cornerback Dustin Fox picked off Orton’s fade attempt in the back of the end zone. However, the OSU offense could not take advantage. With tailback Maurice Clarett seeing his first action in seven quarters, OSU’s first play from scrimmage was a play-action pass from Krenzel to Jenkins for 19 yards. With a little more breathing room, Clarett went to work, but besides an eight-yard run on his second carry, he found the going tough. On a third-and-two attempt, Clarett was stuffed by the Boilermakers and OSU had to punt. Clarett came off the field favoring his shoulder, went into the locker room, but quickly came back on the field. Purdue could only do minimal damage on its next drive before punting. With Clarett on the sideline, the Buckeyes looked to pass more on their next drive. Krenzel found Gamble on a 12-yard pass in the middle of the field and then coverted a third-down attempt to Hartsock. But on another third-down attempt, Krenzel tried to force a pass to wide receiver Bam Childress. The ball was tipped by Purdue cornerback Antwaun Rogers and fell into the waiting arms of linebacker Niko Koutouvides. The Boilermakers used the bubble screen to get down the field as Orton completed passes to Standeford and Stubblefield, bringing Purdue down to the OSU six-yard line. But like in the first drive, OSU held and Purdue settled on a 21-yard field goal from Berin Lacevic. With Clarett back in the backfield, the Buckeye offense continued to struggle. After Krenzel hooked up with Gamble on a 22-yard pass, OSU began to move backwards, bringing Groom out for another punt. It didn’t take long for the Boilermakers to drive into OSU territory in the second quarter. The biggest play came when Orton found Harris open out of the backfield. Harris did the rest, running for 31 yards. Yet again, the OSU defense held the Boilermakers out of the end zone and Lacevic missed aa 36-yard attempt. The OSU offense finally began to get into a grove on its next possession. On third-and-four, Krenzel rolled out of the pocket and seemed to try to throw the ball away. But Gamble broke back on the pass, kept his feet inbounds and came away with a 18-yard reception. Clarett came back in the game and brought the Buckeyes to the Purdue 33-yard line. But on a third-and-one attempt, Clarett was stuffed in the backfield, bringing out the punting unit. “Purdue put a lot of guys in the box,” Tressel said. “They have a very sound defense and we just have to become more consistent if we want to end 2002 where we want to be.” For just the second time all game, Purdue did not get into OSU territory after linebacker Matt Wilhelm picked off Orton’s pass at the 41-yard line. “I did kind of see it all the way,” Wilhelm said. “I noticed the quarterback looking at the receiver and I just stepped up and tried to make a play.” With the advantage in field position, the Buckeyes began to drive on Purdue, mostly on the legs of Clarett and Krenzel. On three straight runs, Clarett picked up a first down. Krenzel followed with two runs of his own, including a 15-yard scamper to the Purdue 13-yard line. With time running out and no timeouts, Krenzel elected to try to pick up a first down, but he was stopped short of the marker. With the clock running under eight seconds, the field goal team rushed on and Mike Nugent just barely got off a successful 22-yard attempt. “You didn’t really have time to think about the pressure,” said long snapper Kyle Andrews. “When I got my feet set, I saw there was five seconds left. We practice situations like those in practice, but it’s totally different in an actual game.” The Buckeyes got the ball and the wind to start the second half. Clarett opened up with an eight-yard run and seemed to be back to his old form. However, on his next carry, Clarett emerged favoring the same injured left shoulder and once again went to the sidelines. He wouldn’t return and finished with 52 yards on 14 carries. “I just got hit on the top of my shoulder again,” Clarett said. “I’m ready to play again and I guess I’ll keep playing until I hurt it again.” OSU couldn’t sustain the drive and punted the ball back to Purdue. With his offense unable to find the end zone, Purdue football coach Joe Tiller elected to go with freshman quarterback Brandon Kirsch. Kirsch, who broke the pinkie on his throwing hand two weeks ago in a fraternity fight, showed no ill effects of the injury. On his first two snaps, Kirsch completed passes to Standeford and Harris. After a three-yard run, Kirsch completed two more passes to Standeford and Anthony Chambers. But like in the first half, the Boilermakers were not able to sustain the drive and were forced to punt. OSU had a golden opportunity to put points on the board with just minutes left in the third quarter. With Purdue lined up to punt, Jenkins came free and blocked Aaron Levin’s kick. Jenkins recovered the ball at the Purdue 3
7-yard line. The Buckeyes offense again wasted the chance and went backwards after Purdue defensive end Shaun Phillips’ sack of Krenzel knocked OSU out of field goal range. While the defense again held Purdue, OSU couldn’t muster any offense. Finally, Kirsch and Purdue were able to break through the OSU defense. On a first-and-ten from their own 20-yard line, Kirsch found a streaking Ray Williams on a 58-yard pass. The Boilermakers tried to find the end zone with Jones on five straight runs, but the OSU defense answered the call. Purdue took a 6-3 lead with Lacevic’s 32-yard field goal. The two teams traded punts, setting up OSU’s final drive. “This was a great Big Ten football game,” Tressel said. “No matter where you play, you know you are going to have a battle to the end and you have to prepare hard.”
