For some reason, the Buckeyes always seem to play lousy against Purdue. Perhaps the final straw for the Cooper regime was a come-from-ahead loss to Purdue in in week 8 of the 2000 season when Drew Brees had his Holy Boiler moment. With under two minutes left in the game, Brees found a wide open Seth Morales for a 64-yard touchdown pass that propelled Purdue to a 31-27 victory over a Buckeye squad that would finally implode a few weeks later with ugly season-ending losses to Michigan and South Carolina.
Since taking over the helm at Ohio State, Jim Tressel's teams have had some truly putrid offensive performances, and four of the candidates for top dog have come against Purdue in 2002, 2003, 2004, and now in 2008 (thankfully, Purdue rotated off of the Buckeyes' schedule in 2005 and 2006). Now I suppose that I could in theory analyze Purdue's defensive schemes to see whether the Boliermakers have done something special to hold the Buckeyes to just five offensive touchdowns in their past five meetings, but I don't have the old games on DVD and I don't really want to re-watch those messes again anyway. So instead, I'll look at Ohio State's quarterback play in three of those four games ... and take a look at what happened next.
Purdue 2002
Believe it or not, the Ohio State Buckeyes scored 410 points during the 2002 season, for an average of almost 30 points per game. The 2002 offense had shown flashes of brilliance early in the year, primarily because of the running of outstanding true freshman tailback Maurice Clarett. When Clarett was healthy, focused, and motivated, the Buckeye offense was able to put up big numbers; but when he was injured and/or pouting, the offense practically ground to a halt. In week eleven against Purdue, Clarett was on the sideline much of the afternoon with an injured shoulder ... and when he did play, it was obvious that his injury severely limited his effectiveness. With a ground game unable to gain any traction, the Buckeyes were forced to turn to quarterback Craig Krenzel to win the contest. Krenzel was heady and gutsy, but possessed only marginal talent, and with the game resting squarely on his shoulders, he did what most marginally-talented players do in such situations - he flopped ... at least he did until he engineered perhaps the greatest and most clutch single play in the entire history of Buckeye football.
Through the first 57 minutes of the Purdue contest, Krenzel completed 11 of 18 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, 5 sacks, and two fumbles (both recovered by Ohio State) in leading the team to exactly three points - not exactly Heisman Trophy numbers. But with the game and the season on the line, and the Buckeyes down 6 to 3 and facing a third-and-fourteen at midfield, Krenzel avoided a furious pass rush and found tight end Ben Hartsock for a gain of 13 yards down to the Purdue 37-yard line. Still a yard short, the Buckeyes elected to go for it, as the ball was at the extreme outer limit of Mike Nugent's field goal range ... and with the clock winding down, punting was obviously no longer an option. With Clarett out of action, Krenzel again dropped back to pass, the game his to win or to lose. After weaving through the pocket for what seemed like an eternity, Krenzel found wide receiver Michael Jenkins streaking down the left side line and launched a perfect pass, which Jenkins hauled in for the game-winning touchdown. Holy Buckeye!
After the last-minute heroics against Purdue, Ohio State went on the win three more nail biters to close out the 2002 season: 23-16 over Illinois in overtime; 14-9 over #11 Michigan; and 31-24 over #1 Miami in double overtime. In the BCS championship game, Krenzel and the Buckeyes were faced with a two similar "do or die" situations in the first overtime period: Trailing by seven points, Krenzel calmly connected with Michael Jenkins for 17 yards on a fourth-and-fourteen play, and then threw a strike to Chris Gamble on fourth-and-goal that would have been a touchdown if the Hurricane defender had not committed interference on the play. Three plays later, Krenzel scored the game-tying touchdown, and then he led the Buckeyes to the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime. Did Holy Buckeye give the team in general, and Craig Krenzel in particular, the mental toughness, confidence, and swagger necessary to win those three extremely tight games and a national championship against the "unbeatable" Miami Hurricanes?
Purdue 2004
After a national championship in 2002 and a near-miss in 2003, the Buckeyes nearly fell apart in 2004. The team stumbled through its non-conference schedule with three unimpressive wins, and then lost it first three Big Ten contests for the first time since the miserable 1988 season. The absolute nadir for Ohio State came in the Iowa game, where the Buckeyes rushed for just 27 yards on 29 carries, had three turnovers, and got blown out by the score of 33-7. Up until that point, Justin Zwick had been the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, but during the second half of the Iowa game, Troy Smith took over the helm of the Ohio State offense. Smith led the Buckeyes on their lone scoring drive of that game, and then guided the team to victories against Indiana, Penn State, and Michigan State. During that three-and-a-half game stretch, Smith posted some respectable numbers - 39 completions in 65 attempts (.600) for 434 yards (6.68 yards per attempt), four touchdowns, no interceptions; 42 rushes for 125 yards (3.00 average) and no touchdowns - but most of the time it seemed as if he was more concerned with not turning the ball over than with trying to make plays to win the game (sound familiar?). In fact, if we take out two short passes that Teddy Ginn broke for long touchdowns (59 yards against Indiana, 58 yards against Michigan State), then Troy's numbers look far more pedestrian - 37 completions in 63 attempts (.587) for 317 yards (5.03 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns.
Then came Purdue. After three solid but unspectacular performances, Troy Smith finally proved what most of us had suspected all along - that he wasn't a very good quarterback and never would be. At the seven-minute mark of the third quarter, Ohio State trailed Purdue 17 to 3, in large measure due to Smith's borderline-awful performance - 7 for 16 passing for 54 yards, three sacks, and one interception; 10 rushes for 27 yards. Then, for whatever reason, the coaching staff loosened the reins ... or Troy began to hit a comfort zone ... or both ... but all of a sudden the Buckeye offense looked uncharacteristically vibrant. After a long run by Antonio Pittman, Smith hit three straight passes, including a 30-yard touchdown to Santonio Holmes, which cut Purdue's lead to 17 to 10. On the next drive, Troy had a 13-yard run and a 43-yard completion to Roy Hall ... but then threw an interception in the red zone to kill the promising drive. On the very next possession, the Bucks were again driving in the red zone when Smith made an ill-advised pitch to Pittman that resulted in a fumble. However, the Ohio State defense forced a quick punt, and Troy led the team on a 57-yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 38-yard pass to Anthony Gonzalez and capped by a 5-yard run by Smith. After Purdue scored the go-ahead touchdown, Smith had one more chance to be the hero ... but he threw yet another interception (his third of the game), and the Buckeyes went down to defeat for the fourth time of the season.
And then came Michigan. The Wolverines entered The Game ranked number seven in the country with a 9-1 record. It looked as if the Buckeyes, in complete disarray with an inexperienced, mistake-prone quarterback and no running game, were about to suffer a blow-out of Cooperesque proportions. But against all odds, Troy Smith had a career-defining game, and one of the best single performances in Ohio State history - 386 total yards, two touchdowns passing, one touchdown running, no sacks, and no interceptions - to lead the Buckeyes to an improbable 37-21 victory.
An off-the-field indiscretion provided a temporary set back, but Troy Smith would go on to win 21 of his next 23 starts (including 19 in a row); become Ohio State's career leader in passing efficiency (157.1 QB rating) and completetion percentage (.627), and third in career touchdown passes (54) and total yards (6,888); and be the first Big Ten quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. Was it all because he was finally able to cut loose against Purdue in 2004, albeit in a losing effort?
Purdue 2008
After making a few noteworthy plays in a reserve role, true freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor gained his first career start against Troy, and what a debut it was! With star tailback Beanie Wells on the sidelines nursing an injury, Pryor completed 10 of 16 passes for 139 yards and 4 touchdowns, and added 66 yards on the ground, to lead Ohio State to a hard-fought 28-10 victory. More importantly, Pryor looked like a seasoned veteran on the field, which meant that he would continue to get better each week as the coaching staff gradually began to "open the play book" for him.
Well, not so fast, my friends.... Terrelle put up some impressive numbers against Minnesota (8 for 13 passing for 70 yards and 1 TD; 8 rushes for 97 yards and 2 TD's), but then took a step back against a much tougher Wisconsin defense - although Pryor completed 13 of 19 passes for 144 yards in that game, he was also sacked four times and threw an ill-advised interception that killed the Buckeyes' early momentum. In general, TP seemed uncomfortable and confused for much of the Wisconsin game, but he rebounded during the last few minutes to lead the Buckeyes to a come-from-behind victory at Camp Randall at night, scoring the game-winning touchdown himself on an 11-yard option play.
Most Buckeye fans thought that Pryor would return to form against Purdue the following week, as the Boilermaker defense had been anything but stout through its first five games. However, the exact opposite happened - despite completing 10 of 14 passes for 97 yards, Terrelle looked even more uptight and lost than he had against Wisconsin, and the team failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second time in five games.
As Buckeye fans, we all knew that Terrelle Pryor would have some really rough games as a true freshman ... we just didn't think that they'd come against the likes of Purdue. In fact, if someone had seen only the Purdue game, then he would probably think that Pryor was just another run-of-the-mill quarterback, and not the number one recruit in the country last year (or last decade, for that matter). But remember, Craig Krenzel and Troy Smith each had "bad" games against Purdue - in 2002 and 2004, respectively. And during each of those Purdue games, the Buckeye quarterback reached a personal "turning point" in his career (for Krenzel, the confidence and leadership that came from Holy Buckeye; for Smith, a comfort zone running a more "wide open" offense), and each went on to accomplish great things at Ohio State. Did something similar happen to Terrelle Pryor last Saturday against Purdue? Only time will tell ... and with two very tough games coming up, we won't have long to wait.
Since taking over the helm at Ohio State, Jim Tressel's teams have had some truly putrid offensive performances, and four of the candidates for top dog have come against Purdue in 2002, 2003, 2004, and now in 2008 (thankfully, Purdue rotated off of the Buckeyes' schedule in 2005 and 2006). Now I suppose that I could in theory analyze Purdue's defensive schemes to see whether the Boliermakers have done something special to hold the Buckeyes to just five offensive touchdowns in their past five meetings, but I don't have the old games on DVD and I don't really want to re-watch those messes again anyway. So instead, I'll look at Ohio State's quarterback play in three of those four games ... and take a look at what happened next.
Purdue 2002
Believe it or not, the Ohio State Buckeyes scored 410 points during the 2002 season, for an average of almost 30 points per game. The 2002 offense had shown flashes of brilliance early in the year, primarily because of the running of outstanding true freshman tailback Maurice Clarett. When Clarett was healthy, focused, and motivated, the Buckeye offense was able to put up big numbers; but when he was injured and/or pouting, the offense practically ground to a halt. In week eleven against Purdue, Clarett was on the sideline much of the afternoon with an injured shoulder ... and when he did play, it was obvious that his injury severely limited his effectiveness. With a ground game unable to gain any traction, the Buckeyes were forced to turn to quarterback Craig Krenzel to win the contest. Krenzel was heady and gutsy, but possessed only marginal talent, and with the game resting squarely on his shoulders, he did what most marginally-talented players do in such situations - he flopped ... at least he did until he engineered perhaps the greatest and most clutch single play in the entire history of Buckeye football.
Through the first 57 minutes of the Purdue contest, Krenzel completed 11 of 18 passes for 126 yards, no touchdowns, an interception, 5 sacks, and two fumbles (both recovered by Ohio State) in leading the team to exactly three points - not exactly Heisman Trophy numbers. But with the game and the season on the line, and the Buckeyes down 6 to 3 and facing a third-and-fourteen at midfield, Krenzel avoided a furious pass rush and found tight end Ben Hartsock for a gain of 13 yards down to the Purdue 37-yard line. Still a yard short, the Buckeyes elected to go for it, as the ball was at the extreme outer limit of Mike Nugent's field goal range ... and with the clock winding down, punting was obviously no longer an option. With Clarett out of action, Krenzel again dropped back to pass, the game his to win or to lose. After weaving through the pocket for what seemed like an eternity, Krenzel found wide receiver Michael Jenkins streaking down the left side line and launched a perfect pass, which Jenkins hauled in for the game-winning touchdown. Holy Buckeye!
After the last-minute heroics against Purdue, Ohio State went on the win three more nail biters to close out the 2002 season: 23-16 over Illinois in overtime; 14-9 over #11 Michigan; and 31-24 over #1 Miami in double overtime. In the BCS championship game, Krenzel and the Buckeyes were faced with a two similar "do or die" situations in the first overtime period: Trailing by seven points, Krenzel calmly connected with Michael Jenkins for 17 yards on a fourth-and-fourteen play, and then threw a strike to Chris Gamble on fourth-and-goal that would have been a touchdown if the Hurricane defender had not committed interference on the play. Three plays later, Krenzel scored the game-tying touchdown, and then he led the Buckeyes to the game-winning touchdown in the second overtime. Did Holy Buckeye give the team in general, and Craig Krenzel in particular, the mental toughness, confidence, and swagger necessary to win those three extremely tight games and a national championship against the "unbeatable" Miami Hurricanes?
Purdue 2004
After a national championship in 2002 and a near-miss in 2003, the Buckeyes nearly fell apart in 2004. The team stumbled through its non-conference schedule with three unimpressive wins, and then lost it first three Big Ten contests for the first time since the miserable 1988 season. The absolute nadir for Ohio State came in the Iowa game, where the Buckeyes rushed for just 27 yards on 29 carries, had three turnovers, and got blown out by the score of 33-7. Up until that point, Justin Zwick had been the starting quarterback for the Buckeyes, but during the second half of the Iowa game, Troy Smith took over the helm of the Ohio State offense. Smith led the Buckeyes on their lone scoring drive of that game, and then guided the team to victories against Indiana, Penn State, and Michigan State. During that three-and-a-half game stretch, Smith posted some respectable numbers - 39 completions in 65 attempts (.600) for 434 yards (6.68 yards per attempt), four touchdowns, no interceptions; 42 rushes for 125 yards (3.00 average) and no touchdowns - but most of the time it seemed as if he was more concerned with not turning the ball over than with trying to make plays to win the game (sound familiar?). In fact, if we take out two short passes that Teddy Ginn broke for long touchdowns (59 yards against Indiana, 58 yards against Michigan State), then Troy's numbers look far more pedestrian - 37 completions in 63 attempts (.587) for 317 yards (5.03 yards per attempt) and two touchdowns.
Then came Purdue. After three solid but unspectacular performances, Troy Smith finally proved what most of us had suspected all along - that he wasn't a very good quarterback and never would be. At the seven-minute mark of the third quarter, Ohio State trailed Purdue 17 to 3, in large measure due to Smith's borderline-awful performance - 7 for 16 passing for 54 yards, three sacks, and one interception; 10 rushes for 27 yards. Then, for whatever reason, the coaching staff loosened the reins ... or Troy began to hit a comfort zone ... or both ... but all of a sudden the Buckeye offense looked uncharacteristically vibrant. After a long run by Antonio Pittman, Smith hit three straight passes, including a 30-yard touchdown to Santonio Holmes, which cut Purdue's lead to 17 to 10. On the next drive, Troy had a 13-yard run and a 43-yard completion to Roy Hall ... but then threw an interception in the red zone to kill the promising drive. On the very next possession, the Bucks were again driving in the red zone when Smith made an ill-advised pitch to Pittman that resulted in a fumble. However, the Ohio State defense forced a quick punt, and Troy led the team on a 57-yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 38-yard pass to Anthony Gonzalez and capped by a 5-yard run by Smith. After Purdue scored the go-ahead touchdown, Smith had one more chance to be the hero ... but he threw yet another interception (his third of the game), and the Buckeyes went down to defeat for the fourth time of the season.
And then came Michigan. The Wolverines entered The Game ranked number seven in the country with a 9-1 record. It looked as if the Buckeyes, in complete disarray with an inexperienced, mistake-prone quarterback and no running game, were about to suffer a blow-out of Cooperesque proportions. But against all odds, Troy Smith had a career-defining game, and one of the best single performances in Ohio State history - 386 total yards, two touchdowns passing, one touchdown running, no sacks, and no interceptions - to lead the Buckeyes to an improbable 37-21 victory.
An off-the-field indiscretion provided a temporary set back, but Troy Smith would go on to win 21 of his next 23 starts (including 19 in a row); become Ohio State's career leader in passing efficiency (157.1 QB rating) and completetion percentage (.627), and third in career touchdown passes (54) and total yards (6,888); and be the first Big Ten quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy. Was it all because he was finally able to cut loose against Purdue in 2004, albeit in a losing effort?
Purdue 2008
After making a few noteworthy plays in a reserve role, true freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor gained his first career start against Troy, and what a debut it was! With star tailback Beanie Wells on the sidelines nursing an injury, Pryor completed 10 of 16 passes for 139 yards and 4 touchdowns, and added 66 yards on the ground, to lead Ohio State to a hard-fought 28-10 victory. More importantly, Pryor looked like a seasoned veteran on the field, which meant that he would continue to get better each week as the coaching staff gradually began to "open the play book" for him.
Well, not so fast, my friends.... Terrelle put up some impressive numbers against Minnesota (8 for 13 passing for 70 yards and 1 TD; 8 rushes for 97 yards and 2 TD's), but then took a step back against a much tougher Wisconsin defense - although Pryor completed 13 of 19 passes for 144 yards in that game, he was also sacked four times and threw an ill-advised interception that killed the Buckeyes' early momentum. In general, TP seemed uncomfortable and confused for much of the Wisconsin game, but he rebounded during the last few minutes to lead the Buckeyes to a come-from-behind victory at Camp Randall at night, scoring the game-winning touchdown himself on an 11-yard option play.
Most Buckeye fans thought that Pryor would return to form against Purdue the following week, as the Boilermaker defense had been anything but stout through its first five games. However, the exact opposite happened - despite completing 10 of 14 passes for 97 yards, Terrelle looked even more uptight and lost than he had against Wisconsin, and the team failed to score an offensive touchdown for the second time in five games.
As Buckeye fans, we all knew that Terrelle Pryor would have some really rough games as a true freshman ... we just didn't think that they'd come against the likes of Purdue. In fact, if someone had seen only the Purdue game, then he would probably think that Pryor was just another run-of-the-mill quarterback, and not the number one recruit in the country last year (or last decade, for that matter). But remember, Craig Krenzel and Troy Smith each had "bad" games against Purdue - in 2002 and 2004, respectively. And during each of those Purdue games, the Buckeye quarterback reached a personal "turning point" in his career (for Krenzel, the confidence and leadership that came from Holy Buckeye; for Smith, a comfort zone running a more "wide open" offense), and each went on to accomplish great things at Ohio State. Did something similar happen to Terrelle Pryor last Saturday against Purdue? Only time will tell ... and with two very tough games coming up, we won't have long to wait.
