Saturday was a perfect autumn day in Columbus, the leaves were falling and the weather was cool and crisp. The 2nd ranked Buckeyes returned home after a tough road win in Happy Valley to host the one win Purdue Boilermakers at Ohio Stadium.
Despite another slow start by Ohio State, the scarlet and gray would turn up the heat halfway through the 1st quarter. Jim Knowles’ bend but not break defense would pitch the shutout against the Boilermakers but part of that effort was due to 2 costly turnovers, a blocked punt and two missed field goals. Needless to say Ohio State would capitalize on Purdue’s mistakes which allowed them to pull away easily and improve to 8-1 on the season.
History was made Saturday when true freshman Jeremiah Smith broke the freshman touchdown receiving record at nine which was formally held by Buckeye legend Cris Carter. After the game Jeremiah Smith talked about that special moment right before halftime, “It means a lot to break Cris’ freshman record, he’s a great player and we just have to keep going. We can’t stop here.”
Will Howard threw a beautiful spiral pass to Jeremiah Smith that ended up being the record touchdown catch for the freshman. After the Penn State win some people worried if Ohio State would come out flat this week against the Boilermakers but that wasn’t the case here. The Buckeyes cruised to a 45-0 win over Purdue. Wrigley Field will host Ohio State’s next game against the Northwestern Wildcats Saturday at noon on the Big Ten Network. It’s the first time the Buckeyes will be playing at the historic park on the north side of Chicago.