COLUMBUS, Ohio — C.J. Stroud threw for 361 yards and five touchdowns, freshman TreVeyon Henderson rumbled for two more scores and No. 4 Ohio State struck early and rolled over No. 19 Purdue 59-31 on Saturday.
The Buckeyes (9-1, 7-0 Big Ten) scored on all seven of their first-half possessions, piling up 45 points against a Purdue team that hadn’t allowed more than 30 in any game this year.
Ohio State has been wobbly at times the past two weeks and was understandably wary of Purdue, which already upset two top-five teams this season.
But the Buckeyes romped early, capitalizing on two Boilermakers turnovers, the second of which was a fumbled kickoff recovered on the Purdue 14. The 12-yard catch by Garrett Wilson two plays later gave the Buckeyes two touchdowns in 14 seconds.
Wilson, who was unavailable last week for unspecified reasons, had 10 catches for 126 yards and three touchdowns. Jaxson Smith-Njigba followed up a 15-catch, 240-yard effort last week with nine catches for 139 yards a TD.
Chris Olave had nine receptions for 85 yards a touchdown, the 33rd of his career and one away from the school record. Miyan Williams rushed for 117 yards and Henderson had 98.
The Ohio State defense wasn’t outstanding, but Stroud and Co. painted over it. Purdue quarterback Aiden O’Connell was 40 for 52 and threw four touchdown pasases. He never faced much pressure and wasn’t sacked. David Bell had 11 catches for 103 yards as the Boilers (6-4, 4-3) piled up a respectable 481 yards.
THE TAKEAWAY
Purdue: The defense just couldn’t slow down Ohio State’s array of offensive stars. Purdue had won three of its last four, including a 40-29 upset of Michigan State last week, before running into a Buckeyes offense that just wasn’t missing on much.
Ohio State: The Buckeyes shook off all the talk about this being a possible trap game and treated Purdue like an early season cupcake. The defense, however, was more porous than coach Ryan Day would have liked.
UP NEXT
Purdue: At Northwestern on Saturday.
Ohio State: Hosts No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday.