No. 3 Ohio State puts its unblemished record on the line when it travels to take on Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana. It's an important spot for the Buckeyes not only to maintain their unblemished record, but it also serves as the lead-up to next week's much-anticipated meeting with Penn State.
Ohio State bounced back from a slow start to defeat Maryland 37-17 in Columbus last week. Though the offense failed to score in the first half, the Buckeyes defense held the Terps in check. When Kyle McCord and Marvin Harrison Jr. finally got the passing game rolling in the second half it didn't require too much effort to take control of the game.
Purdue enters Saturday with a 2-4 overall record following a disappointing 20-14 loss at Iowa last week. The Boilermakers held Iowa to just 6-of-21 passing and finished with more total yards and first downs than the Hawkeyes. But two interceptions, a turnover on downs and a missed field goal proved to be the difference in a low-scoring game where every possession carried a little more importance.
Purdue will look to bounce back from that disappointment with a strong effort against the top-five Buckeyes that can help first-year Ryan Walters better position his team to make a late-season charge at bowl eligibility. For Ohio State, the standard remains competing for national championships. Doing that requires an upset-proof quality in road conference games like these.
How to watch Ohio State vs. Purdue live
Date: Saturday, Oct. 14 | Time: Noon ET
Location: Ross-Ade Stadium -- West Lafayette, Ind.
Live stream: Peacock
Ohio State vs. Purdue: Need to know
History of the Spoilermakers: Purdue has a history of causing problems for Ohio State when the two teams play in West Lafayette, as well as a knack for taking down top teams when they least expect it, leading to the "Spoilermakers" moniker. Ohio State is 1-3 in its last four visits to Ross-Ade Stadium and just 3-5 at Purdue since 2000. The most recent visit was Purdue's last win in the series, a 49-20 Boilermakers victory over then-No. 3 Ohio State in 2018. But the Buckeyes haven't been the only top team to fall at the hands of Purdue, which is an impressive 3-2 against top-five opponents in the last five years.
Ryan Day dominates unranked teams: For all the talk of upset potential, Ohio State fans can be calmed by Ryan Day's 33-0 record against unranked opponents. His 50-6 overall record obviously includes only losses to ranked teams, but dive even deeper and you'll see Day's only defeats have come at the hands of the best teams in the country. Teams that have beaten Ohio State in Ryan Day's tenure have been ranked Nos. 3, 1, 12, 5, 3 and 1, respectively. That means not only is Day undefeated against teams outside the top 25, he hasn't lost to a team ranked lower than No. 12.
Marvin Harrison Jr. climbing the Ohio State all-time receiving ranks: Marvin Harrison Jr. recorded his third 100-yard receiving game of the season against Maryland, pulling in eight receptions for 163 yards and one touchdown. It was the 10th time in his career he's eclipsed the century mark in yards. That is tied for third all-time in Ohio State history with Michael Jenkins and Garrett Wilson. One more 100-yard receiving game would bring him into a tie for second place with Chris Olave (11) and put him in striking distance of David Boston, who holds the school record with 14 100-yard receiving games.
Ohio State vs. Purdue prediction
Odds via SportsLine consensus
Ohio State's rushing attack has not yet hit its stride and those struggles have prevented the Buckeyes offense from finding any kind of consistency against power conference opponents. Playing on the road, in a lookahead spot with Penn State on deck, I would not be surprised if Ryan Day does whatever is needed to simply win the game, which gives some value to taking the upset-minded Boilermakers and nearly 20 points on the spread. Pick: Purdue +19.5
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