Call ’em spoiler makers
Upset deals blow to Buckeyes’ plans for postseason
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — D.J. Knox rushed for 128 yards and three touchdowns, David Blough threw for three more scores and Purdue shook up the College Football Playoff chase with a 49-20 blowout of No. 2 Ohio State on Saturday. The Boilermakers (4-3, 3-1 Big Ten) won their fourth straight overall, their second in a row over a ranked team and pulled off their biggest upset since taking down then-No. 2 Ohio State 28-23 on Oct. 6, 1984. Purdue also set a school record for points scored against the Buckeyes, besting the previous mark of 41 in 1967.
Mistake-prone Ohio State (7-1, 4-1) had its 12-game winning streak snapped, fell out of the Big Ten East lead behind rival Michigan and now must fight away its way back into playoff position.
Blough outplayed Heisman Trophy candidate Dwayne Haskins Jr. on a night when the Buckeyes didn’t reach the end zone until early in the fourth quarter.
Blough went 25 of 43 with 378 yards and sealed the victory with a 43-yard pass to Rondale Moore with 3:37 to play.
Haskins wound up 49 of 73 for 470 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. But he missed receivers down the field on a windy night at Ross-Ade Stadium and was nearly picked off a couple of times before Markus Bailey scored on a late 41-yard interception return.
The Buckeyes were also called for 10 penalties and faced their largest halftime deficit of the season, 14-3, before giving up four scoring plays of more than 40 yards in the fourth quarter.
It was no fluke, either. The Boilermakers dominated the first half by playing keep-away.
Isaac Zico capped Purdue’s longest scoring drive of the season, 98 yards, with a spectacular onehanded catch to make it 7-0 late in the first quarter. Ohio State responded by quickly marching down the field before settling for a 24-yard field goal.
Blough took the Boilermakers 80 yards in 84 seconds, using punter Joe Schopper’s first-down run on a fake field goal to set up a 9-yard scoring pass to Moore.
The Buckeyes tried to turn up the pace and the intensity in the second half, but they never made headway.