Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Columbus, OH — The No. 21 Ohio State Buckeyes and the No. 17 Purdue Boilermakers engaged in a classic Big Ten battle in wet and rainy conditions in Ohio Stadium. The game featured five lead changes and a blocked field goal by OSU defensive end Brent Johnson in the final minute that gave OSU a 25-22 win.

On the opening kickoff, Purdue’s Larry Shyne fumbled at the 17-yard line. Ohio State’s Gary Berry pounced on the ball at the 30. Five plays later, tailback Derek Combs, in his first career start, scampered 5 yards into the end zone to give OSU an early 7-0 lead.

Later in the quarter, Purdue bounced back. Adrian Beasley intercepted a pass by OSU quarterback Steve Bellisari to put the ball at the OSU 22-yard line. Three plays later, wide receiver Vinny Sutherland took a handoff from quarterback Drew Brees, faked a sweep around the right end and threw the ball back to a wide-open Brees on the left sideline for a 12-yard touchdown, tying the score at seven.

In the second quarter, the Boilermakers took their first lead of the afternoon. With 12:43 remaining in the half, Travis Dorsch nailed a 40-yard field goal, giving PU a 10-7 lead. With under a minute left in the half, Dorsch added another field goal, this time a 32-yarder, to give PU a 13-7 halftime edge.

But the Purdue lead was short-lived. The Buckeyes answered with 8:45 remaining in the third quarter. OSU went to its bag of tricks and executed the halfback option to perfection when Michael Wiley found tight end Darnell Sanders in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. The reception and score were both firsts in Sanders’ career.

On its next drive, OSU increased its lead to 17-13 on Dan Stultz’s 45-yard field goal. A minute into the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers cut OSU’s lead to 17-16 on Dorsch’s 22-yard field goal. Two plays into OSU’s next drive, Bellisari tossed his second interception of the afternoon, this time to Willie Fells. Fells intercepted the ball at the OSU 34-yard line and returned it 29 yards to the OSU five-yard line. On the next play, Montrell Lowe rushed in from 5 yards out to give Purdue its second lead of the afternoon, 22-17 (the two-point conversion failed).

But with 5:13 remaining in the game, Ohio State tailback Jonathan Wells capped a 13 play, 76-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Wiley converted the two-point conversion (rush) to give OSU a 25-22 lead.

Brees drove his team 68 yards on 12 plays to set up a 29-yard field goal attempt for Dorsch with under a minute left in the game. Johnson fired through the line to record the first blocked kick of his career.

Defensively, strong safety Donnie Nickey led OSU in tackles with 11.

The Buckeyes recorded a season-high eight pass breakups. Leading the way was sophomore cornerback Nate Clements with three. Gary Berry, James Cotton, Ahmed Plummer, Courtland Bullard and Brent Johnson had one each.