OSU falls hard

There weren’t many positives in The Ohio State University’s 26-18 loss to Purdue Saturday at Ross-Ade Stadium.
I’ve read it’s the worst loss in the Jim Tressel era at OSU. I don’t know about that, but it wasn’t good.
In the past, though, OSU lost to Florida, Louisiana State, USC (twice), Texas (twice), Penn State (twice). Those are well-established programs.
They don’t usually lose to a team that is 1-5 entering the game like Purdue was. Furthermore, the Boilermakers were ranked high in comitting turnovers and had a defense that doesn’t exactly make teams fear.
What the loss did was this:
Prevented the Buckeyes from attaining their 17th straight Big Ten road win, which would have tied Michigan.
Gave them a loss in the conference, which is tied with Michigan State for second behind leader Iowa.
It took OSU out of the BCS National Championship hunt. That was a stretch anyway but one would loss would have at least given them a chance.
It put their chance for winning a fifth straight Big Ten crown in jeopardy. There’s still four conference games left, so there is a chance for OSU to rebound.
But they are going to have to run the table as they go to Penn State Nov. 7, host Iowa Nov. 14 and are at Michigan Nov. 21.
None were gimmies at the start of the season and they’re certainly not now.
One of the big problems was the intensity and focus we’ve seen before didn’t appear evident. Then, there were the problems on the field.
For the second straight week, OSU lost in the offensive categories of first downs 24-12, total yards 361-287, passing 281-221, rushing 80-66, penalties 9-65 to 1-5, turnovers 5-3 and time of possession 36:08-23:52.
The Buckeyes were able to compensate for some of those areas against Wisconsin Oct. 10, but Purdue did what the Badgers couldn’t do — they won the turnover battle and capitalized on scoring opportunities.
The ones that really hurt are five turnovers, which led to 13 Boilermaker points and the nine penalties. Those are two areas OSU has kept in check most of the season.
The focus is going to be on quarterback Terrelle Pryor, which it usually is.
Pryor’s numbers aren’t too bad — 17-of-31 for 221 yards, but most of that was in the second half when the Buckeyes were in come-from-behind mode. The two interceptions and two fumbles hurt, though.
Pryor was sacked five times. His frustration was evident.
Running back Brandon Saine started off well, but at the end of day he only 32 yards on the ground. He had a touchdown called back.
DeVier Posey showed some promise at receiver with nine catches for 87 yards and a TD.
The offensive line had its share of problems blocking for both the run and pass.
The offense has had its issue all season and Saturday it really came back to haunt them.
And it didn’t help that the Buckeye defense, which won the Wisconsin game for OSU,  didn’t have one of their better outings.
Purdue quarterback Joey Elliott was able to find eight different receivers, including Keith Smith 12 times and Aaron Valentin 10. OSU didn’t put much pressure on Elliott. Purdue ran the ball well in spots.
Jon Thoma averaged 39.2 yard per punt. The kicking and punt return game was a non-factor on the positive side. Ray Small, who returned a kickoff 96 yards against Wisconsin, fumbled a punt.
The Boilermakers have been bitten by close losses, including to Northern Illinois, Oregon and Notre Dame. They needed to play a perfect game Saturday and just about accomplished that feat.
If you’re a Buckeye fan, there is reason for concern now. I believe the defense will rebound for the next game, but the offense is showing no signs of getting better.