Ohio State Football: Why Boilermakers could cause the Buckeyes problems

The last two games have been struggles for the Ohio State football team. Will the Purdue Boilermakers cause problems for the Buckeyes?

The Ohio State football team hasn’t exactly clicked on all cylinders lately and the Purdue Boilermakers are on a three game winning streak. Will the things the Boilermakers bring to the table make this yet another challenge for the Buckeyes?

Stats from recent games indicate that could be the case.

The last three games Boilermaker quarterback David Blaugh has completed 67 percent of his passes for 1001 yards and 7 touchdowns while only throwing 1 interception. The Buckeyes have given up 836 yards through the air the last three games.

What may be even more of a concern than the numbers Blough has put up is the fact many of his passing yards have come on big plays. Ohio State is one of the worst teams in the country at giving up chunk plays.

Blough’s top three targets have each had at least one reception of 20 yards or more each of the last three games. Here are their total stats during the three wins with their longest catch in each.

• Rondale Moore:  20 receptions for 296 yards and 3 touchdowns, 70, 40, 60.
• Isaac Zico:  14 receptions for 282 yards and 2 touchdowns, 35, 48, 42.
• Brycen Hopkins:  10 receptions for 177 yards and 1 touchdown, 20, 51, 28.

You can see Purdue has plenty of big play ability in the passing game.

As far as running the football it’s a mixed bag but the Boilermakers have been effective on the ground the last two games. Boston College held Purdue to under 2 yards per carry and only 76 rushing yards. But against Nebraska (188 yards, 5.1 ypc) and Illinois (227 yards, 5.2 ypc) it was a different story.

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Ohio State has allowed 539 yards on the ground (179.6 ypg) the last three games.

Another stat of interest, the Boilermakers have outscored their opposition 118-48 the last three games compared to  the Buckeyes 106-66.

Obviously Ohio State has played better competition during that time but the numbers Purdue has put up are impressive.

Now for one last stat, the Buckeyes have a losing record in West Lafayette this century.

This has the makings of another battle for Ohio State. Purdue’s strengths seem to match up well with what has been Ohio State’s weaknesses so far this season. Combine that with the fact the Boilermakers are on a roll and playing at home it is probably making more than a few Buckeye fans nervous.