3 takeaways from Ohio State Football’s convincing win vs Purdue

2. Reaction to the Buckeye’s defensive performance

Now looking at the defense, OSU gave up 481 yards (390 passing yards) and 31 points. At times, the Bucks had impressive defensive series, but for most of the game, Purdue drove down the field with ease.

The Silver Bullets started the game by forcing a quick three and out. At the beginning of the second quarter, Ohio State’s defense held the Boilermakers to only seven points. Then, Purdue scored on four of its next five possessions.

Once the Buckeyes gained a comfortable lead, the defensive gameplan seemed to take a conservative turn. Purdue ate OSU alive without routes and comebacks over and over again when they had offensive success.

Ohio State’s coverage seemed to be a little too soft, worrying about giving up the big play. Tackling was poor at times with far too many Boilermakers breaking tackles. Plus, the defensive line put no pressure on Purdue’s Aiden O’Connell.

The D-line’s struggle was mostly due to Purdue’s game plan to throw quickly. At times, they still threw downfield, and no one got home to the QB.

There was a combination of subpar play and passive playcalling that allowed the Purdue offense to feast. At the end of the day, OSU only needed a handful of stops for this game to turn ugly, and that is exactly what happened.

For the most part, it felt like Ohio State was fine sitting back in coverage with a bend don’t break philosophy. Now, there are real concerns for the passing defense going forward: linebackers and safeties were out of position at times.

The steady improvements for Ohio State on the defense are still there and the unit could be completely fine in future games. But some hesitation is understandable after Purdue’s offense had plenty of success.