Ohio State at Purdue: What to know about Saturday’s Big Ten matchup

Where: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Ind.

TV/Radio: Peacock (streaming only)/1410

Series history: Ohio State leads 41-15-2, including a 49-0 victory for the Buckeyes in 2010 that was vacated because of NCAA violations. Ohio State is 14-10 in West Lafayette.

Last meeting: The Ohio State offense was nearly flawless, scoring nine times in 10 possessions before running out the clock in a 59-31 victory at Ohio Stadium in 2021.

The Buckeyes finished with 624 total yards while C.J. Stroud completed 31 of 38 passes for 361 yards and five touchdowns without a turnover. The Buckeyes also finished with 263 yards on 31 attempts, an average of 8.48 yards per.

Coaches: Ohio State’s Ryan Day is 50-6 in five seasons, including 33–2 in the Big Ten. Ryan Walters is 2-4 in his first season as a head coach.

Ohio State notes: Ohio State has lost five of its last eight games in West Lafayette… Day’s teams are 33-0 against unranked foes… The last time an Ohio State football game was not available live on broadcast or cable television was a 1996 game at Minnesota. That is a span of 315 games… Ohio State is No. 8 in the nation in total defense (264.8 yards per game_ and No. 3 in points allowed per game (10.2)… Marvin Harrison Jr. and Josh Proctor were the Big Ten offensive and defensive players of the week, respectively, last week… Denzel Burke leads the Big Ten with seven pass breakups this season.

Purdue notes: The Boilermakers rank 72nd nationally in total offense (390.3 yards per game) and 87th in scoring (25.7 points per game)… They are 76th in total defense (380.3 ypg.) and 83rd in scoring defense (28.0 ppg.)… The defense is 40th in pass efficiency while the offense is ranked No. 90… The Boilermakers are 33rd in third down offense but have struggled to stop people or score in the red zone (ranking 110th and tied for 90th, respectively)… They are among the worst teams in the country in net punting average (34.8 yards, ranked 122nd) but 44th in punt returns (10.8 yards) and No. 2 in kickoff returns (33.7 yards)… WR Ben Van Noord, who starred in multiple sports at Northwestern High School and Springfield High School, is one of four players from Ohio on the Purdue roster.

Credit: Bill Lackey

Credit: Bill Lackey

Quoted: Walters: “Obviously Ohio State is a national brand for a reason, right? Got a lot of respect for Ryan Day and what he’s done in his career. You go play to win the game. That’s the purpose of competition. So you’re absolutely right, we’re excited to go play, to go compete, and it’s been fun already prepping and game planning against guys that you respect in this profession and against players that you’ve got respect for that play the game.”

Next week: The Buckeyes will return home to play Penn State at noon on Saturday. The Boilermakers are off next week and play at Nebraska on Oct. 28.

Prediction: Ohio State 38, Purdue 10