Ohio State head football coach Ryan Day speaks to the media Tuesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Credit: Sandra Fu | Managing Photo Editor
This century, Purdue has had the upper hand on Ohio State when playing in West Lafayette, Indiana, winning five of nine matchups in Ross-Ade Stadium.?
But when the two teams face off Saturday, the Buckeyes seem to have a lopsided advantage over the Boilermakers.?
In the last two years, while Ohio State has won a national championship, Purdue has lost 15 consecutive Big Ten games.
Despite Purdue’s struggles, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day and former offensive coordinator of the then-No. 2 ranked Buckeyes who fell to Purdue 49-20 on Oct. 20, 2018, said he understands the challenge of facing the Boilermakers on the road.
“Purdue is a program that has a lot of pride,” Day said. “And it’s not going to be any different when we play these guys on Saturday.”
These are three takeaways from Day’s Tuesday press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.?
Buckeyes national award recognition?
Quarterback Julian Sayin’s 316-yard and four touchdown day against Penn State, marked the third time in the last four games that the Buckeyes’ field general tossed over 300 yards and? completed at least 80% of his passes with three or more touchdowns.?
The performance boosted Sayin into conversations surrounding contention for the Heisman Trophy, an award given to the best player in college football.?
Wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, who both rank top-15 in the country in receiving yards and touchdowns, are receiving buzz for the most outstanding receiver honor, the Biletnikoff Award.?
“All those things do matter but on the priority list of things, no, they’re not very high,” Day said. “It’s more about winning as a team, and when you win as a team, those things come.”
Day said his focus is for the Buckeyes to continue to win on the field.??
“If individual honors show up at the end of the season, they do,” Day said. “But that’s not the number one goal.”
Offensive line health going into Purdue
Ohio State’s offensive linemen Luke Montgomery, Tegra Tshabola and Joshua Padilla all left the game late with injuries in the Buckeyes’ 38-14 win over Penn State.?
Montgomery and Tshabola have started every game this season, while Padilla has appeared in all.?
“At least two of the three, they’ll be practicing today,” Day said. “One of them we’ll have to see as the week goes on.”
While Day didn’t address which players will be practicing, he said he believes the trio will be in good health for Saturday.
“We should be at full speed ahead,” Day said.?
Second half turn around against Penn State
The Nittany Lions went into halftime with all of the momentum against Ohio State last week, after scoring a touchdown with 20 seconds remaining in the second quarter.
Leading 17-14, the Buckeyes had their smallest advantage at the break.?
Ohio State hadn’t allowed a first half touchdown all season, but Penn State reached the end zone twice in the first 30 minutes.?
Day didn’t think the team flinched.??
“There was no panic, and that’s a good sign of a mature team,” Day said.?
Ohio State outscored Penn State 21-0 in the second half, to pick up its ninth straight win over the Nittany Lions, 38-14.?
