Ohio State v Purdue Preview

Ohio State welcomes Purdue to Ohio Stadium today after a bad loss on the road to the Wisconsin Badgers. Terrelle Pryor and the Buckeyes will try to rebound against a team that upset them last season 26-18. The Buckeyes fell in the national ranks from first to eleventh after last weekends loss and hope to finish the rest of the season strong, winning the Big Ten or sneaking back into the national championship game.

By Steve Patterson

The Buckeyes will need some help to win the Big Ten this season as Michigan State remains undefeated and does not play Ohio State. Ohio State has won three outright Big Ten titles over the past five years and shared the title the other two years.

Ohio State will hope to shore up their special teams this weekend after allowing Wisconsin an opening kickoff touchdown last week. A slight concern also is the number of turnovers Pryor had last year against the Boilermakers in West Lafayette. Pryor threw 2 interceptions in last years upset and fumbled the ball an additional two times.

The Buckeyes opponent, Purdue, has had injury setbacks this season losing starting quarterback Robert Mavre while on their way to a Toledo loss. Backup quarterback Rob Henry has had a very good two games since replacing Mavre, beating both Northwestern and Minnesota to open their Big Ten schedule. He has a good combination of throwing ability and running ability that gives defenses plenty to worry about.

Another player that has done well for Purdue as of late is senior tailback Dan Dierking. Against Minnesota, Dierking ran for 126 yards and has been part of an offense that has put up over 200 yards a game on the ground their last five outings. Ohio State gave up 184 yards on the ground last week to Wisconsin, so Purdue would like to test the run defense of the Buckeyes today. Few teams have had success running the ball against Ohio State this year, Purdue hopes they will be different.