College football's No. 2 team upset again as Purdue routs Ohio State

Jace Evans | USA TODAY

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The No. 2 team in the country has fallen for the second consecutive week.

Ohio State fell to Purdue 49-20 Saturday night in West Lafayette, Indiana, one week after Georgia lost to LSU while holding the same ranking.

The Buckeyes entered Ross-Ade Stadium having won 12 games in a row, but issues that had been exposed the past few weeks – particularly in a lackluster win over a Minnesota team that lost to Nebraska on Saturday – were taken advantage of by the Boilermakers.

Jeff Brohm's squad got the ball in the hands of his playmakers, with Purdue's Isaac Zico opening the scoring with a magnificent catch.

Stop this foolishness, @_Zicoooo! 😱😱



The @BoilerFootball WR hauls in an absurd one-hand catch to cap a 98-yard drive and give Purdue a 7-0 lead: pic.twitter.com/o5OajnfUJq — Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 21, 2018

QB David Blough took advantage of what has been a poor (for Ohio State) pass defense and had 378 yards passing and three touchdowns.

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Star freshman Rondale Moore also shined in helping Blough out, finishing with 12 catches for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

D.J. Knox busted several big plays to finish with 128 rushing yards and three TDs.

"Just a great performance. I tell you what I don’t have anything negative to say,” Brohm said. “We came in and played aggressive and I think you have to play aggressive against these guys.”

In building their lead, the Boilermakers employed great deception, perfectly executing a fake field goal for a first down before punching it in to go into the half up 14-3.

"We understand that if we want to win this game, we're going to have to take some chances."



- @JeffBrohm said it at halftime, and he proved it just before the half with a fake FG followed by a @Rondale_Moore03 TD.



14-3 @BoilerFootball at half over No. 2 Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/0CHZW1JAxA — Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 21, 2018

And most importantly, they never blinked.

Up 21-6, Purdue staged a goal-line stand against Ohio State midway through the third quarter. Early in the fourth quarter, Purdue essentially stuck the dagger in with a 42-yard sprint by Knox on third-and-9 to go up 28-6.

Ohio State would finally score a TD with 9:36 remaining, but Knox added another rushing TD – a 40-yarder, his third on the ground on the day – to once again go up 22 with 6:46 remaining.

This is not deja vu all over again...



This is @BoilerFootball RB @blockknox1 rumbling for his third TD of the night and a likely dagger in the comeback hopes of No. 2 Ohio State: pic.twitter.com/3adtpVXZRb — Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 21, 2018

Ohio State would answer again, but Purdue added one final offensive score on a fantastic third-down play by Moore, who took a swing pass on third down to the house with 3:37 remaining.

This 🚂 can't be stopped.



Unbelievable play by an unbelievable athlete on an unbelievable night: pic.twitter.com/LiNUIqinmU — Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 21, 2018

The Boilermakers capped the magical night with a pick-six of Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins with 2:08 remaining.

The work Purdue's defense did against an Ohio State offense that had largely been flying was the most surprising part of the game. Ohio State had not been held to 20 points or less since a September 2017 loss to Oklahoma.

The Buckeyes' prior low for points this season was 27 in their dramatic win over a then-top-10 Penn State team.

With little happening on the ground – Ohio State rushed for just 76 yards – Haskins attempted a stunning 73 passes. He finished with 470 yards with two TDs and the interception.

“Our defense played lights out,” Brohm said. “This team is hungry. They want to win. We still have a long way to go.”

The 49 points were the most the Buckeyes had allowed since Iowa blasted them 55-24 last season. It was also the most Purdue had ever scored against Ohio State in 57 meetings.

“I’m very surprised. I thought we had a good week of work,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. “The glaring shortcomings we had were exposed.”

Said Ohio State wide receiver Terry McLaurin: “My main message is we have to treat this like it’s life or death. You have to have that type of mentality going into battle when someone’s trying to knock you off. If you don’t come ready, this happens.”

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The loss by Ohio State shakes up the Big Ten title race, and thus the chase for the College Football Playoff. Every team in the conference now has a loss, and the Buckeyes find themselves tied with the rival Michigan Wolverines at 7-1. Michigan actually has the East Division lead due to its one loss coming out of conference, to Notre Dame.

"The Game" could be as important this year as 2016's modern classic edition.

The manner of Ohio State's loss also seemingly opens the door for a number of college football's top teams.

For Purdue, it's a fourth consecutive win after suffering three consecutive close losses to start the year. It's another huge step for Brohm's program, which went to a bowl game in his first season in West Lafayette in 2017.

Contributing: Associated Press