Expert Ohio State football predictions for Purdue game
Another trip to Indiana is in store for the Ohio State football team. After opening the 2023 season with a 23-3 win in Bloomington against Indiana, and beating Notre Dame 17-14 in South Bend three weeks later, the Buckeyes will face Purdue in West Lafayette Saturday.
Ohio State will play in Ross-Ade Stadium for the first time since 2018, when the Buckeyes lost 49-20
Here is what the writers at The Columbus Dispatch and Lafayette Journal & Courier predict for Saturday's game:
Bill Rabinowitz
Ohio State beat writer
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State 38, Purdue 10
Everyone is well aware of the Buckeyes' troubles at Ross-Ade historically, but this Boilermaker team doesn't pose the danger of some of its predecessors. Even if Ohio State's sputtering run game doesn't get untracked, the Buckeyes' passing game and defense should be enough for a comfortable win in a tuneup for next week's showdown against Penn State.
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Joey Kaufman
Ohio State beat writer
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State 45, Purdue 17
Ohio State’s troubles at Purdue make a well-worn tale. It has a losing record in West Lafayette this century, going 3-5 since 2000, and all of Ryan Day’s immediate predecessors lost at least once there. The recent trouble will be cited in the leadup to Buckeyes’ first trip back since their upset loss in 2018. But the Boilermakers are going through growing pains in their first season under Ryan Walters and play at a fast pace that is favorable to Day’s offense. Look for the Buckeyes to surpass 40 points for only the second time this season.
Rob Oller
Sports columnist
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State 43, Purdue 10
Ross-Ade Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Buckeyes − every OSU coach from Wes Fesler (1947) through Urban Meyer (2018) has lost in West Lafayette − but Ryan Day will escape a similar fate, thanks primarily to a pass defense that keeps the Boilermakers from scoring enough points to even threaten an upset. The only real danger is if the Buckeyes get caught looking ahead to Penn State. But even if that happens unranked Purdue does not have enough firepower to pull the shocker. Rondale Moore and Drew Brees are not walking through that door.
Colin Gay
Real-time reporter
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State 48, Purdue 10
This is not the Purdue of 2018: a team that lost each of its first three games by four points or less and proceeded to gather momentum with three straight wins before upsetting Ohio State. No. This is a Purdue team that has struggled mightily defensively without enough of an offense to keep up. Against Ohio State, even if Kyle McCord and company have a slow start like they are prone to do, this isn't a recipe that leads to an upset in 2023. Expect the Buckeyes to ease past the Boilermakers with Penn State a week away.
Sam King
Purdue beat writer
Journal & Courier
● Ohio State 38, Purdue 17
Purdue has somewhat been Ohio State's boogeyman over the years and is 3-1 in its last four games against teams ranked in the top three. The lasting effects of that 2018 shellacking still has Boilermaker fans believing in football miracles. This Purdue team, though, is just too beat up and too inconsistent.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football predictions vs. Purdue
