Flashback: Trio of Buckeye Backs Leads 45-28 Rush Past Purdue in 1993 – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Harris, George, By’not’e each score on ground as No. 3 OSU stays unbeaten
AP (Oct. 24, 1993) – There’s a difference of opinion between Ohio State coach John Cooper and his top running back.
“He’s running with a lot more confidence,” Cooper said of Raymont Harris, who matched his career high with 118 yards rushing and scored two touchdowns as the third-ranked Buckeyes defeated Purdue 45-28 Saturday.
But Harris, who has led the Buckeyes in rushing six times this year while accumulating a career-high 632 yards, disagreed.
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t say that I’m running any different,” he said. ‘I think I run the same all the time. Maybe it’s just a litle more prevalent right now because I’m getting the ball more.”
The victory, combined with Minnesota’s upset of Wisconsin, gave the Buckeyes sole possession of first place in the Big Ten as they seek their first Rose Bowl trip since the 1984 season.
Ohio State (7-0, 4-0) had two many weapons for injury-plagued Purdue (1-6, 0-4), and most of the Boilermakers’ success came when Cooper went to his reserves.
“We approached this game telling our backs, ‘Hey, their good safety is out of the ball game. You get in their secondary, don’t let one guy bring you down.’ I thought Raymont did a nice job of that,” said Cooper, whose team rushed for a season-high 364 yards.
“Ohio State is a solid unit with great running backs. We’re not strong and big enough to stop them,” Purdue coach Jim Colletto said.
The Buckeyes, who could move one step closer to the Rose Bowl when they host Penn State this week, scored on their first possession for the seventh consecutive game en route to a 35-0 lead over Purdue.
“The good thing about it offensively was we did what we needed to do. We kept the ball away from them. We were able to pound on them a little bit,” Cooper said. “The game went about like I thought it would go. I felt like we were more physical than they were. … We alternated running backs, kept them fresh.”
The defense contributed two touchdowns and recovered a fumble to set up a third TD.
Marlon Kerner returned an interception 100 yards for Ohio State, matching the school record David Brown set in 1986 against Purdue. The Buckeyes’ Matt Finkes recovered a Purdue fumble in the end zone and Butler By’not’e scored on a 1-yard run five plays after Chico Nelson recovered another Purdue fumble at the Boilermakers 20.
The Buckeyes are off to their best start since the 1979 team went undefeated before losing to Southern Cal in the Rose Bowl.
“Our team is very focused. We’re a mature squad,” said Harris, who scored Ohio State’s first two TDs on runs of 11 and 3 yards. “We’re a senior-led team … We’ve endured a lot of negativity. We’re taking that negativity and building it into a positive.”
Purdue netted only 21 yards on its first five possessions but reached Ohio State’s 2 with the help of a 60-yard kickoff return by Jermaine Ross and a pass interference call in the end zone for the Boilermakers’ initial first down.
But Kerner intercepted Rick Trefzger’s pass at the goal line on the next play and raced the length of the field untouched to make it 28-0 with 9:10 left in the half.
One of Purdue’s few bright spots was Trefzger, who had his first extensive action with Matt Pike sidelined by a bruised shoulder. The redshirt freshman overcame heavy pressure to complete 17 of 29 passes for 245 yards, including TD throws of 23 and 9 yards to Jeff Hill.
“He’s a real special guy, the more you watch him,” Colletto said. “The players respond to him. … You give him enough chances, he gets it done.”
“I thought Rick Trefzger did a nice job against us. When he gets time to throw the football, he did a nice job,” Cooper said. “We thought our best game plan was to try and get in his face a bit.”
Trefzger is likely to get another chance this Saturday when Purdue travels to take on Iowa, 0-5 in the conference and 2-5 overall.
