Purdue hoping to add new twist to surprisingly successful series against No. 1 Ohio State

Barry Odom has been getting a crash course in Purdue football history all season.

The first-year Boilermakers coach jumped right into the scheduling debate this summer by calling out the school’s biggest rival, Indiana. He learned the nuances of the Shillelagh Trophy game against Notre Dame and the Cannon Trophy game against Illinois, and this week he’s getting briefed on the Boilermakers surprising success against Ohio State.

Now Odom is using those courses as the teacher for a roster that has few players who have suited up against the Buckeyes.

“It’s such a big game for a number of reasons. You go back and look historically at some of the successes Purdue has had in this game and you want to be used in as many ways as you can for your program,” Odom said. “It’s our job to teach, to continue to work to those (goals) and to teach our team.”

The record shows Purdue has beaten a ranked Buckeyes team eight times — four times when they were in the Top Five. That includes an embarrassing 49-20 blowout loss in 2018, one of coach Urban Meyer’s worst at Ohio State. Twenty-five years ago, Purdue’s win over the Buckeyes helped propel them to a Big Ten title.

And on Saturday, in their first meeting against a top-ranked team since 1990, the Boilermakers have a chance to add a new chapter to the legacy — even if it would be the biggest surprise of the college football season.

While defending champion Ohio State (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP) seems destined for another Big Ten title game, another playoff bid and maybe another national championship, the Boilermakers (2-7, 0-6) have lost seven straight overall and a school record 15 straight in conference play.

Yet Buckeyes coach Ryan Day remains wary and not just because of this series’ history. He just watched the Boilermakers tape from last week’s closer-than-expected 21-16 loss — at Michigan. So, naturally, Day expects Purdue’s best one more time.

“I was part of that ’18 team, so I know what that was like,” Day said. “They have a lot of pride in that program and I think Barry Odom is a very good coach. Those guys are well coached and he is a good man and a good football coach. So we put the film on and watched them play last week and we know we have to be even better this week.”

Quarterback cradle

Purdue carries the distinction as college football’s “Cradle of Quarterbacks.”

But lately, it’s the Buckeyes who have been sending quarterbacks to the NFL. Players such as Justin Fields, C.J. Stroud and Will Howard are all on NFL rosters, and Saturday’s game could feature the next high draft pick in Heisman Trophy candidate Julian Sayin.

Sayin has the top passer efficiency rating in the Football Bowl Subdivision at 189.1. Purdue quarterback Ryan Browne ranks 95th at 124.7. And the Boilermakers could be facing FBS’ second-most efficient passer, Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza (185.2), later this month.

Mockobee out

Odom announced Monday that running back Devin Mockobee, a former walk-on who became an instant fan favorite in 2022, has played his final game for the Boilermakers after undergoing ankle surgery last week. He’ll finish his career No. 4 on Purdue’s career rushing list with 2,987 yards. Mockobee used his social media account to thank his supporters.

“For a kid like me, the career I’ve had was never supposed to be on the table,” he wrote. “An under recruited kid who didn’t get looked at very much and took a chance and walked on at a Division I program. Always told I was ‘too small,’ ‘not fast enough’ or I didn’t ‘look the part.’ Despite it all I just decided to work. I think that’s why I’m grateful I took that chance and played it the hard way.”

Reese’s pieces

One big challenge for Purdue will be slowing down Buckeyes linebacker Arvell Reese. Last week against Penn State, he recorded 12 tackles, 2 1/2 tackles for loss and one sack as a general menace against the Nittany Lions.

The rewards followed. He was named the Big Ten defensive player of the week and the Chuck Bednarik national defensive player of the week. Reese leads Ohio State with 54 tackles and is second with nine tackles for loss and 6 1/2 sacks.

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