College Football

Ohio State's dominant win over No. 19 Purdue shows the Big Ten still goes through Columbus

Published Nov. 13, 2021 8:46 p.m. ET

As the college football regular season begins to wind down, one team appears to be peaking at the perfect time.

Coming into Saturday, Ohio State had won seven consecutive games and was welcoming into Columbus a No. 19 Purdue squad that appeared to be on the rise.

Purdue already had two wins against top-five ranked Big Ten opponents this season, defeating then-No. 2-ranked Iowa 24-7, and topping then-No. 3 Michigan State 40-29 last week.

But by halftime of its matchup with Ohio State on Saturday, Purdue was already trailing 45-17 and didn't look like it belonged on the same field as the Buckeyes. The Boilermakers eventually lost 59-31.

The Buckeyes' offense has been a well-oiled machine since a Week 2 loss to Oregon, scoring at least 40 points in six of its eight games during the current winning streak.

They are being led by C.J. Stroud, who has elevated himself into the Heisman conversation with 30 touchdown passes. On Saturday, he produced a five-TD outing for the third time this season.

And Stroud has a treasure chest of receivers to throw to, with Jaxson Smith-Njigba, Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave making up the most lethal receiving corps in the country.

Against Purdue, both Smith-Njigba and Wilson crossed the 100-yard mark, while Olave made sure the entire trio each scored in the game.

If the Ohio State passing attack wasn't enough, freshman running back TreVeyon Henderson has emerged as one of the best running backs in the country as well, crossing the 1,000-yard mark for the season on Saturday.

Ohio State is in control of its own destiny down the stretch, sitting comfortably in the No. 4 spot of the College Football Playoff rankings with a chance to not only lock a spot down but also make a case that it's the best team in the country.

After dominating Purdue, the Buckeyes end the season against No. 7 Michigan State and No. 6 Michigan in the next two weeks.

As has been the case for each of the past four seasons, the Big Ten appears to still run through Columbus.