By Danielle Daniels

Will Howard OSU QB 11 9 2024 Postgame Press Conference #3 Ohio State 45 Purdue 0.mp3

No. 3 Ohio State 45, Purdue 0
Nov. 9, 2024 – Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 103,463 

• With its 45-0 victory, Ohio State’s record improved to 8-1 on the season and 5-1 in Big Ten play.

• Ohio State and Purdue have now met 60 times with the Buckeyes holding an all-time record of 42-15-2 over the Boilermakers.

• When Purdue comes to Columbus, Ohio State is 27-6-2 all-time and has won 10-consecutive games.

• Head coach Ryan Day holds a career record of 64-9 and is 3-0 against Purdue.

• Day collected the third shutout of his Ohio State career, with one coming earlier this year against Western Michigan Sept. 7 and the other on the same day five years earlier against Cincinnati (2019).

• Day now has a record of 50-4 when the Buckeyes are leading after the first quarter.

• He is a perfect 40-0 when the defense allows 300 or less total yards.

• The Buckeye defense held Purdue to two third down conversions in 11 attempts.

• Caden Curry registered his first career punt block to set the Buckeyes up on Purdue’s 8-yard line early in the first quarter.

• The last time Ohio State blocked a punt was by Lathan Ransom Nov. 19, 2022, at Maryland.

• As if one wasn’t enough, Ransom was also responsible for the last blocked punt in Ohio Stadium a week prior against Indiana on Nov. 12, 2022.

• Will Howard finished the day with 260 passing yards and three touchdowns while completing 21 of 26 pass attempts. He also ran the ball for a touchdown.

• Howard and the Buckeyes capitalized on the excellent field position given by the blocked punt by rushing three times for six yards where he found the endzone for the Buckeyes’ first score of the game.

• Gee Scott scored his second touchdown of the season on a 15-yard reception in the second quarter to put the Buckeyes up 14-0.

• Jeremiah Smith finished the day with a team-leading 87 receiving yards and one touchdown on six catches, averaging 14.5 yards per catch.

• Right before halftime, Smith had a 17-yard touchdown reception to put the Buckeyes up 21-0.

• With his six catches, Smith now has 45 on the year, which broke the program’s all-time receptions record by a true freshman. The record was previously held by Cris Carter, who had 41 catches his freshman year in 1984.

• The game vs. Purdue was Smith’s ninth start of the year. He is tied with Archie Griffin and Maurice Clarett for 11th on Ohio State’s all-time games started list by a true freshman.

• To recap, in his nine career games, Smith has 45 catches, 765 yards and nine touchdown receptions. All are true freshman records previously held by Cris Carter in 1984. Smith does have a 10th touchdown to his name, but that came from a rush attempt.

• TreVeyon Henderson ran six times for 85 yards and one touchdown, an average of 14.2 yards per attempt. Henderson also caught three passes for 43 yards, which averages 14.3 yards per attempt.

• Near the end of the third quarter, Henderson ripped off a 19-yard touchdown run after lining up at wide receiver.

• He is now ranked seventh on the all-time career rushing yards list, passing JT Barrett and Braxton Miller Saturday. Henderson now has 3,333 career rushing yards while Barrett had 3,263 and Miller had 3,314.

• Emeka Egbuka caught one pass that went for a 10-yard touchdown reception to put Ohio State up 45-0 in the fourth quarter.

• Carnell Tate caught six passes for 56 yards.

• In all, 22 Buckeyes recorded at least one tackle, helping lead to the second shutout of the season.

• JT Tuimoloau forced a fumble, which Jack Sawyer recovered for an 11-yard touchdown to put the Buckeyes up 38-0 in the third quarter. Tuimoloau was credited with a 19-yard tackle-for-loss, giving him a team-high 10.0 TFLs on the season.

• Tuimoloau has now recorded a tackle for loss in seven-consecutive games.

• The last fumble returned for a touchdown was by Lathan Ransom for 27 yards against Akron earlier this season (Aug. 31).

• Ransom recorded his first interception of the year, the third of his career.

• Cody Simon led the team in tackles with six, the fourth-consecutive game he has been the team’s leading tackler.

• Caleb Downs, Sonny Styles and Jack Sawyer each recorded five tackles, with Styles recording one tackle for loss.

• Six Buckeyes registered at least a half sack including Styles, Joshua Mickens, Simon, Jordan Hancock, Sawyer, and Tuimoloau.

• Davison Igbinosun, Lorenzo Styles, S. Styles, Hancock, C.J. Hicks and Tuimoloau all recorded one pass break-up.

COURTESY OHIO STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS