Kyle McCord passed for 276 yards and three touchdowns and Marvin Harrison Jr. had 105 receiving yards and a score as No. 3 Ohio State downed Purdue 41-7 in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday.
McCord completed 16 of 28, with wide receiver Harrison making six catches while tight end Cade Stover caught TDs of 4 and 14 yards for the Buckeyes (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten).
Hudson Card was 13-for-32 for 126 yards and a TD, and Devin Mockobee ran for 110 yards on 18 carries for the Boilermakers (2-5, 1-3).
Ohio State made sure early there would be no repeat of its last trip to Purdue in 2018 when the unranked Boilermakers stunned the No. 2 Buckeyes 49-20.
This time, the Buckeyes jumped to a 20-0 halftime lead then squandered another scoring opportunity when backup quarterback Devin Brown was hit at the goal line on a keeper. Purdue’s Kydran Jenkins recovered the fumble for a touchback.
Ohio State went ahead 6-0 five minutes into the first quarter with a 14-yard touchdown reception by Harrison, who made three catches for 63 yards on the drive.
Brown, who replaced McCord in some short-yardage situations, ran for a 2-yard TD to make it 13-0, and McCord connected with Stover for a 4-yard score with 6:02 left in the second quarter.
In the waning moments of the first half, Purdue had a first-and-goal from the 1 but a holding penalty and a sack forced a 39-yard field goal try that Julio Macias missed with 2 seconds left.
He also missed from 48 yards in the first half and 27 in the third quarter.
The Buckeyes entered the game already missing several players to injury: leading rusher TreVeyon Henderson, third-string back Miyan Williams and standout receiver Emeka Egbuka. Second-string running back Chip Trayanum left with an injury early in the second quarter.
Dallan Hayden (76 yards, 11 carries) made it 27-0 early in the third quarter with a 1-yard run.
The Boilermakers got on the board 30 seconds into the fourth quarter on Card’s 1-yard toss to Deion Burks to make it 34-7.
–Field Level Media
