PURDUE 31 - OHIO STATE 27

The Boilermakers, down 20 - 10 in the fourth quarter and 27 - 24 with 2:16 left, rallied to stun OSU in certainly one of the best games of the year in college football.

With Purdue up 24 - 20 and in their own territory, QB Drew Brees, being pressured by an Ohio State defender, threw and off balanced interception that DB Michael Doss returned to the two yard line setting up a TB Jerry Westbrooks TD run to put the Bucks 27 - 24. That gave the great Brees another shot with more than enough time to score. He responded with a 64 yard bomb for a touchdown to WR Seth Morales (7 receptions for 115 yards in the game) on second down. With that score, there was still enough time for Ohio State to drive down the field and score the winning touchdown with 1:55 minutes left. But with and inconsistent offense throughout the game (The Buckeyes only had 12 first downs, 278 yards of total offense and only a little more than 25 minutes of possession time, Bellisari was sacked four times and went nowhere rushing the ball with minus 222 yards on seven carries), it was a long shot at best against a spirited Purdue defense determined to hold the lead for Brees (39 -65 - 4 INT's for 455 yards and three TD's) and the offense. OSU fumbled in the shotgun formation, the Boilermakers recovered to seal a huge win in keeping their Rose Bowl hopes alive by beating OSU for the first time since their 31 - 26 win at Ohio State in 1988, Coopers first season in Columbus.

The four interceptions by the Ohio State defense kept the Buckeyes in it as Michael Doss had two of those for 33 yards. The defense had two sacks and held Purdue to 31 yards on the ground on a surprising 28 carries. Surprising, because it seemed like the boilermakers put it up on every down. Brees had perhaps, the
best game - throwing the ball an OSU opponent QB has had in the John Cooper era. It was just mind - boggling how good he was. His offense converted 13 - 22 on third downs in the game, almost all of those were passing plays. With his quick release and using the shotgun formation half of the time he is almost impossible to sack or get a lot of pressure on.

Gary Danielson, ABC color commentator, said the last TD Brees threw to take the lead with 1:55 left in the game was the best clutch play he's seen in ten years of commenting on College football games.

It was absolutely one of the best games the author has seen in a long time. Also as a big Buckeye fan, it definitely has to go down as one of the most depressing losses he's ever witnessed in 28 years of following his beloved Bucks.