WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Coach Frank Solich figured he'd try to give Purdue as long of a field as possible.
Facing a 4th and 5 at Purdue's 37-yard line, Michael Farkas hit a punt that backed up the Boilermakers to their own three-yard line.
A drive that started with Tario Fuller's feet in his own end zone ended four minutes and five seconds later with Fuller in Ohio's end zone.
That 97 yard drive was the beginning of the end for the Bobcats, who allowed 24 second quarter points en route to a 44-21 loss to Purdue at Ross-Ade Stadium.
"You’d like to think that somehow you’re gonna force them into punt and get another shot at it," Solich said. "If I had to do it over again, and I knew they were going to go 97 yards, I wouldn’t have punted."
That second quarter was a nightmare for the Bobcats, who allowed 233 yards, including 24 points in the final 6:43 of the quarter.
Purdue receivers ran wide open and running backs went through the line untouched, while Ohio wasn't able to sustain anything offensively. When Farkas punted, Ohio trailed just 10-7. Before anyone knew what happened, the halftime scoreboard read 34-7.
"They were nothing," linebacker Chad Moore said. "They’re nothing special. They’re human beings just like us, and we can tackle ‘em. So they’re nothing special, we just didn’t execute."
The next series for Purdue was something special, though.
A reverse flea-flicker to tight end Cole Herman completely fooled the Ohio defense, who spent that play doing what they did most of the quarter — trying to chase down a Purdue ball-carrier. Purdue took a 24-7 lead after that play, which effectively put the game out of reach.
"We practiced that play 500 times in practice," Moore said. "And when we came to the game, we just didn’t execute. So I think at this time, we just gotta go back to the drawing board, and just go back to the basics."
In the first win of the Jeff Brohm era for the Boilermakers, they kept the Bobcats on their toes the entire night.
Purdue quarterback David Blough went 11-of-13 with 235 yards and three touchdowns. Elijah Sindelar finished 4-of-10 for 60 yards and a touchdown, but was plagued by drops early on in the game.
In essence, the Boilermakers had a chance to make the score look worse in the first quarter. They just didn't capitalize.
"We did not play a very good defensive football game," Solich said. "We had a couple turnovers on offense, so it was a bad game to really not step out and play well in those two categories.”
The Ohio offense turned the ball over twice at the end of the second quarter, both of which led to points for Purdue.
A.J. Ouellette, who had never lost a fumble in his entire career, lost one in the second quarter. Dorian Brown, trying to run out the second quarter clock, was stripped at the Ohio 31-yard line. Purdue scored on the next play.
None of that was the fault of the defense, but the open receivers and missed assignments didn't help things.
One of the lone positives for Ohio was the emergence of quarterback Nathan Rourke, who entered the game late in the first quarter for Quinton Maxwell. Maxwell was 1-of-6 for 12 yards when he was pulled.
Rourke entered, and never left the game. He didn't want to think that he could have.
“They didn’t tell me that I was gonna stay in, but I was playing every series like I might be pulled after that,” Rourke said.
Rourke's inspired play led to an end result of a 16-of-23 night passing with one touchdown, including 36 yards on the ground.
"I’ll visit with coach (Scott) Isphording and we’ll make a determination on that here this week," Solich said of potentially naming Rourke the starter. "But he certainly came in, played with a lot of heart, kept plays alive and made plays.”
Rourke led every scoring drive, but even he couldn't put up enough points to keep up with the high-flying Purdue offense.
Fuller rushed for 142 yards. Five receivers had at least 30 yards and four had touchdowns. It was an offensive bonanza for the Boilermakers, who were always one step ahead of the Bobcats all night long.
Ohio will face Kansas next week, with a lot to learn before that. Quentin Poling might be out for "a game or two," and there might be a new starting quarterback come Monday.
For now, the Bobcats will have to fix whatever mental mistakes plagued them while Purdue ran all over the field, far beyond where any Bobcats stood.
"I mean it just sucks because you know when you come into a powerhouse team like this, and you can compete with them, but yet you don’t," Moore said. "And so when mental mistakes kind of hit you, it really just eats at you."
