Way upthread I asked how Ohio State managed to throw for ~500 yards and only score 20 points. Much of the discussion here has focused on Ohio State's difficulties converting chances to points and The OZone (tOSU fan site) has
an article that really puts this in perspective.
They consider a first down inside the opponent's 40 to be what they call a "scoring chance". In the game Saturday night Ohio State had one TD without a first down inside Purdue's 40: Ohio State's first TD came on 2nd and 1 from the 32 after a first down on the Purdue 41. Purdue had three TD's without a first down inside tOSU's 40: their fourth TD was a 42 yard run, their sixth TD was a 43 yard pass, and their final TD was a pick-6.
That is a pretty glaring 21-7 advantage for Purdue in TD's without a first down inside the opponent's 40 but the Buckeyes could easily have made up for that if they had been able to capitalize on their scoring chances:
- Purdue had four drives that included a first down inside the tOSU 40: On those four drives they scored four TD's.
- Ohio State had SEVEN drives that included a first down inside the PU 40: On those seven drives they:
- Made a FG from the PU 6
- Missed a FG from the PU 15
- Made a FG from the PU 6
- Lost the Ball on Downs at the PU 2
- Punted after gaining ZERO yards on a three-and-out from the PU 37
- Scored a TD on 4th and 5 from the PU 34 after having a first down at the PU 39
- Ran out of time at the PU 17
Even the ONE TD that Ohio State did score on a "scoring chance" only happened because it was late in the game and the Buckeyes were down 35-13. In a normal situation the Buckeyes (or any team) would either punt or try a 51 yard FG when facing 4th and 5 at the opponent's 34.
That is just abysmal. I also think that
@bwarbiany 's point is spot on. The drive where Ohio State lost the ball on downs at the PU 2 started with 23:36 to go in the game and ended with a little under 20 minutes to play. That was the Buckeye's fourth (and last) trip inside the PU 15. They only got six points out of those four trips inside the PU 15 and thus trailed 21-6 with just over a quarter to play. Had the Buckeyes scored a TD and two FG's on the first three then it would have been 21-13 heading into that drive and the Buckeyes would have obviously kicked the easy FG on 4th and Goal from the PU 2 to make it a 21-16 game.
Ohio State has got to get the Redzone issues fixed on both sides of the ball. I don't know that they can, but if they do, they can get back to being a contender and this game will be nothing but a blip. If they can't, they'll struggle with just about every game remaining.
