The common thought among Ohio State fans heading into Saturday’s matchup with Purdue was that, while Purdue can score on Ohio State’s struggling defense, Ohio State would be able to win a shootout. We found out the hard way how far from the truth that was. While Ohio State’s defensive issues are probably more pressing than those of the offense, the offense should not escape criticism for that performance.
Before we do that though, I think it’s important to get to the bottom of why fans, and perhaps the Buckeye staff, assumed Ohio State would be able to win a shootout.