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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ross–Ade Stadium, the home to Purdue football, hasn’t always been kind to Ohio State. In the 2000s, the Buckeyes have made nine trips to West Lafayette, Indiana, and on five occasions, have returned to Columbus with a loss. However, Ohio State is expected to steer clear of any threat this season. The top-ranked Buckeyes will travel to face the Boilermakers on Saturday (1 p.m., Big Ten Network). Ohio State opened as 28.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings. Ahead of the meeting between Ohio State and Purdue, Buckeye Talk Subtext subscribers submitted their most pressing questions about the game. OSU beat reporter Stefan Krajisnik provided answers. Latest Ohio State Buckeyes news ‘We Sayin Heisman’: What Ohio State’s QB said about his candidacy for college football’s top award Ohio State has a weapon headed home for a potentially explosive day: Outrageous Predictions Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin named semifinalist for national award: Buckeye Breakfast ‘Beat Michigan and the world is yours’: Ohio State faces clear path to College Football Playoff’s top seed Will Jeremiah Smith break the receiving touchdown record this season? – 574 area code Wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has had a terrific start to his time at Ohio State, hauling in 24 career touchdown catches midway through his sophomore season. At this rate, with Smith guaranteed to play one more season of collegiate football before he can pursue the NFL, it’s apparent he’ll shatter numerous receiving records at Ohio State. One career record might be broken this season. Chris Olave, now with the New Orleans Saints, caught 35 touchdowns in his time with the Buckeyes (2018-21). That mark remains the highest in program history. If Ohio State makes it to the Big Ten title game and goes as far as the College Football Playoff National Championship Game, Smith will play at least eight more games this season. If he catches 12 touchdowns in those eight games, he’d break Olave’s record. It’s a difficult task for someone to average 1.5 touchdown catches per game, but it wouldn’t be far off his current pace (one per game). Two of Ohio State’s next three opponents (Purdue and Rutgers) rank toward the bottom of the Big Ten in pass defense. Smith could have one massive performance — perhaps where he catches three or four touchdowns — and put himself well on track toward breaking Olave’s record as a sophomore. Who are the biggest threats to Ohio State repeating as champs? – 513 area code The first College Football Playoff rankings were released Tuesday, and they provided an outline of which teams are threats to Ohio State — No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 4 Alabama among the obvious ones. However, teams outside the top five could be worth monitoring. Notre Dame, with a 6-2 record, checked in at No. 10, and the Fighting Irish showed last season they can overcome early-season losses en route to a deep CFP run. Eleventh-ranked Texas also stumbled early but has emerged as a team in the mix. The Longhorns opened their campaign with a loss at Ohio Stadium, and they lost against the Buckeyes in the CFP semifinals last season. However, in both instances, Texas had the ball in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game. UT has shown it can compete with Ohio State, even if it’s lost the last two matchups. Who will be the Block O next year? – Todd from the 561 Linebacker Sonny Styles was an obvious candidate to wear Ohio State’s Block O jersey this season, and the honor became official in August when captains were named. The race for the honor next season might be more complicated. Ohio State will return two obvious candidates: Smith and quarterback Julian Sayin. The two are in the mix for the Heisman Trophy this year, and they’ll be back as unquestioned leaders for their junior season. However, OSU could also have a pair of 2025 captains back for 2026. Receiver Brandon Inniss and left tackle Austin Siereveld would seemingly be candidates for the Block O jersey as well.
