Inoffensive Buckeyes win again

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The snap was good. The hold was good. Ohio State's luck was really good.

The fourth-ranked Buckeyes pulled another magical escape in a tight spot Saturday, beating No. 11 Purdue 16-13 in overtime when Ben Jones missed a 36-yard field goal on the final play.

"It felt good off my foot," Jones said. "Then I looked up . . . "

Asked what went wrong, Purdue coach Joe Tiller stared straight ahead and said, "There was nothing. Nothing. We missed it."

Mike Nugent kicked a 36-yard field goal of his own in OT, which ended up giving the Buckeyes their third win of the season without scoring an offensive touchdown.

The Boilermakers almost blocked Nugent's kick.

"Yeah, the last field goal was tipped," holder B.J. Sander said. "I think it was No. 59 (linebacker Stanford Keglar). He got a piece of it. But Nuge is a great kicker, and he put it through."

Nugent could have won the game on the last play of regulation, but Purdue's Bobby Iwuchukwu leaped high to block a 41-yard try.

Despite that failing, Nugent said he and the kick unit were abundantly confident when they came out for the final time.

"People are really relaxed," he said. "I go out there, and I don't see anyone's eyes open. It's real scary. Everyone's real confident. We do what we know we can do, we know we should come out on top."

Jones also shanked a 28-yard attempt in the third quarter with the game tied at 6.

The victory keeps the Buckeyes (10-1, 6-1) tied with No. 5 Michigan for the Big Ten lead heading into their showdown Saturday in Ann Arbor. The Wolverines beat Northwestern 41-10 on Saturday.

Purdue (8-3, 5-2) lost its sixth in a row to the Buckeyes in Columbus. A year ago, the Boilermakers led Ohio State 6-3 with less than two minutes remaining at home when the Buckeyes' Craig Krenzel threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Michael Jenkins on fourth-and-1 for a 10-6 win.

"This is not an easy one," Tiller said.

Ohio State, the defending national champion, kept alive its streak of winning close calls. The Buckeyes were 7-0 in games decided by a touchdown or less a year ago and are 5-1 this season — the lone setback a 17-10 loss in the rain at Wisconsin.