Reality Returns to Purdue : Big Ten: Ohio State exploits poor pass defense in 48-14 thumping of Boilermakers.

COLUMBUS, Ohio —  Purdue Coach Jim Colletto heard a lot of people calling his team a contender in the Big Ten. But he never believed it.

After 24th-ranked Ohio State, 6-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big 10, administered a 48-14 beating Saturday, Colletto said the Boilermakers (4-2-1, 2-1-1) are still a long way from being among the conference’s elite teams.

“Everything in this game was lousy,” said Colletto, a former offensive coordinator at Ohio State under John Cooper. “People were getting on the bandwagon. I know we’re better than we were (last year), but I was petrified that what happened today might happen.”

Ohio State moved into a tie for second in the conference, a game back of top-ranked Penn State, which plays host to the Buckeyes next Saturday.

Bob Hoying threw four touchdown passes and had a career-high 290 passing yards in the first half as the Buckeyes disarmed the Boilermakers.

Hoying, who finished with 304 yards passing, tied John Borton’s 42-year-old Ohio State record with his fifth touchdown pass on the first series of the second half.

Hoying completed 19 of 23 passes in the first half and completed his only attempt of the second half.

“The thing I was doing today was making good decisions,” Hoying said. “Early in the game, they were playing man-to-man defense in the secondary and not blitzing. You usually don’t see that. And it was my job to take advantage of it. I got into a groove early and kept it going.”

The 304 yards made for the fifth-highest total in Ohio State history and the 290 yards were the most in the first half by a Buckeyes quarterback.

“Bob passed with great confidence today. He reached his zone and that is where we need him to be,” said Joey Galloway, who had seven catches for 95 yards and touchdowns of 42, two and 11 yards.

Purdue came in alone in second place in the Big Ten. But the Boilermakers also came in ranked 103rd of 107 Division I-A teams in defense.

“I was scared of their speed,” Colletto said. “We can’t play pass defense.”

Hoying, who had never thrown more than two touchdown passes in a game, also had scoring strikes of 41 and 14 yards to Chris Sanders.

“There’s some things we’re not good at--I’ve known it from day one. Ohio State knew it too and they took care of it,” Colletto said.