Marve's block
In the final five minutes of the second quarter, after Robert Marve nearly threw an interception but rather ended up with a first down because of a late hit, the Boilermaker quarterback showed great courage and abandon in taking out two Buckeye linemen on a failed reverse.
Justin Siller took an inside handoff crossing right to left and pitched it to O.J. Ross coming the other way. But Ross couldn't get the corner, so he hit the brakes and retreated back the way he came.
As he did, Marve cracked back on 6-foot-4, 302-pound Adam Bellamy, laying a shoulder into him and putting him on his (hindquarters). As Bellamy fell, he did so into the feet of tackle Garrett Goebel, freezing him and giving tackle Trevor Foy a chance to come in and cover him up.
The play, though, wound up losing five yards.
Ohio State's late TD
Braxton Miller's TD pass on fourth down with roughly a minute to play was a remarkable display of athleticism. Just unreal.
On fourth-and-three from the Purdue 13, the freshman QB lined up in shotgun with a single back, Jordan Hall, at his side.
After taking the snap Miller rolled to his right while Hall moved forward and engaged defensive end Gerald Gooden briefly.
Defensive tackle Bruce Gaston generated push, plowing through center Mike Brewster and lineman Corey Linsley and leaving Brewster laying on his (hindquarters) in Miller's path as he rolled out. The QB hurdled his offensive lineman inside of Gaston's rush and got outside.
With nowhere to run Miller pulled up and looked back the other way, with Adam Brockman - who'd replaced the banged-up Ryan Russell - bearing down.
Just as Brockman hit him, Miller flung the ball all the way back to the opposite side of the field's goal line, where Hall was just barely behind Josh Johnson, who was abandoned on that side of the field covering two guys, as safety Logan Link pursued the quarterback.
Before Johnson could recover, Hall went up at the 2 and grabbed the ball in a play eerily similar to Michael Jenkins' TD against Purdue in 2002 in a similar situation, also on fourth down.
The blocked PAT
On what might have been the game-winning extra point, Bruce Gaston and Kawann Short lined up left of center on the line.
Probably knowing Short's prowess for blocking field goals, both snapper George Makridis and lineman Corey Linsley took him on, with Linsley leaning inside toward Short, creating a gap for Gaston to get push and throw his right hand up and hit the ball.
Amazingly, the ball came off Gaston's hand and plunked the crossbar. A few inches higher and it might have still gone through.
Marve's interception
Any chance Purdue had to win the game in regulation went up in smoke when Marve threw an interception in Buckeye territory.
We can't tell you for sure where the play was designed to go, but Marve initially looked left when he took the snap before immediately looking back right, where O.J. Ross briefly seemed to have one-on-one coverage.
With the pocket collapsing, Marve let it rip up the right sideline, but the ball was well overthrown. The wind was at the quarterback's back.
Safety Orhian Johnson swooped in behind the play and easily picked the pass off. It never came close to Ross.
Had the play been allowed to develop the other way, Justin Siller might have been open for a 10-or-so-yard gain. But it appeared that initially, Ohio State had most everything covered.
Third-and-four in OT
After Bolden got stuffed on second down, Purdue found itself in third-and-four at the 19.
After a timeout, Purdue lined up three receivers to Marve's left, and he looked that way. But finding nothing to his liking, the QB took off running right, breaking between D-tackle Garrett Goebel and end Solomon Thomas, who were engaged with Trevor Foy and Nick Mondek, respectively.
About two yards shy of the first down, Corey Brown got both arms around Marve as Travis Howard approached. But Marve broke Brown's tackle and was spinning around as Howard got there too late. He got the first down with the six-yard gain.
Marve to Bush
On third-and-12, after Purdue's standard red-zone call - the jailbreak screen - lost yards, Marve again rolled out to his right, with Gary Bush lining up to the far right and running across the middle of the field.
Bush was open the whole time, but Marve waited until two Buckeyes converged on him to let it fly, giving the receiver time to get to where Marve wouldn't have to throw across his body.
Bush had to extend with two arms to bring in the pass right at the mark, a few steps in front of the trailing C.J. Barnett. Bush's momentum carried him out of bounds at the half-yard line just before he could reach the ball over the pylon.
The game-winner
From the half-yard line, Purdue lined up with a full backfield, only to spread everyone out pre-snap, splitting running back Ralph Bolden out left with two other receivers and fullback Jared Crank out right.
Marve then just took the snap and got in behind left tackle Dennis Kelly and left guard James Shepherd for the sneak. He was met at the goal line by Greenwood's own Joel Hale, a freshman D-end, but had no issue slipping off the contact and reaching the ball across the goal line for the game-winner.
Copyright, Boilers, Inc. 2011. All Rights Reserved. Reproducing or using editorial or graphical content, in whole or in part, without permission, is strictly prohibited. E-mail GoldandBlack.com/Boilers, Inc.
Check out GoldandBlack.com on
