Ohio State’s demoralizing 26-23 overtime loss at Purdue last Saturday afternoon put the kibosh on any loose talk about a seventh consecutive Big Ten Championship. It isn’t happening; nor should it. This game once again revealed the Buckeyes for what they are: young, erratic, prone to error, shaky in the defensive back seven, uncertainly coached and reliant more on prayers from playmakers than on the hard currency of execution.

The rest of the sport hasn’t fared much better. All season long, college football has been buffeted by the winds of scandal and upheaval culminating in the tornado of the Jerry Sandusky abuse case. Teams will win games and championship trophies will still be hoisted, awards will still be laid into brawny arms, but the game on the field and all of its trappings has been overshadowed by events off of the field. It’s been that way since this summer.

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The No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (2-0) struggled early, surged late and then finally held on to secure an 81-74 victory over the seventh ranked Florida Gators (1-1) Tuesday night in Columbus.

William Buford led the Buckeyes by scoring 21 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and zero turnovers. Jared Sullinger had 16 points, Deshaun Thomas scored 15 and Aaron Craft added 13 points and seven assists for an Ohio State team that has now beaten Florida in back-to-back years.

When the Gators came out and scorched the nets to start the first half, victory didn’t look so certain for the Buckeyes. Florida started the game connecting on five of their first nine 3-pointers, which helped them build a 17-13 lead through nine minutes of play. What was a rowdy pregame crowd for Ohio State had been hushed by the deadly perimeter shooting Florida is capable of.

“Florida stung us early,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “As young as we are, we were constantly making adjustments coming out of timeouts.”

Florida had all the momentum and a five point lead with just under six minutes to play in the half when things turned around for Ohio State. The Buckeyes changed their pace defensively, adjusting nicely to the method Florida uses to run their pick and rolls. Ohio State closed out the first half on a 13-5 run and began the second half with a 7-2 spurt that sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

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Ohio State had the potential game-winning extra point blocked with less than a minute to play in regulation, and then fell to Purdue in overtime 26-23 on Saturday in West Lafayette. The Buckeyes (6-4, 3-3) got behind early once again, failing to hold the lead at any point in the game, and Braxton Miller’s late-game magic ran out after four quarters.

Miller’s scrambling, 4th-down touchdown pass to Jordan Hall in the final minute of play evoked memories of his game-saver against Wisconsin two weeks ago. But Purdue’s Bruce Gaston got up to block Drew Basil’s PAT attempt, giving the Boilermakers new life, and they took advantage of it in the extra session.

The Boilermakers moved the ball with surprising ease before the half against the OSU defense, and despite some effective adjustments by the Buckeyes after halftime, Purdue found a way to score a TD in overtime, ending the game on a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line after holding Ohio State to a field goal on their overtime possession.

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The Ohio State men’s basketball team kicked off their season with a big win over Wright state Friday night, handling the Raiders 73-42 in front of nearly 16,000 Buckeye fans in Columbus.

Consensus preseason All-American Jared Sullinger battled through constant double teams and scored 19 points to go along with nine rebounds. William Buford chipped in 13 points of his own and Aaron Craft added 10. And while the Buckeyes managed a 31 point victory, Ohio State coach Thad Matta and the players felt like they didn’t play their best basketball.

“I think we could have done better on the offensive end,” Buford said after the game. “Just executing our plays and everything.”

Finding a flow offensively was a challenge for both teams considering the whistle happy officials, who by the end of the game had called 48 fouls total. Thad Matta mentioned in his postgame press conference that it was hard for his team to find a groove when there wasn’t a point in the game where three possessions played out without a foul. For a team looking to build an offensive identity without Jon Diebler’s outside shooting -- the type of game that played out was the last thing they wanted.

“Well, we got in a flow at the free-throw line,” Sullinger joked when talking about the game. But in truth, that’s where the Buckeyes did the most damage. Ohio State scored more than a third of their points (26) at the free throw line on Friday night.

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