Buckeye Flashback: Ohio State rallies for dramatic win at Purdue

Published Oct. 31, 2013 6:34 p.m. ET

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Ohio State leads the all-time series with Purdue 39-14-2, and the programs have not been on the same competitive plane for much of the past decade, but that has not prevented the Boilermakers from being a thorn in the Buckeyes' side.

Purdue has won the past two meetings at Ross-Ade Stadium -- where the two teams will face off at noon Saturday -- but a narrow victory there 11 years ago was the runaway winner in a vote for Buckeyes fans' favorite all-time win against the Boilermakers.

2002 
No. 3 Ohio State 10
 Purdue 6

In a game with some similarities to the 1970 contest, Ohio State scored late to avoid being knocked off its national championship path.

This time the offense did not need the special teams to finish the job, however, as quarterback Craig Krenzel went for broke on a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter.

He was supposed to dump the ball to Ben Hartsock for a short gain and a conversion, but the Boilermakers had the OSU tight end covered. That forced Krenzel to look deep, where he found Michael Jenkins running one-on-one with cornerback Antwaun Rogers. Jenkins fought off Rogers’ just long enough to allow Krenzel’s pass to settle into his arms for a stunning 37-yard touchdown pass play that put the Buckeyes on top with 1:36 left in the game in what has come to be known as the “Holy Buckeye” play.

The defense made it stand up as Chris Gamble intercepted a Kyle Orton pass on Purdue’s final possession, allowing the Buckeyes to improve to 11-0.

Mike Doss led the OSU defense with nine tackles while Matt Wilhelm and Dustin Fox both had interceptions.

An injured Maurice Clarett ran for 52 yards while Krenzel passes for 173 and Jenkins finished with 87 yards receiving.

If you enjoyed that stroll down memory lane, be sure to check out the rest of our nominees from BuckeyeSports.com's list of best Buckeye victories against their Big Ten foes.