Purdue shocks No. 7 Ohio State

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Former Purdue quarterback Drew Brees had a simple message for current Boilermakers signal caller Joey Elliott.

“Drew Brees texted me last night and said: ‘Hey, go out there and shock the world, have fun. I’ll be watching,’ ” Elliott said.

Elliott did as he was told and led Purdue (2-5, 1-2 Big Ten) to its biggest upset in years. He threw for 281 yards and two touchdowns, and the Boilermakers stunned No. 7 Ohio State 26-18 on Saturday.

It was another ugly day for the Buckeyes’ offense. But unlike last week when the defense and special teams provided enough points for Ohio State (5-2, 3-1) to beat Wisconsin, the struggles of quarterback Terrelle Pryor and Co. were too much for the Buckeyes to overcome.

“Yeah, it hurts,” said Pryor, who threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles. “Right now, we’ve just got to be worried about the Big Ten because the national championship is gone.”

This Purdue team had lost five straight coming in and will have to scramble to become bowl eligible.

“They did the things you need to do to win a good Big Ten ballgame,” Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. “Obviously, we were disappointed. We felt we could play better than we did, but the true test of a team is how you handle difficult situations.”