This game was a pretty big deal at the time. Some say this was the greatest game in Ohio State history. That sounds strange to say now, but the Buckeyes program had been heading down hill for a while and this game was seemingly the turning point. I’ll buy into that.

Purdue was ranked #1 in the country. They had a big line on both sides of the football, with stars like quarterback Mike Phipps and running back Leroy Keyes, they were deserving of their ranking.

Keyes was a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate at running back, but the Boilermakers would split him out at wide receiver and he was considered uncover able. But, Keyes promoted himself and declared that he was, indeed, too good to be covered by one guy. Purdue also proclaimed Keyes as the best player in the country and pushed him for the Heisman.

But, that wasn’t all for Purdue, the Boilermakers had another running back named Perry Williams that was big and fast.

One of the Purdue defensive linemen was big Ron Maree from South Carolina who stood 6-6, 275.

That was a big man for the 1960s era.

The Boilermakers had beaten Virginia, 2nd ranked Notre Dame and Northwestern, all pretty badly, and they were 3-0 coming in. More about Purdue vs Notre Dame: #1 vs #2

The Ohio State Buckeyes were 2-0 with wins over SMU and Oregon. The Buckeyes were ranked 4th in the country, but they were basically unknowns at the time. People didn’t follow college football recruiting back in the 1960s like they do now, but Woody Hayes and his staff had signed one of the top all time recruiting classes in 1967. Led by quarterback Rex Kern, this class was deep and it was talented. Jack Tatum was a running back out of New Jersey that converted to safety and was more than outstanding. John Brockington was a big running back from Brooklyn, New York that was one of the very best in the country. Jim Stillwagon was an Ohio kid that chose to stay home and play for the Buckeyes and he was a lineman that ran like a deer.

The list just goes on and on.

The previous season, Purdue thumped the Buckeyes 41-6 and it could have been much worse. It was 35-0 at halftime. For some odd reason, the game was in Columbus for two seasons in a row, and the talented group of freshmen had to sit in the stands and watch their varsity get squashed, 41-6.

Purdue was favored by 13 points in this game, and few people gave Ohio State even a slight chance of winning.

Ohio State fans were growing tired of Woody Hayes. He’d lost his touch and was past his prime, so they said. Time for Woody to go. Airplanes were pulling banners saying things like “Bye Woody’. Buckeye fans wanted Woody out and some new blood running the program.

Same old story, fans have always been the same. Firing the coach is always the answer to the average fan. If they’d have fired Woody in 1967, they would have missed a lot of good football at Ohio State including a national championship.

On the opening kickoff the Buckeye return man was driven backwards by several Boilermakers, but

was all Ohio State after that.

Of the Ohio State starters, 14 of them were sophomores as the amazing Super Sophomores took their place in the pecking order. They were tired of hearing about the Boilermakers, too.

Unheard of at the time, but the Buckeyes came out and ran a no huddle offense. They had the plays called on the sidelines, or called 3 at one time in the huddle.

As big as the Purdue offensive and defensive lines were, Woody Hayes felt they were slow and out of shape and he took it to them.

On the opening drive, big John Brockington took the ball around left end and ran it all the way down inside the Purdue 20 yard line. But, a holding penalty brought it back.

Quarterback Rex Kern hit Jan White with a pass and White broke tackles and carried down to the Purdue 11. This time, it was a clipping penalty that brought it back.

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When the drive stalled there, the Ohio State missed a chip shot field goal. It would be the first of three that he would miss in the first half.

Between missed field goals and overthrown sure touchdown passes, the score remained 0-0 throughout the first half.

The first half saw the Buckeyes run up and down the field, but unable to score. The Boilermakers were unable to do anything the entire first half. They had come in with the high powered passing and running attack and had been shut down from the opening kick.

On the 4th play of the 3rd quarter, Ohio State cornerback Ted Provost stepped in front of a Mike Phipps pass and ran it 35 yards for a touchdown. The dominating Buckeyes were on the scoreboard, finally.

Of course, their kicker missed the extra point, so the lead remained at 6-0.

Two plays previously, Purdue had tried the exact same pass and Jack Tatum nearly picked it off. The Buckeyes changed coverages and Provost fooled Phipps into making the throw and it cost the Boilermakers dearly.

Just a few minutes later, Phipps dropped back to pass again and this time nose guard Jim Stillwagon was back in coverage and stepped in front of the receiver and picked off another pass at the Purdue 25 yard line. Stillwagon played over the center, normally, but he was so athletic that they dropped him back into coverage like a linebacker at times. This time it paid off royally for the Buckeye

defense.

3 straight carries by big Buckeye fullback Jim Otis got the ball down to about the Purdue 8 yard line. On a roll out, Rex Kern was tackled for a big loss and was shaken up on the play.

With Kern injured, at least temporarily, Woody Hayes had a decision to make. He could go with experience which meant last year’s starter, Bill Long. The Buckeye fans were unhappy with the 1967 team and that often fell on the quarterback. They wanted no part of Bill Long and said as much.

Or, Woody could have gone with another quarterback from the 1967 Super Sophomore class in Ron Maciejowski. While Rex Kern was Woody’s starter, he was more of a runner and Maciejowski was the better passer.

Woody, much to the chagrin of a record setting Buckeye crowd, elected to go with experience and he ran senior quarterback Bill Long into the game. The fans were not happy, but Long quickly turned their jeers into cheers when he dropped back to throw. The middle of the field was open, and Long ran right up the middle for a 15 yard touchdown.

The crowd went wild.

This time, the kicker made the extra point and the lead was 13-0, Ohio State.

Ohio State legend Jack Tatum was assigned to cover Purdue Heisman candidate Leroy Keyes during the game when Keyes spread out wide as a receiver and Keyes was not a factor at all.

The Ohio State defense held Purdue to about 100 yards passing and about 57 yards rushing. It was an incredible effort for the Buckeye defense. Tatum may have deserved the game ball, but the entire Ohio State defense was incredible that day.

As Rex Kern downed the ball to end the game, the Buckeye players carried Woody Hayes off the field. It was an amazing sight and a very loud environment.

Purdue would never be the top ranked team in the nation again in my life time. They lost one more game, to Minnesota, and only one team from the Big 10 could go bowling back then, so they finished with an 8-2 record.

Ohio State dropped to number 2 in the polls after this game and chased the defending national champions, the USC Trojans, all year long.