Buckeyes face another test on road at Purdue

Associated Press

WEST LAFAYETTE, IND.

With little fanfare, things appear to have returned to normal for Ohio State.

The Big Ten season has been dominated by Penn State’s firing of Joe Paterno, Wisconsin’s early run near the top of the polls, Michigan State’s rise and fall, and newcomer Nebraska’s chances at winning the league.

The Buckeyes struggled early while several players were suspended, and seemed a lost team after an epic collapse led to a 34-27 loss at Nebraska.

Now, a three-game winning streak has given the Buckeyes an outside shot at winning the Leaders Division. The Buckeyes are two games behind Penn State and can’t afford to slip at Purdue.

Ohio State linebacker Tyler Moeller doesn’t expect focus to be an issue.

“We do have a strong identity,” he said. “We’re tough. Anything that comes our way I think we can handle. We dealt with so many things on the field, off the field this year. If something happens, I think guys are doing a great job of handling it, kind of just shrugging it off, handling it face up.”

The Buckeyes (6-3, 3-2 Big Ten) had to work for their 34-20 home win against Indiana last Saturday. Ohio State coach Luke Fickell said he hopes his team learned from the close call against the Hoosiers.

“We have to make sure our guys can understand the challenges every week whether we’re home or away,” Fickell said.

NOTRE Dame vs. Maryland

landover, md.

Notre Dame will travel halfway across the country to play a “home” game against Maryland in a stadium only 12 miles from the Terrapins’ campus.

It’s all part of Notre Dame’s plan to play one off-site home game per year. The Irish faced Washington State in San Antonio in 2009, hosted Army at Yankee Stadium in 2010 and will face Arizona State at Cowboys Stadium in Texas in 2013.

Next up: FedEx Field, home of the Washington Redskins.

“As we have looked to move one game a season around the country, playing in the Washington D.C. area seemed a natural for us in terms of institutional fit,” Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said.

It can’t hurt recruiting, either. So Irish coach Brian Kelly won’t complain too much about the quirk in the schedule.

“Playing on the East Coast, it’s a great area to recruit, get great exposure on NBC in primetime,” Kelly said. “We’re really happy about those things, but we’re treating it as though we’re going to play Maryland in Maryland.”

Maryland (2-7) has lost five straight.

South Florida 37, Syracuse 17

syracuse, n.y.

B.J. Daniels ran for 117 yards and a touchdown and Demetris Murray scored on two short runs for South Florida’s first Big East win of the season. The win also snapped a four-game losing streak, the longest in program history. The Bulls (5-4, 1-4) had dropped their previous three by a total of 12 points, including 20-17 in overtime at Rutgers a week ago. Syracuse (5-5, 1-4) has lost three straight.