Honoring and remembering the late Rondale Moore among the greatest individual performances ever in beating the Buckeyes
Since Tim Biakabutuka, perhaps no conference player did more in a game to single-handedly take down the Buckeyes.
COLUMBUS — Getting Biakabutukaed.
It’s when an Ohio State opponent exhibits such excellence, he almost beats the Buckeyes by himself.
On Nov. 23, 1995, Michigan ran 75 plays against Ohio State. Thirty-eight of them were not runs by Tim Biakabutuka. They went for 171 yards, averaging 4.5 yards per play. Thirty-seven of them were runs by Biakabutuka. They went for 313 yards, averaging 8.5 yards per play.
Biakabutuka ran for 22 and 19 yards on the first two plays of the game and never looked back. He set the record that still stands for most rushing yards by an Ohio State opponent, nearly tripled the output of soon-to-be Heisman winner Eddie George, and carried the Wolverines to a 31-23 win over the No. 2 undefeated Buckeyes.
Ask for the greatest feats by opponents in Ohio State history, and this is what pops to mind for most of you.
“I was in the stands for the Tim Biakabutuka game,” wrote SL in our Substack chat. “It was the first away game I ever attended and (it) impacted me so much that I have never attended another away game. It was soul crushing!”
You could argue that in the 30 years since that November day in Ann Arbor, no opponent has Biakabutukaed the Buckeyes more than Rondale Moore.
On Saturday, Moore took his own life at the age of 25. According to police in New Albany, Ind., he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft, Moore had missed his last two NFL seasons with injuries. He last two seasons in college were limited by injuries as well — he played just seven games combined in 2019 and 2020.
He’s gone far too soon. Moore was at Purdue just three seasons, but he graduated with honors. He was just 5-foot-7, but he was a Top 50 NFL draft pick. Here’s how Eron Hodges, a former assistant to Mark Pantoni at Ohio State who was the director of player personnel at Purdue during Moore’s time there, remembered him.
Here’s how Ohio State fans remember Moore: 12 catches, 170 yards and two touchdowns in a 49-20 win over the Buckeyes on Oct. 20, 2018.
Moore had 14 touches (he also had 2 carries for 24 yards) for 194 yards in that game. That’s 13.9 yards per play. The rest of the Purdue offense ran 58 plays for 345 yards. That’s 5.9 yards per play.
Moore had already put the Big Ten on notice. He’d gained at least 100 yards in four of six games before Ohio State and was second in the conference in receiving. That production could have come in scarlet and gray. Before the Buckeyes went to West Lafayette that season, I talked to Moore on the phone for a story about successful small slot receivers in the Big Ten, and he mentioned Urban Meyer calling him during his uncle’s wedding.
"He told me about Ohio State and the opportunity I would have there," Moore said then. “We talked about that I had a place there if I wanted to call it home."
He instead chose Purdue, where he had an early playing opportunity and a connection to head coach Jeff Brohm. Against the Buckeyes, in the game that would serve as the highlight of his football career, you couldn’t have argued Moore should be anywhere else.
By the time Moore caught a swing pass 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage with the Boilermakers up two touchdowns and just under four minutes to play in the third quarter, he’d already given the Buckeyes headaches.
Then he put them away. As you can see in the clip below (it’s set to start at this play), Moore evaded one tackle to make the first down on third-and-7, then ran into and through OSU safety Isaiah Pryor to break off a 43-yard touchdown that sealed the victory.
Missed tackles were a story for the OSU defense that night.
But you also didn’t see many Buckeye opponents like Moore.
“There is nothing worse than losing. In rare instances, sometimes all you can do is tip your cap,” Gavi S wrote in our chat. “Rondale Moore made me tip my cap.”
“None of us were happy about it, I’m sure, but we all knew we witnessed something we wouldn’t forget any time soon,” wrote Geoff.
“I am shook by this news about Rondale. His 43-yard TD, running through the Buckeyes as a true freshman, has stuck with me in a way that college football greatness often does,” Evan wrote.
Brohm, the Purdue head coach from that night, later won a Big Ten West title with the Boilermakers and is now entering Year 4 as the head coach at Louisville, his alma mater.
Purdue receivers coach JaMarcus Shepard, Moore’s position coach, was named the Oregon State head coach this offseason.
Quarterback David Blough, who threw for 378 yards, was named the offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders this offseason at age 30.
But the two true driving forces of arguably the greatest win in Ross-Ade Stadium history are now gone.
Tyler Trent, the 20-year-old Purdue student who was the inspiration for the Boilermakers in that game, predicted the victory and spoke to the team after the game, died from bone cancer less than three months later. From the moment it happened, that win was the Tyler Trent game.
It was also the Rondale Moore game.
Nobody wants their team to lose. But if it happens, you appreciate when the win means so much to other side. It meant so much to Purdue then, and maybe even more now.
Wrote Seth in the chat: “I was at that game and as we were leaving, I found I didn’t feel as angry as normal after a loss. They just had it that night, and Moore was obviously a huge part of that. … With (Trent) in attendance getting to see his team win, a game like that definitely put things in perspective.”
With that, here the biggest examples of the Buckeyes getting Biakabutukaed since 1995.
These are my parameters for this: an extraordinary effort by a Big Ten opponent that led to a victory over the Buckeyes.
The reason for that definition is it appreciates extraordinary achievement in ordinary circumstances. I’d say postseason experiences are different, because you are often anticipating greatness from the opposition in those circumstances.
So for getting Biakabutukaed, that means no postseason games, like these performances, some of which were mentioned in the chat:
Alabama WR DeVonta Smith: 12 catches, 215 yards, three touchdowns in the 52-24 National Championship Game win to end the 2020 season (Mac Jones also threw for 464 yards in this game).
Miami DEs Akheem Mesidor and Ruben Bain: 3 combined sacks in the 24-14 2025 playoff quarterfinal win.
Florida DEs Derrick Harvey and Jarvis Moss: 5 combined sacks in the 41-14 National Championship Game win after the 2006 season.
Clemson WR Sammy Watkins: 227 receiving yards (the most ever against Ohio State) in a 40-35 Orange Bowl win to end the 2013 season.
USC RB Charles White: 247 rushing yards in a 17-16 win in the Rose Bowl to end the 1979 season.
Texas QB Colt McCoy and WR Quan Cosby: McCoy threw for 414 yards and two touchdowns and Cosby had 14 catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-21 Fiesta Bowl win to end the 2008 season.
South Carolina RB Ryan Brewer: 201 yards from scrimmage and three touchdowns in a 24-7 Outback Bowl win to end the 2000 season. Some were particularly annoyed by the announcers harping on the fact that Brewer was from Ohio.
It also means no major non-conference games during the regular season, because you get geared up and often expect greatness there, too. Like:
Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield: 386 passing yards and three touchdowns in a 31-16 win in Ohio Stadium in 2017.
Stanford QB John Elway: 407 passing yards and two touchdowns in a 23-20 win in Ohio Stadium in 1982.
It also means no great performances when the Buckeyes still won. You can admire the effort, but getting Biakabutukaed hurts more than that. So no:
Buffalo DE Khalil Mack: 2.5 sacks and nine tackles in a 40-20 loss to the Buckeyes in the 2013 opener.
Northern Illinois RB Garrett Wolfe: 285 yards from scrimmage on 31 touches in a 35-12 loss in the 2006 opener.
Maryland RB Anthony McFarland: 298 rushing yards (second-most vs. the Buckeyes) in a 52-51 loss in 2018.
Indiana QB Michael Penix: 491 passing yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 loss in 2020 (Ty Fryfogle also had 218 receiving yards).
Penn State RB Saquan Barkley: In his fifth career game in 2015, Barkley carried 26 times for 194 yards in a performance that made you ask, ‘Who is that?’ But Ohio State still won 38-10.
This also means nothing before 1995. We are in the post-Biakabutuka world. But a shoutout to Illinois quarterback Dave Wilson, who holds the record for passing yards against the Buckeyes by throwing for 621 yards in a 49-42 loss to Ohio State in 1980.
So … regular season, Big Ten opponent, beat the Buckeyes, since 1995.
The eight best individual performances against Ohio State:
Michigan RB Donovan Edwards, 2022: With starting RB Blake Corum out, and with a cast on his right hand forcing him to carry the ball in his left hand, Edwards put Ohio State away with touchdown runs of 75 and 85 yards in the fourth quarter. He finished with 22 carries for 216 yards in a 45-23 win. It’s the seventh-highest rushing total against the Buckeyes.
Penn State RB Curtis Enis, 1997: He carried 23 times for 211 yards, while the Nittany Lions completed just 14 of 30 passes for 129 yards. Enis scored the go-ahead touchdown in the 31-27 win for the No. 2 Nittany Lions over the No. 7 Buckeyes on a 26-yard run in the fourth quarter. This ranks eighth in all-time rushing performances against Ohio State.
Purdue DE Ryan Kerrigan, 2009: This one always sticks in my head as Kerrigan, a junior with 12 career sacks, exploded for three sacks and nine tackles as the Boilermakers upset No. 7 Ohio State 26-18. He went on to be a first-round NFL Draft pick.
Michigan State WR Plaxico Burress, 1998: The 6-foot-5 Burress had several drops but every catch he made was a big one. He hauled in four receptions for 125 yards, including a 37-yarder on the Spartans’ go-ahead drive in the second half. Down 15, Michigan Stated rallied to knock off the No. 1 Buckeyes 28-24.
Illinois QB Juice Williams, 2007: He was only 12 of 22 for 140 yards, but that included four touchdown passes. Williams also ran for 70 yards on 16 carries as the Illini upset the No. 1 Buckeyes 28-21 in Columbus on Nov. 10. (Linebacker J Leman also deserves a nod for his 12 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, in this game.)
Minnesota WR Ron Johnson, 2000: The Gophers threw for just 243 yards, but 163 of that went to Johnson. It was one of five 100-yard games for Johnson that year, as Minnesota won 29-17, the Gophers’ last win over the Buckeyes.
Purdue QB Drew Brees, 2000: Despite throwing four interceptions, the future Pro Football Hall of Famer led the Boilermakers to a 31-27 win in West Lafayette. He hit Seth Morales for a 65-yard touchdown with just under two minutes to play for the game-winner, and he finished 39 of 65 for 455 yards and three touchdowns. It’s the sixth-highest passing game against the Buckeyes.
Purdue RB Rondale Moore, 2018: He had more receiving yards against Vanderbilt in 2019, with 13 catches for 220 yards, but the win over the Buckeyes remains his defining game. The 170 yards are the 13th-best receiving effort against Ohio State, and the fourth-most while beating the Buckeyes. (Watkins, Smith, Minnesota’s Chester Cooper in 1981, and Cosby are ahead of him.) That’s 14 touches, 194 yards from scrimmage, and the adoration of his fanbase and the respect of the other.
And I think it deserves to be No. 1 on this list … the best individual Big Ten performance in a win over the Buckeyes since Tim Biakabutuka.
The next time a Big Ten opponent has a great game against the Buckeyes and beats them almost single-handedly, maybe you’ll tip your cap and say that Ohio State just got Rondale Moored.
Because that guy was special.
Rest in peace, Rondale and Tyler.
I just remember setting up my usual pre-game munchies and celebratory beverages as the network did an in-depth report on Tyler Trent.
I thought, "Oh dear Lord, we are so screwed"
And then Rondale Moore took the field and proceeded to demolish the Ohio State defense.
Yikes!
At least Tyler and the Trent family had that moment to prop them up at a horrendously difficult time. And we got to see a virtuosick performance unlike many others.