After a two-game road trip to the West Coast, No. 11 Purdue has a quick turnaround, hosting Ohio State at Mackey Arena on Tuesday. Boilermakers coach Matt Painter says that, despite the Buckeyes’ record, he expects a really tough game in West Lafayette.

Purdue enters the game on a seven-game winning streak, winning six of those by double digits. Ohio State, on the other hand, has dropped each of its last three games, losing by a combined five points.

While the Buckeyes have had some late-game errors that have cost them, Painter said Jake Diebler and his staff are bring an extremely talented team to Mackey Arena.

“They’re 2-5 in our league and they’re three possessions away from being 5-2. I think you’ve got to keep that in perspective,” Painter said. “The games they’ve lost, the last one (to Indiana) in overtime, and the other ones could have went either way.

“They’re a very good team, Bruce Thornton is very talented, (John) Mobley (Jr.) is a guy you have to be aware of at all times.”

Four Buckeyes enter Tuesday night’s contest averaging double digits. Thornton is the leader, posting 17.4 points per game while shooting 52.6% from the floor and 41.1% from 3-point range.

His physical style of play and ability to knock down shots anywhere on the court could cause some problems for Purdue’s defense.

“He can get to his kill spots. He’s shifty, he’s quick, but he’s also physical,” Painter said. “He can get to the basket, he can make pull-up threes, but he can also get into the paint, jump stop and make that reverse pivot shot where he fades away and knocks that down. He also plays off his shot fake and draws fouls.

“Just a versatile guard. A versatile lead guard who is good at distributing the ball, but also being aggressive and scoring.”

Devin Royal — who missed last week’s game against Indiana — is averaging 13.8 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. Mobley is scoring 12.5 per game and Micah Parris is adding 10.5 per contest. In other words, Ohio State has a lot of weapons.

Purdue’s defense has been stifling recently, holding each of its last seven opponents to 68 points or less. The Boilermakers are also forcing turnovers at a much higher rate, with opponents giving the ball up 14.6 times per game in the last seven contests.

It’s going to take another strong defensive effort from Purdue to try and quiet an Ohio State offense that has plenty of scorers on the floor.

“Across the board, they have a good team. They have good athleticism on their front line, good size, they have depth,” Painter said. “It’s going to be a tough game.”

KAUFMAN-RENN EARNS NATIONAL HONOR: Purdue junior forward Trey Kaufman-Renn was named the Naismith Men’s College Player of the Week after leading the Boilers to wins over Washington and Oregon. CLICK HERE

PURDUE JUMPS IN LATEST AP POLL: After wins over Washington and Oregon to extend its winning streak to seven games, Purdue jumped up six spots to No. 11 in the latest Associated Press poll. CLICK HERE

BRADEN SMITH MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICAN: Purdue guard Braden Smith has been tabbed as a midseason first-team All-American by FOX. He’s averaging 15.1 points, 8.9 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals. CLICK HERE

PAINTER GETS MAJOR SHOUTOUT: FOX college basketball broadcaster John Fanta is giving Purdue coach Matt Painter incredible praise for the job he’s done with the 2024-25 Boilermakers so far. CLICK HERE

Ohio State football and coach Ryan Day made a coaching hire splash in the offseason, when it hired former UCLA coach Chip Kelly as offensive coordinator.

It was an interesting move for Kelly, who decided he’d rather be the offensive coordinator at Ohio State than the head coach at UCLA, a position he held from 2018-23.

Day and Kelly have history, which made the move make sense, as Kelly was Day’s offensive coordinator when Day was New Hampshire’s quarterback from 1998-2001. Day was also the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers when Kelly was an NFL head coach.

REQUIRED READING: Ryan Day, assistants see bonus total rise further with Ohio State’s run to CFP title game

Day’s first coaching job as New Hampshire’s tight ends coach in 2002 was also under Kelly’s offense.

Kelly, who won three Pac-12 championships and led Oregon to the 2011 national championship, is among the most experienced offensive minds in all of college football.

Here’s why Kelly left UCLA for Ohio State ahead of the 2024-25 season:

Why did Chip Kelly leave UCLA for Ohio State?

Kelly explained his decision to move from UCLA head coach to assistant at Ohio State in his first spring with the Buckeyes in March.

Kelly, who hadn’t been an assistant being the offensive coordinator at Oregon in 2008, coached UCLA’s quarterbacks for the Bruins’ LA Bowl matchup with Boise State, after Ryan Gunderson left to be the offensive coordinator at Oregon State.

He said being a position coach reinvigorated his love for football.

“I actually coached the quarterbacks for the bowl game, and I just started to think, like I hadn’t actually coached a position since 2008,” Kelly told reporters in his introductory press conference. “I think my wife remarked, she was like, ‘I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.’ And, to me, the best part of football is football. And so, you got to do football, and not do some of the things involved with the head coaching deal.”

Kelly then said he started looking into possible opportunities to be an assistant coach again.

“So I started to look into, ‘Is there an opportunity?’” Kelly said. “And it would have had to been the right spot to go somewhere and just coach a position again and be back with that group.”

Kelly has been the head coach at Oregon and UCLA, and also the NFL’s Eagles and 49ers since he last stint as an assistant.

Of course, it would’ve taken one of the top assistant roles in college football to likely lure Kelly away from UCLA, which Ohio State provided. It’s unclear what some of the things with head coaching were that turned Kelly away from the Bruins, however, with the current age of college football in recruiting, name, image and likeness and also leading UCLA into a new conference, it likely took a toll on Kelly’s time.

Kelly said being a head coach in the current era of college football requires being a “CEO.”

“I just want to be happy. And I’m really happy coaching the position,” Kelly said. “Really happy to be at this place. It would have taken a special place for me to leave UCLA, because I love those players and I love that coaching staff, but to be here with Ryan, had a great relationship, I’ve known Ryan since he was a little kid. So, I think a lot of things just fell into place that way.”

Kelly took the job that was previously filled by Bill O’Brien during the offseason, but O’Brien never actually coached the Buckeyes as he turned around and took the head coaching position at Boston College, leaving the opportunity open for Kelly.

“Sometimes I do a lot of things other people don’t do,” Kelly said with a laugh. “I don’t know if that’s right or wrong.”

Chip Kelly contract

According to USA TODAY’s assistant coaches’ salary database, Kelly is the eighth-highest paid assistant in college football, making $2 million this year.

He also can make up to $940,000 in bonuses.

Chip Kelly buyout

Ohio State paid UCLA $1.5 million to hire him as offensive coordinator, according to USA TODAY’s salary database. Ohio State also paid an undetermined amount to reduce the tax impact on Kelly.

Kelly signed a contract extension with the Bruins in 2023, which would’ve paid him $6.1 million in 2024.

ATLANTA — The sports world will be watching Ohio State and Notre Dame Monday night with the national championship at stake. 

So will Rich Hansen, but he will be particularly focused on two guys: Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon and Notre Dame defensive end RJ Oben. 

St. Peter’s Prep of Jersey City will be on center stage, featuring two of its alums in college football’s biggest game. The duo played together for three seasons. 

“I’m excited for them, man,” Hansen, the school’s athletic director and former football coach, said. “These two guys are among the finest humans walking the planet, and I mean that. Obviously they possess an athletic skill set, but there’s so much more to them, you know. 

“They embraced the grind, the competition and challenge, and that’s really what sets them apart. Their work ethic, they carried themselves with maturity and class here. I can’t think of two guys who are more deserving to be in that environment and have that opportunity. It was the honor of my career to coach two guys like that.” 

Both Simon and Oben have helped their respective defenses be among the country’s best.

Simon led Ohio State in tackles with 104 and notched seven sacks and seven passes defensed.

He was the Defensive MVP of the Rose Bowl, a one-sided Buckeyes victory over Oregon in which he had 11 tackles and two sacks.

In his first season at Notre Dame, after spending the first five years of his career at Duke, Oben had 18 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. 

Both had to be patient.

Simon waited his turn at Ohio State, finally breaking out as a fifth-year senior.

Oben, the son of former Giants offensive lineman Roman Oben, didn’t play quite as much as he may have liked this year, but he came up big in a quarterfinal win over Georgia with a strip sack. 

Now, the two former high school teammates will share the same field one more time as opponents at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. 

“I talked to RJ a couple days ago. It’s always bigger than the rivalry or anything,” Simon said. “I just appreciate he’s in the position with me and we can all share the moment. Two guys from the same high school are pretty cool. 

“We have a term called, ‘Prep for Life.’ That really does run deep. There’s a lot of people who have come from our school, and we always try to stay connected. It does mean a lot for our high school.” 

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Ohio State linebacker Cody Simon and Notre Dame defensive end RJ Oben.

The only problem for St. Peter’s Prep and Hansen is picking a side. The former coach can’t do it. He does have a dream for Monday night, though. 

“I am rooting for the first ever 0-0 tie in national championship college football history,” Hansen joked. “That’s the bad part of this whole thing. Someone is going to walk off losing and neither one of them deserves to lose. But I’m going to honestly just enjoy their effort and know that they really deserve to be in this environment.”