Ohio State apparently got tired of hearing, “Remember what happened the last time Ohio State played at Purdue?” this week.

Memories of that 2018 upset were expunged with a vengeance as the No. 3 Buckeyes romped for a 41-7 win over a completely overmatched Purdue team.

Here are 3 takeaways from the dominant Ohio State performance.

The Buckeyes are a gutty team

Ohio State running backs are dropping like flies.

TreVeyon Henderson tried giving it a go in warmups, but did not suit up for the game. With Miyan Williams also out, that meant Chip Trayanum would need to carry the load for Ohio State. But then Trayanum was also lost to injury early in the second quarter, forcing Ryan Day to improvise heavily.

A total of 6 Buckeyes had rushing attempts in this game, including backup quarterback Devin Brown and wide receiver Xavier Johnson. But 4th-stringer Dallan Hayden ended up being the main man, finishing with 76 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.

Despite being so shorthanded, Ohio State still finished with 497 yards of total offense.

Time and time again, the Buckeyes have demonstrated mental toughness this season.

The red zone difference

Purdue had some success moving the ball against Ohio State’s defense. Actually getting it across the goal line turned out to be a more difficult matter.

The Boilers were 1 of 3 in the red zone with a pair of missed field goals. And that doesn’t include Purdue’s opening drive of the game, which ended with a missed 48-yard attempt after the Boilers advanced to Ohio State’s 31-yard line.

Ohio State, on the other hand, finished what it started. The Buckeyes were 5 of 6 with 5 touchdowns in the red zone, with the only blemish being a Brown fumble that the Boilermakers recovered in the end zone.

A complete game

Ohio State came into this week as the lone team in the top 5 nationally that hadn’t put together a truly dominant showing in all 3 phases of this season. That changed Saturday as the Buckeyes put it together just in time for next week’s showdown against No. 6 Penn State.

The Buckeyes limited Purdue to 134 passing yards and a 40% completion percentage and finished with 3 sacks and 9 tackles for loss.

It wasn’t a perfect game — Marvin Harrison Jr., of all people, finished with 3 drops. And the Buckeyes turned it over twice. But Ohio State looked like a complete team in spite of the hiccups.