By: MYRON P. MEDCALF (StarTribune.com) –

Kurt Coleman is accustomed to winning often and winning big.

As an Ohio State senior safety, he’s played in two national championship games, won at least 10 games every year and concluded his first three seasons with a Big Ten championship.

So how did he wind up on the wrong end of a shocking upset at unranked, one-win Purdue Saturday after entering the year as a BCS title contender?

“We were in disbelief,” he said. “I don’t think we felt like we played as well as we should have or to the best of our capability like we have in weeks previous. I think we left a lot out on the field.”

Buckeyes players and coaches this week gave Purdue a lot of credit as a team that’s come close to big victories Cheap Cialis all season and finally got one. While there’s merit to that perspective, it does little to explain the ongoing problems that have plagued Ohio State this season.

After salvaging the Big Ten’s reputation as a powerhouse league in recent years by appearing in three of the past seven national title games and winning it all in 2003, the Buckeyes might have fallen.

Saturday’s defeat probably crushed Ohio State’s national title hopes and made its pursuit of the Rose Bowl almost as difficult. They certainly don’t control their own fate.

Entering Saturday’s Homecoming game against Minnesota, the Buckeyes (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) know they can’t afford any mistakes.

“We think there’s no room for error now,” junior linebacker Brian Rolle said. “We’ve still got five games left. Not focusing on the Rose Bowl, [but] I don’t think anybody’s thinking we’re out of it.”

Sophomore quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the No. 1 football recruit in the class of 2008, now commands the worst passing offense in the Big Ten a year after earning the starting nod and leading Ohio State to the Fiesta Bowl. The Buckeyes, No. 19 in this year’s initial BCS rankings, narrowly missed a third defeat against Navy in the season opener.

And it’s only going to get rougher.

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