By: Matt Markey (Toledo Blade) — COLUMBUS — At high noon last Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes were very much in the thick of the Big Ten title race and in West Lafayette, 200 miles closer to Pasadena, home of the Rose Bowl and very likely the destination of this season’s Big Ten champion.

Three-and-a-half hours later, the Buckeyes were limping home after a 26-23 overtime loss to Purdue that probably wiped out hopes of a division title, a Big Ten crown, and a charter flight to Los Angeles.

Mathematically, Ohio State is not out of the picture, but the Buckeyes are well in the background of any Big Ten title shot, and their image is fading. With Leaders Division front-runner Penn State coming to Ohio Stadium on Saturday and a season-ending trip to face rival Michigan following, the Buckeyes will hang on to that dwindling thread.

“We’ve just got to win the rest of them,” sophomore offensive lineman Jack Mewhort said. “That’s our mentality. We’re not going to work any less, and we’re not going to give any less effort.”

The Buckeyes (6-4, 3-3) need to……

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