DaytonDailyNews.com

COLUMBUS — Ohio State's nationally televised game at Purdue on Saturday will be billed as a matchup between a dogged defense and a high-octane offense, but that's not the way Buckeye coach Jim Tressel is viewing it.

Fourth-ranked OSU leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (7.2 points per game), pass defense (142.6 yards) and total defense (197.6). Purdue is first in the league in scoring (45.4), passing (309.8) and total yardage (495.8).

But while ABC-TV's Brent Musberger probably will pounce on that irresistible-force-meets-immovable-object subplot, Tressel believes the season is too young for story lines.

"I don't know that you're far enough into the year to start talking about particular units," Tressel said. "Most of us have played one or two conference games throughout the nation. Until you've had to weather your conference, you don't know who you are."

The Buckeyes (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) have a 10-game road winning streak and will be playing a ranked team for the first time this season.

The Boilermakers (5-0, 1-0), who are rated 20th in the coaches' poll and 23rd in the Associated Press Top 25, have an overwhelming edge in experience with 14 senior starters, compared to only two for the Buckeyes.

"(They're) very mature, very poised," Tressel said. "They don't get rattled. They come out, obviously, very prepared for every game and get after it. If the game tightens a little bit, you can see that doesn't affect them because they've been there and had those experiences."

The Boilermakers, though, rank near the bottom of the Big Ten in most defensive categories, although the statistics may be skewed since foes have racked up meaningless yards in one-sided games.

When Tressel fielded a question about Purdue's lack of a shut-down defense, he replied: "They've given up 20 points in the first half of five games, so that's an average of four points. If you can give up four points in a half, I'd call that pretty 'shut-down.' "