No. 2 Ohio State fell into another early 7-0 hole but then peeled off 31 straight points to easily defeat No. 5 Indiana, 38-15, yesterday in a raucous Ohio Stadium.
Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti, fresh off inking a contract extension that will pay him $8M a year through 2032, proved more bark than bite at this point in his tenure as his offense finished with 151 total yards and eight complete passes, his defense gave up 31 points and his special teams imploded.
Across the field, Ohio State head man Ryan Day recorded his second win against a top-5 ranked team in three tries so far this season and the Buckeyes improved to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the B1G.
A win over Michigan next weekend in The Game would check the first box on Ohio State’s goals sheet and enable a chance at the second, a rematch with No. 1 Oregon to try and capture a Big Ten championship.
But first, here are Five Things from a decisive win over the Hoosiers.
BULLETS ON TARGET
A handful of factors played into Ohio State’s decisive victory but nothing was more impactful than the OSU defense.
Sporting the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense averaging 43.9 points per game, the Hoosiers did virtually nothing against Ohio State when the game wasn’t in mop up mode, except for the opening drive when Indiana went 70 yards (53 actual offensive yards augmented by two Davison Igbinosun penalties) for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
Through three full quarters as Ohio State built a 28-7 cushion, the Hoosiers generated just 89 yards of total offense with 52 of those yards coming on three plays; a 19-yard pass, a 12-yard run and a 21-yard run. On the other 40 plays Indiana ran through those three quarters, it mustered 37 yards. During that same window, quarterback Kurtis Rourke, who came into the game averaging 267 passing yards, connected on 6-of-13 throws for 50 yards.
Indiana simply had no answer for Ohio State’s first two levels as the Buckeyes repeatedly generated organic pressure and/or brought blitzers, tallying eight tackles for loss for a staggering 73 yards including five sacks for 46 yards.
Linebacker Cody Simon disrupted the Hoosiers all afternoon posting 10 tackles with 2.5 sacks and a forced fumble while sidekick Sonny Styles continued his solid play over the last month plus with eight stops and a TFL.
Defensive ends JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer also caused havoc as they combined for nine tackles, 2.5 sacks and a hurry.
Really the only kink in the defense’s dominant showing was Igbinosun earning three pass interference flags and missing at least two tackles in run support.
THE MIDDLE ~EIGHT
Day’s talked a lot this year about his desire the win “The Middle Eight” minutes of the game – the last four minutes of the first half and the first four minutes of the third quarter.
I generally look at that as the last two possessions before half and the first two of the third quarter even though that can certainly span a longer timeframe sometimes.
Ohio State entered this portion of the game tied 7-7 even as it felt like the Buckeyes were the superior team and would prove that out over time. On the next to last real possession of the first half, the Buckeyes held Indiana to 16 yards, forcing a 4th-and-5 punting situation. Hoosiers punter James Evans then pretended a perfect snap was a greased pig giving Ohio State 1st-and-Goal at the IU 7. Three plays later, TreVeyon Henderson ran over left tackle for a 4-yard touchdown giving the Buckeyes their first lead at 14-7 with 21 ticks left before halftime.
Having seized momentum, Ohio State’s defense went to work on the opening possession of the second half forcing a 3-and-out that saw Lathan Ransom perform a textbook punch out forced fumble, Indiana take a delay of game and Tuimoloau pressure Rourke into an incompletion on 3rd-and-8. Again forced to punt, Evans fielded the snap cleanly this time and uncorked a 52-yarder. Unfortunately for Indiana, the boot apparently out-kicked the coverage as Caleb Downs scooped up the football, spun away from the one defender who came within shouting distance of him and raced up the right sideline before cutting back across the field en route to a 79-yard touchdown. The huge play from Downs gave Ohio State a 21-7 lead that had to feel more like 42-7 to Cignetti given Indiana’s inability to move the ball on offense.
It truly felt like game, set, match even with 12:44 left in the third quarter but in case there was any doubt, Ohio State’s defense immediately produced another 3-and-out and the OSU offense then went on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown march to make it 28-7 with 6:02 left in the third.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
Will Howard again showed why he’s a monumental upgrade over Kyle McCord as he connected on 22-of-26 throws for 201 yards and two scores with another touchdown on the ground. It was Howard’s most accurate day as a Buckeye (84.6%) which is notable considering yesterday marked his sixth game with a completion rate of at least 80%.
Howard did statistically throw a pick but it was the result of a seemingly-once-a-game-juggle from Jelani Thurman on a 3rd-and-14 throw as Howard was flushed from the pocket.
It’s not just the numbers with Howard of course. His leadership has been stellar all year long especially as Ohio State’s faced adversity with injuries across the offensive line. Each time, Howard expressed supreme confidence in the group. Day and Chip Kelly have often spoke about Howard’s ability to get OSU into a better look when necessary, he’s not afraid to take off and run to move the chains and he’s very clearly an excellent teammate. I feel like “moxie” is sometimes a term used on dudes who aren’t that good but try hard. In Howard’s case, he combines many legit physical skills with off the charts moxie and intangibles.
He also gets some bonus points for pretending to stomp out a cig after the final touchdown Day ordered.
Howard hasn’t even been in Columbus a year yet but it’s clear he gets it. I enjoyed his postgame presser, which you should watch in full if you haven’t already, or hell even if you have. But if nothing else, this part about The Game is too good:
“I can’t wait, man. I can’t wait. Like I said, I’m stoked. I’m fired up. You know, this one’s for those guys who came back. This one’s for Buckeye Nation… This rivalry game, it’s the first thing that I heard when I came here on my visit. Beat The Team Up North. It’s the first goal we have every single year. And, you know, you can say anything about the records, man. It’s going to be a hard game every single year. They’re going to bring it. And I want to do this, man, for Coach Day. I want to do this for the guys who came back. For Emeka, for Trey, for JT, for Jack, for all those guys who came back. Ty, I could go on. But I want this for them so bad. Because they’ve been here. You know, I’ve seen it from a distance. And, you know, I feel it, and I’m a part of it now, and I want this for me too. But I want this for those guys. I want it for Coach Day. You know, shut up the haters and be able to go out there and say, man, like, you know, this is the Ohio State Buckeyes. This rivalry game means everything.”
EMEKA BACK IN THE MIX
I wrote earlier in the week about Emeka Egbuka’s production falling off a cliff and how it would be nice to get him back in mix alongside Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate as Ohio State embarks on the stretch run.
Over the first six contests of the season, Egbuka averaged 6.7 catches, 87.7 receiving yards and a touchdown per game. The following four games saw Egbuka’s averages plummet to 2.3 catches for 21.5 yards though he did record two touchdowns. He of course didn’t flinch during the lull and while Smith kept being Smith, Tate picked up Egbuka’s slack with 16 grabs for 225 yards and three scores. As Day likes to remind us, the ball goes to who is open, as dictated by the defense.
Still, facing a top-5 opponent, you know the veteran wanted to be a difference maker and he was exactly that with team highs of seven catches on seven targets for 80 yards and a touchdown.
His first big play was an 11-yard scoring connection with Howard, tying the game 7-7 midway through the second quarter.
On the first play of the second half for Ohio State’s offense, Egbuka recorded a 25-yard grab. Howard would later find Thurman in the end zone to cap the driving and give the Buckeyes a 28-7 lead.
Egbuka added another 25-yard catch, this time on 4th-and-1, to extend an OSU drive culminating in a 45-yard Jayden Fielding field goal putting the Buckeyes in front, 31-7, midway through the fourth quarter.
EVIL RYAN DAY
Leading up to kickoff, it was pretty easy to see Ryan Day wasn’t feeling all of Cignetti’s blather and self-promotion, including the now tragic, “Purdue sucks… and so does Michigan and Ohio State” proclamation he gave to fans at an IU basketball game following his hiring. Yeah it was pep rally stuff but Day is good at manufacturing a chip these days, even if it’s not needed.
Beyond that extra motivation – you know he reminded his team of that quote more than few times during the week – Day seemed very confident about how his team matched up against Indiana, even after losing center Seth McLaughlin for the season. You could sense it in his media availability all week and at the Skull Session.
We’ve felt that same confidence ever since the Oregon loss. Day feels like a guy playing to win instead of not to lose. That’s manifested itself in many ways including things like how often he goes for it on fourth down.
He no longer seems like a guy trying to stubbornly prove a point that doesn’t need proven. And he definitely doesn’t seem concerned about irking an opposing coach in the spirit of showing his team just how all-in he is on “leaving no doubt.”
That part certainly into focus on Ohio State’s last possession. After TreVeyon Henderson broke a 39-yard run and took a dive at the 1-yard line to keep from scoring, Day opted to have Will Howard punch it in a few plays later, with 35 seconds left, to make it 38-15.
Cignetti probably didn’t like it and it looks like some on the IU beat didn’t either but (1) if you’re going to run your gums, be prepared to back it up or deal with the consequences and (2) why did Cig go for two after a late touchdown and then try an onside kick right after that if he wanted OSU to stop playing hard in a game that was no longer in doubt?
I’m all in on Day coaching with an attitude anytime but certainly in those circumstances and be damned whoever has an issue with it.
