Ohio State might have won the game, but fans everywhere lost years off their lives in the process. Sloppy errors and costly penalties plagued the Buckeyes in a very unpretty football game. Additionally, while the Buckeyes got their revenge for last year’s Big Ten Championship loss, it came at a hefty price: starting quarterback Julian Sayin will now miss several weeks of football with an injury to his throwing shoulder, sustained when Indiana’s Mario Landino sacked him and forced a fumble.
It’s a
strange feeling to walk away from a win this big—especially given what now awaits Ohio State over the next six weeks—feeling this grumpy about the victory, but truthfully, I watched much of the game through my fingers, shouting obscenities at my television. The defense held down the fort as the offense struggled to find its footing. And in the end, as Indiana’s Nick Marsh caught what would have been a game-winning touchdown out of bounds in error, the victory felt more like a lucky break than a hard-earned win.
Still, as with any win, there were plays worth remembering and revisiting. These are the five I’ll come back to in this hotly contested, top-five matchup.
Jeremiah Smith’s fourth-down touchdown
Smith’s mere presence on the field impacted the game, whether he was holding the ball or not, but he sure does know how to put on a show when he’s holding it. On a critical Ohio State 4th-and-1 from the Indiana 38, Ohio State took a risk, sending the ball soaring toward the end zone, though, of course, throwing the ball to Jeremiah Smith is never really a risk. He is the best player in college football, after all.
Sayin connected with Smith for the 38th touchdown of Smith’s career, a 38-yard grab that gave the Buckeyes a 19-7 lead. The touchdown tied the Big Ten record for career receiving touchdowns, held by Michigan’s Braylon Edwards. If Smith finds the end zone once more this season, he will be all alone in the Big Ten record books.
The play was not just Smith’s and Sayin’s flashiest of the day; it was also, critically, the one that extended the Buckeyes’ narrow six-point lead. Though Indiana would score a touchdown on the next drive, the Buckeyes were able to stay in front to secure the win.
Jay Timmons punching the ball out
Jay Timmons missed the last few games with an injury, and this week, he showed us what we were missing out on in a big way, acting like a complete menace for the Hoosiers’ offense. The highlight of his performance, which also included seven tackles and two pass breakups, was a forced fumble on the first drive of the second half.
Indiana was down by just three points when they received the second-half kick, but it didn’t take long for Timmons to make sure the Hoosiers left the field without scoring on the drive. On 2nd-and-9 on the second play of the half, Hoosier quarterback Josh Hoover threw a short pass up the middle to wide receiver Davion Chandler. Timmons was all over him, stripping the ball out of his hands to set up Earl Little Jr. for the fumble recovery.
Jaylen McClain’s forced fumble
Timmons wasn’t the only Buckeye defender having a spectacular Saturday. Jaylen McClain also showed up in a major way, logging four tackles, including one sack and a tackle for loss. His sack, the Buckeyes’ only one of the day, was a major play at a critical moment. After Timmons forced that fumble on the first drive of the half, the Hoosiers held the Buckeye offense to a field goal, so the Buckeyes led by just six, 13-7.
When the Hoosiers got the ball back on their second drive of the second half, McClain wasn’t going to let them take the lead. On 4th-and-4 from the Ohio State 27-yard line, McClain made a monster play, turning on the wheels to sack Hoover almost as quickly as the ball was snapped. In the process, McClain forced a fumble, which TJ Alford recovered for the Buckeyes.
These major defensive plays on back-to-back drives felt like an enormous reason the Buckeyes held onto their lead to leave Bloomington with the win.
Bo Jackson’s touchdown
It wasn’t the prettiest touchdown pass, but as the clock wound down in the second half, it came at a critical moment, as Sayin connected with running back Bo Jackson on a short, two-yard pass to give the Buckeyes the lead, 10-7, heading into halftime.
The Buckeyes struggled in the red zone Saturday—Jackson’s touchdown was the only one from the red zone all day, despite three separate trips within the Hoosiers’ 20-yard line. The Buckeyes started that set of downs on Indiana’s one-yard line, and it took them until 4th-and-2 to find the end zone, so this series was frustrating on many levels, but Jackson finishing the job to put Ohio State up made it less frustrating.
Indiana’s missed 32-yard field goal
Indiana’s kicker Nico Radicic is one of the best and most reliable in the nation, and I’m not going to dunk on him for his second missed attempt, a 55-yard attempt I think Curt Cignetti only took his chances on because Hoover seemed to be hurting and they needed some points late in the third quarter. Radicic, whose career-long is a 49-yarder, was unlikely to add to the Hoosiers’ total, but Cignetti seemed to think it was worth the gamble. Radicic is reliable enough that I don’t hate the decision, but I also wasn’t surprised at the outcome.
But where I did get giddy (maybe a little too giddy) was on Radicic’s missed 32-yarder, a kick that doinked off the uprights midway through the second quarter.
I’d like to say I’m not someone who delights in my opponents’ failures, but I am at least a little petty at my core, and I’m still salty about Ohio State’s missed 27-yard field goal in last year’s Big Ten Championship. So when Buckeye Connor Hawkins made both of his field goal attempts—from 26 and 29 yards, respectively — while Radicic missed both of his, it was very much a “Well, well, well, how the turntables” moment for me.
And sure, what the heck? Just for fun, watch Hawkins make both his attempts too. Maybe it will heal something in you from last year the way it did for me.
Hawkins from 26 yards:
Hawkins from 29 yards:
Up next for the Buckeyes is, mercifully, a bye week, which will hopefully allow them to get Luke Fahey ready to start on the road at No. 19 USC. After that, the Buckeyes host Oregon, followed by No. 25 Northwestern.
