In a perfect world, what we witnessed in Bloomington this afternoon is not how things would have gone for No. 4 Ohio State. There were more moments than I would have liked that were messy, frustrating, and even confounding. Then you throw in what is clearly a significant injury to Julian Sayin, and things get dicey. Nonetheless, the Buckeyes’ 19-15 win over the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers, snapping their 22-game win streak, was, at times, exhilarating, gratifying, and ultimately a massive relief considering
IU’s Nick Marsh was less than six inches from catching what would have likely been a game-winning touchdown pass.
Ahead of the season, I wrote about how I was excited to be nervous during games. I wanted more than one regular-season game to have stakes, to feel like Ohio State could legitimately lose. For too long, it felt like the Buckeyes had steamrolled through their schedule so effortlessly that the number of compelling games we got each season was limited to one, maybe two. I was looking forward to having multiple games that got my heart rate accelerated, my blood pressure pumping. This game obviously accomplished that.
Of course, I only want to be nervous in games that Ohio State eventually wins, but given the way this game ended, this is probably the least satisfying way a Buckeye victory could have gone. Obviously, the fact that OSU is getting out of Bloomington solely because Josh Hoover’s pass was just a smidge too wide and Marsh doesn’t have Jeremiah Smith’s body control puts a bit of a damper on the victory, but the fact that Ohio State’s Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback could potentially have a long-term, even season-ending injury casts a horribly dark cloud over whatever celebration would have otherwise been happening across Buckeye Nation at this point.
There will be plenty of time to discuss what happens next at the quarterback position as the team gets back to Columbus and things progress through the off week ahead of the trip to USC on Halloween. Sayin had, arguably, his worst game as a Buckeye starter, finishing 15-of-29 for 235 yards with 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The numbers probably don’t do justice to just how bad the performance was; the quarterback looked overly rattled given the offensive line did a fairly decent job against one of the best front sevens in the game. He routinely sailed receivers by considerable amounts, took multiple terrible sacks, and just seemed far more out of sorts than we are used to seeing him.
However, Ryan Day said in his postgame press conference that Sayin is likely out for several weeks, so given what we saw from Fahey, I imagine that Day, Arthur Smith, and Billy Fessler will have to turn to sophomore Tavien St. Clair as the starter against the Trojans, especially given the extra week to prepare. Luke Fahey was thrown into the lion’s den on Saturday, so it’s tough to criticize him too much, but St. Clair has a size, skill, and experience advantage that has to be capitalized on.
Clearly, there is a reason that the more veteran St. Clair has been ostensibly demoted to third-string, but playing Fahey in an emergency backup role is one thing, but expecting him to lead an offense anchored by Jeremiah Smith into the Coliseum, against Oregon, in The Game, and on a playoff push feels like a step too far. The perceived knock on St. Clair is that, coming from a lower-division high school and not having much experience diagnosing defenses, he has struggled to translate his natural abilities into game-like situations at the collegiate level.
So, during the off week, the offensive brain trust needs to figure out what the sophomore is comfortable and capable of executing and build a game plan around whatever that is: quick throws, fast reads, get the ball to Jeremiah Smith (who finished the game with 4 catches, 68 yards, and 1 touchdown), and hopefully an improved running game.
Beyond the injury to Sayin, electric true freshman defensive back Jay Timmons did not play on the final two defensive drives of the game, putting cornerback Cam Coleman in position to be taken advantage of repeatedly, including what would have been the game-winner had Marsh gotten his foot down in bounds.
We also saw Ohio State’s best edge rusher, Kenyatta Jackson Jr., go down in the middle of the fourth quarter after knocking an IU receiver out of bounds before falling to the ground and grabbing his knee. I did not see him return down the stretch, which is clearly concerning.
Regardless of Sayin’s poor performance before the injury, the QB, Timmons, and Kenyatta are three of Ohio State’s best players, and going into a stretch of games against USC, Oregon, Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan becomes far more daunting if one of them is out for an extended period, and downright terrifying if all three remain unavailable.
That really is too bad, because this game was easily the defense’s best of the season, at least until the Hoosiers began taking advantage of the injuries late in the fourth quarter. I think everyone understood that the defense wouldn’t be nearly as good as last year’s historic Silver Bullet unit, but over the last few weeks, Matt Patricia has gotten guys healthy, Eddrick Houston and Qua Russaw have made major strides, and the coaches have figured out what everybody could do, and that showed in this game.
Ultimately, OSU gave up 369 yards, including 296 through the air, with Hoover completing passes for 126 yards in the fourth quarter alone. However, those final numbers don’t really tell the story of how dominant the Buckeye defense was for much of the afternoon. Before the injuries started piling up late, Patricia’s unit had largely kept one of the nation’s most dangerous offenses in check, consistently making Hoover uncomfortable and forcing the Hoosiers to work for just about everything they got.
And while the late-game breakdowns were certainly concerning, I don’t think they should overshadow just how encouraging the first three quarters were, especially considering how far this defense has come since the beginning of the season.
It’s a strange feeling to come away from arguably Ohio State’s most impressive victory of the season feeling worse about the team’s prospects than I did before kickoff. The Buckeyes went on the road, knocked off the defending national champions, snapped a 22-game winning streak, and proved that their defense is capable of going toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the country. In almost any other circumstances, that’s the kind of performance that would have me dreaming about what this team could accomplish over the next two months.
Instead, I’m left wondering whether Ohio State has enough healthy bodies to capitalize on what should have been a season-defining victory. Perhaps the most encouraging thing we learned Saturday is that the Buckeyes don’t necessarily need their offense to be spectacular to beat an elite opponent. Unfortunately, depending on how the injury situation shakes out, they might need their defense to be spectacular just to survive the next five games.
I said before the season that I wanted to be nervous again. Well, I got my wish. I just didn’t anticipate that the most nerve-racking part of beating a top-five team would be wondering what happens next.
