Week 13 Gameday Roundup: Ohio State

Quick summary statistics for Indiana's 38-15 loss against Ohio State

Indiana suffered its first loss of the season (on Nov. 23!) to No. 2 Ohio State, 38-15, Saturday in Columbus after what was a game filled with uncharacteristic performances, from special teams to offensive play-calling and scheme. What will likely be remembered most from this game are Indiana’s punt-team blunders, as James Evans dropped a punt (giving the ball to Ohio State inside the 10-yard line) and Caleb Downs returned Ohio State’s first punt-return touchdown in 10 years (putting Ohio State up, 21-7). The Hoosier defense stacked a decent performance, providing strong resistance against Ohio State’s FBS-leading redzone offense and holding the Buckeyes to their 2nd-lowest offensive production of the season (316 yards), but a defense can stand only so much disadvantage over time.

What truly killed Indiana’s chances of winning the game, though, was the offense’s inability to get anything going in the passing game. Even on Indiana’s first drive of the game, when it gained 70 of its 150 yards, Kurtis Rourke completed just 2-of-5 passes for 32 yards. Eventually, Ohio State DC Jim Knowles dialed up consistent blitzes, and no adjustments Indiana made were effective.

In fact, the in-game adjustment success this staff used to push Indiana to 10-0 was inadequate and difficult to see, and the identity of the team, particularly on offense, eroded away (until the 31-7 fourth-quarter drive). There were few screens, little RPO success, little to no success on misdirection from precedented looks, and, as previously noted, there was no answer for the pressure Ohio State was bringing most of the game. This was the throughline that existed long before the special teams errors and persisted after, which is not great when the scheme made up for Indiana’s talent disadvantage in many of these games.

I did not expect Indiana to win this game (and was honest about that leading up to the game), but I expected more from the staff.

There is plenty of football ahead, and this shouldn’t eliminate Indiana’s odds at a College Football Playoff berth, yet we will likely hear about that for the next week (or longer). This column from On3’s Ari Wasserman does a good job summing up the situation from an Indiana sympathizer’s perspective.

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Win Probability

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Top Performers

Indiana

• Passing: Kurtis Rourke — 8-of-18, 68 yards

• Rushing: Ty Son Lawton — 15 carries, 78 yards, 2 TDs

• Receiving: Elijah Sarratt — 3 receptions, 40 yards

• Defense: Jailin Walker — 8 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT

Ohio State

• Passing: Will Howard — 22-of-26, 201 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT

• Rushing: TreVeyon Henderson — 9 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD

• Receiving: Emeka Egbuka — 7 receptions, 80 yards, 1 TD

• Defense: Cody Simon — 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks, 2.5 TFLs, 1 forced fumble

See more at ESPN’s box score.

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