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Vo. 1, No. 6
Hello and welcome to another edition of Buckeye Historian from Cus Words Sports. This is my weekly rundown of Ohio State sports through the lens of the past. Thanks for reading!
Ohio State and Indiana are set to face off Saturday in a series that has taken on a much different light in recent years.
The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will face off as top five teams for the third straight season, something no one would have envisioned… well, four years ago, but that doesn’t mean Ohio State has dominated Indiana forever. It just seems like it — especially if you are less than 100 years old.
Ohio State-Indiana series history
Ohio State leads the all-time series 81-13-5.
It began in 1901 with five Indiana wins and a tie, but now Ohio State has more wins against Indiana than any other school.
The teams began playing annually (more or less) when Ohio State joined the Big Ten in 1913, and the Buckeyes lead 81-8-4. That includes three losses since 1952.
The Hoosiers snapped a 30-game losing streak against Ohio State last year in the Big Ten Championship Game.
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Factoids that may interest only me
Woody Hayes lost to the Hoosiers his first season then went 23-0-1 the rest of his career.
Ohio State does not lose many games, but the Buckeyes usually get revenge when they are out for it…
Since 2001, Ohio State is 23-5 when facing a team the year after losing to them. (That mark improves to 24-5 if we include the Rose Bowl romp over Oregon in 2024 that followed a regular season loss in Eugene.)
Jim Tressel’s teams were 12-2 in revenge games while Urban Meyer’s went 10-0.
Ryan Day has a 3-3 mark including that Oregon game. The Buckeyes also beat Clemson in the Sugar Bowl during the 2020 season after losing to the Tigers in the ’19 Fiesta Bowl and Michigan last year. The three losses are to Michigan in 2022, ’23 and ’24.
Statistical standouts
Ezekiel Elliott ran for 274 yards against the Hoosiers in 2015, his career high, and tied with Keith Byars for the third-most in a single game.
Dan Herron, Carlos Hyde and Braxton Miller all ran for more than 100 yards in 2011, the last time Ohio State had three 100-yard rushers
David Boston caught 13 passes in 1996, then a school record shared with Gary Williams (FSU ’81)
Dwayne Haskins threw for 455 yards in 2018 when he also tied the school record with six touchdown passes
Ryan Shazier tied the single-game record with five tackles for loss in 2013, as did Jayson Gwinn in 1993
Ohio State fumbled a school-record 11 times against Indiana in 1934, including seven lost (also a record). Indiana fumbled 12 times in the same game, also the record for an Ohio State opponent.
Indiana averaged a record 7.8 yards per rush against Ohio State in 2014, the most by an Ohio State opponent Tevin Coleman ran for 228 yards in that game, fourth-most against the Buckeyes.
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Notable Ohio State-Indiana football games
1942: Ohio State 32, Indiana 21
Paul Brown’s Buckeyes scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter en route to the first national championship in school history. Sophomore fullback Gene Fekete rushed 23 times for 132 yards and scored three touchdowns, the last of which gave the Buckeyes the lead, 26-21, early in the fourth quarter, while Les Horvath (84 yards on 13 carries) ripped off a pair of long runs to set up the Buckeyes final touchdown, a 1-yard plunge from George Lynn. Lynn’s interception set up the drive and was one of three in the fourth quarter for Ohio State.
Brown said at the time this was the greatest game he ever saw.
1944: No. 3 Ohio State 2, No. 15 Indiana 7
Horvath ran for 115 yards and threw a touchdown pass to Jack Dugger as Ohio State rallied from an early 7-0 deficit en route to their first perfect season since 1920. Horvath would go on to win the Heisman Trophy.
1980: No. 9 Ohio State 27, Indiana 17
Calvin Murray ran for 224 yards and two touchdowns on his 22nd birthday in a game matching two teams in first place in the Big Ten standings. In the second half, Rod Gorley picked off a pair of passes from Indiana’s Tim Clifford, the Big Ten’s MVP the previous season. The latter led to a 37-yard touchdown run by Murray that iced the game.
1996: No. 2 Ohio State 27, Indiana 17
Looking to clinch a trip to the Rose Bowl for the first time in over a decade, Ohio State got all it wanted from the underdog Hoosiers. Andy Katzenmoyer stripped the ball from IU QB Jay Rodgers and Matt Finkes returned the fumble 45 yards for a touchdown to break a 10-all tie in the fourth quarter. Josh Jackson kicked a 31-yard field goal after Rob Kelly recovered a fumble at the IU 18, then Damon Moore slammed the door by returning an interception 28 yards for a touchdown. Pepe Pearson ran for 130 yards but freshman WR David Boston led the offense with a school-record-tying 13 receptions for 153 yards and a touchdown.
2014: No. 6 Ohio State 42, Indiana 27
After an emotional win at Michigan State and a surprising shootout victory at Minnesota, eventual national champion Ohio State returned home to get an unexpected challenge from the 3-7 Hoosiers. The Buckeyes led 14-0 early thanks to a 65-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott and 4-yard TD catch by Jeff Heuerman, but the Hoosiers scored the next 20 points. Tevin Coleman’s 90-yard touchdown run gave the Hoosiers a 20-14 lead midway through the third quarter and sent waves of concern through the Ohio Stadium crowd.
Then Jalin Marshall scored four consecutive touchdowns and the Buckeyes took control of the game. He started it with a 54-yard pun return then Ohio State got the “passing” game going with jet sweeps to Marshall the Hoosiers couldn’t stop. He caught TD passes of six, 15 and 54 yards from J.T. Barrett to stake the Buckeyes to a 42-20 lead late in the fourth quarter. Coleman tacked on one more score from 54 yards out and finished with 228 yards rushing.
2020: No. 3 Ohio State 42, No. 9 Indiana 35
An announced crowd of 635 watched Ohio State jump out to a 35-7 lead early in the third quarter before Tom Allen’s Hoosiers mounted a furious comeback. Michael Penix Jr. threw two touchdown passes to Ty Fryfogle to make it a 14-point game, but he also threw one to Ohio State CB Shaun Wade to make it 42-21 late in the third quarter. Still the Hoosiers didn’t quit as Penix hit David Ellis for a 16-yard TD and connected with Fryfogle from 56 to get within seven points with 10:26 left in the fourth quarter. They had two chances to tie it after that, but the Ohio State defense held.
Penix threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns while Justin Fields threw for 300 yards and two scores and ran for 78 yards despite being sacked five times. Garrett Wilson caught seven passes for 169 yards, Chris Olave caught eight passes for 101 and Master Teague III ran for 169 yards for the Buckeyes. Fryfogle finished with seven catches for 218 yards.
2024: No 2 Ohio State 38, No. 5 Indiana 15
The Hoosiers scored first, but Ohio State claimed the next 31 points to hand Indiana and its new head coach Curt Cignetti their first loss of the season in Week 11.
Will Howard hit Emeka Egbuka from 11 yards out to tie the game then TreVeyon Henderson put the Buckeyes on top with a 4-yard run late in the second quarter. Caleb Downs returned a punt 79 yards for a touchdown, and Jelani Thurman caught 1-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter to give the Buckeyes a comfortable lead. That held up because the Silver Bullets dominated, sacking Kurtis Rourke five times and holding Indiana to 151 total yards while Howard threw for 201 yards. Cody Simon led the OSU defense with 10 tackles, including 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble.
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