Ohio State’s invincibility has been pierced.
Now what?
That question will hang over the Buckeyes for the next three weeks while they prepare for their next game.
We don’t know yet where they will be going, but it won’t be the Rose Bowl.
Indiana earned that right with a 13-10 win over Ohio State on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes for the first time in 37 years and won their first Big Ten title since 1967.
Can they win it all? They sure can.
You have to tip your cap to Curt Cignetti’s team because they made their own luck in this game.
They frustrated the Ohio State offense, yielding some yards on the ground but mostly avoiding the big play.
The Buckeyes had seven explosive plays, though one was the 46-yarder to Jeremiah Smith at the end of the game that didn’t really mean anything.
He also caught a 52-yarder in second quarter but wasn’t able to get to the end zone. Ohio State settled for a field goal on that drive, something that would end up hurting them in the end.
The defense was great. They just weren’t perfect.
Of course, they shouldn’t have to be, but the plan and the execution for Ohio State’s offense were just really bad.
Protection was a big issue for the offensive line, and the Buckeyes just never got any sort of rhythm.
Julian Sayin looked like a freshman a few times, but he hung in there and moved the Buckeyes 70 yards and 81 yards in the second half for drives that resulted in no points.
This was a game where a lot of season-long issues came home to roost:
Short yardage has been kind of an adventure as
They have tried and tried to make 13- or 23-personnel (that would be three tight ends and a running back or three tight ends and a running back) work and it seems like it has failed more than succeeded.
It was an outright disaster Saturday night as the Buckeyes went big and struggled to convert third downs or in the red zone.
The red zone offense was a nightmare
They scored one touchdown on four trips, and that came on an improv play where Sayin got out of the pocket and Indiana’s zone collapsed, leaving Carnell Tate all alone in the end zone.
What the coaches actually called pretty much didn’t work at all, even a quarterback sneak that ended up being pivotal.
This game definitely showed why the name of the game in modern football is explosive plays
Ohio State had a pretty efficient running game but only scored 10 points.
There also must have been four or five times Bo Jackson looked like he was going to break off a long one but wasn’t quite able to get away.
Most notable was a run late in the third quarter on which the line creased the Indiana defense and he looked like he was in the clear, but an Indiana defender kind of brought him down with his hip. Instead of a 19-yard touchdown, it went for a 5-yard gain.
That looked like it might be a four-point play at the time, but it turned out to be seven when the Julian Sayin sneak was overturned on fourth down and the Hoosiers got the ball.
That was a microcosm of the game. Ohio State just couldn’t quite get loose, and Indiana made the plays it needed to.
But Ohio State’s offense has been the dog that won’t hunt all year when it comes to big plays.
The Buckeyes have one of the least-explosive offenses in the country according to CollegeFootballData.com, and they entered the weekend tied for 86th in 20-yard plays from scrimmage.
Ohio State seemed determined to go over the top of the Indiana defense and the Hoosiers had all their shot plays well defended, even a double pass that still ended up being a solid gain when Brandon Inniss threw the ball all the way back across the field to Jackson when the deep ball wasn’t there.
What about the kicker?
To say Jayden Fielding has been an issue all season is not true, though now you have to wonder if he can be relied upon in the playoffs. That was his third missed field goal of the season, but it was also his only pressure kick. And Day himself called it a chip shot because obviously it was.
Last season, Fielding missed two field goals in a 13-10 loss to Michigan but ended up coming through in the postseason, including a clincher in the National Championship Game.
Will he get another shot at something like that? It bears watching and could impact game planning and play calling.
Past is prologue?
The sky isn’t falling, obviously, but Ohio State remains stuck on 40 Big Ten championships after picking up 11 from 2002-2020 (I’m including the 2010 title that was vacated).
They could still get their 10th national championship, though, and that is all that matters now.
How the Buckeyes respond to this setback will determine if they do.
They certainly were in a foul mood after losing for the first time, which is to be expected.
Day seemed annoyed that some of these things that haven’t always worked came back to bite them, and I thought Sayin really had a certain edge we haven’t seen from him.
The California kid has been guarded in interviews, able to stick to the script for the most part and display positivity since not much bad has happened. We’ll see if he turns this disappointment into fuel.
That’s the challenge for the whole team — no matter who they play next or where.
As always, thanks for reading. I will have some follow-up thoughts on this game and analysis of where the Buckeyes land in the final playoff rankings.
In the meantime, please spread the word about the newsletter by sharing with anyone you think might like it.