No. 3 Ohio State (6-0, 3-0) outscored conference rival Indiana (4-2, 1-2 B1G) by a 21-6 margin in the second half to turn what had been a competitive game at the half into a 49-26 one-sided win.
The Buckeye offense performed well in both halves against the Hoosiers, putting up 28 points in the first half to go with the 21 they tallied after the intermission.
Quarterback Dwayne Haskins was spectacular. Haskins threw for 455 yards and six touchdowns on 33-of-44 passing. He was intercepted twice. His six TDs and 33 completions tied OSU school records and his yardage total was three yards off the OSU single game record.
Defensively, however, the first half left a lot to be desired. The Buckeye defense gave up 20 first-half points to Indiana and struggled to get off the field. The leaky defense allowed Indiana to stay close despite the offensive fireworks by Haskins and the rest of the Buckeye offense.
The second half was a different story, at least defensively. Indiana put just six points on the board with a single touchdown after the intermission. The touchdown was made a bit easier for them when Ohio State attempted to convert a fourth and and one at the 42-yard line and failed. That gave Indiana a short field that led to the score. The Hoosiers attempted a two-point conversion which failed. That was the lone score they could muster against an Ohio State defense that seemed to have righted the ship in the second half.
Indiana’s lone other second-half scoring threat came after a shanked punt gave them possession at the OSU 33-yard line. Three plays later they were still at the 33 and attempted a 51-yard field goal that missed badly to the right.
The Ohio State offense once again produced big plays, which included a 71-yard touchdown catch and run by H-back Parris Campbell for OSU’s first score of the second half. Wide receiver Johnnie Dixon had a 39-yard touchdown reception to score from long range as well. Campbell and Dixon’s plays went for big yardage, but nobody made a more spectacular touchdown catch than wide receiver Binjimen Victor. His diving reception for a 30-yard touchdown reception in the back of the north end zone was nothing short of spectacular and was the final score of the game.
For the day, Campbell led all receivers with nine receptions for 142 yards (15.8 avg) and two touchdowns. Dixon grabbed five balls for 73 yards and a score. Wide receiver Terry McLaurin had 4 catches for 59 yards and two scores, while Austin Mack and K. J. Hill had five and four catches respectively.
Sophomore running back J.K. Dobbins lead all rushers with 82 yards on 26 carries for a 3.2 yard per carry average. Weber added 70 yards on 13 carries for a 5.4 yard average.
Indiana was led by quarterback and Ohio native Peyton Ramsey, who threw for 322 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. He completed 26-of-49 attempts.
Ohio State amassed 609 yards rushing and passing, Indiana 406.
The Buckeyes were penalized nine times for 82 yards and lost three turnovers, one on a fumble and two interceptions.
The 2012 team probably would have won a Natty despite serious weaknesses. This team is similar in that it would need things to fall a certain way because they are not good enough to just go take it. Having said that, just enjoy the wins. Beat Michigan. After that they may be exposed but in life (for the most part) you get what you earn…
Oh yah. RIP “The Slobs”. Buckeyes getting blown up in the run game and lame excuses about blitzes. Everybody knows what the Buckeyes are going to do every game. Execution is what wins games anyway and they’re not. That’s on the coaches.
Got the Buckeye total right, but the defense was bad enough to shock me. DOUBLE what they ought to have given up to Indiana? It seems the same story year after year, but the underlying thing is the DBs aren’t getting better and need constant adjustments every game and the LBs are getting “up” to where they’re hit-or-miss, which still isn’t Ohio State standards. LBs haven’t been even passable, much less good since Coach Fick left.
Are the buckeyes worthy of their #3 ranking? I haven’t seen other teams play, but I would not put OSU at #3 right now.
I love what Haskins can do with the passing the ball but he clearly does not have the toughness that JT had with runs. He acts afraid to get hit on all runs either by choosing not to run and force passes when he clearly has lots of green in front of him OR by choosing to NFL slide too early and not get an easy first down. Penn State has shown the template to beat us with pass and run blitzes. Indiana tried but didn’t have the talent to pull it off. When we play teams that do we will be in jeopardy. QB scrambles have to be a real threat if we can’t run block consistently. In 2014 after losing to VaTech, we saw some form of the “Bear defense” every week until the offense figure it out. It will be the same this season with blitzes. Too much coaching and playing talent to not figure it out. Come on coaches figure this stuff out and empower your players. Defense too. Be accountable and coach em up or play the players who are willing to learn and execute the plan.
The good news is they don’t have to play Alabama right now (who gave up 31 points to Arkansas!). But – I like what I saw in Pryor at Safety for a change and its still a work in progress. For what it’s worth always take Indiana and the points against the Bucks.
I agree. The second half, with Isaiah Pryor back in action, the defensive backs looked a lot more cohesive. The defense has lots of talent, but even at that, losing Bosa indefinitely and then Pryor for the first half, shows they’re not as deep and skilled at this point as everyone would like.
This is the most frustration undefeated OSU team that I have ever watched. They look like they aren’t ready to play in almost every first quarter (and sometimes the 2nd Q), they commit horribly stupid penalties every game (41 for 380 yds vs. opponents 21 for 251 yds), they give up huge plays on defense and none of this seems to get corrected. Where are these great coaches OSU is supposed to have? If they played Alabama right now, they’d get blown out!
I agree that it is frustrating to watch and the penalties week after week are maddening. However, Indiana is never the pushover they seem like they should be. Most years it’s still a game into the 3rd or 4th quarter. We can’t have these sloppy first halves against better opponents, though.
Oh, almost forgot. Anybody else notice the head breakfast coach got his way today with the QB runs? Thy need to throw those plays in the same crap heap with the Wildcat…
Offense once again looked good (excepting the idiotic and unnecessary 4th down call that was a coaching error). Big 12 defense still in play and too many penalties AGAIN.