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Indiana suffered its first loss of the season at Ohio State, going down 38-15 to the second ranked Buckeyes.

After a great start that resulted in a 7-0 advantage for IU, Indiana played its worst football of the season, playing disappointing football in all three phases of the game.

The offense crumbled after its opening drive, only gaining 98 yards after its first series and most of those came when the game was already decided in favor of Ohio State. Kurtis Rourke was disappointing himself, going just 8-for-18 and throwing for 68 yards.

The defense also did not perform well in the second half, regressing after halftime en route to allowing 316 yards for the whole game. It also didn’t look great in doing so, allowing the Ohio State offense to have its way for most of the game after an impressive start.

Special teams may have been the worst unit of the game, as it had two miscues, a botched snap on a punt and an allowed punt return for a TD that shifted the momentum all the way in the Buckeyes' favor.

This one wasn't the Hoosiers' best showing, resulting in their first defeat of the season and a 30th straight loss to the Buckeyes so, here's how it happened:

To start out the game, both the offense and defense had exceptional series. The defense set the tone, forcing a three and out from Ohio State, while on the ensuing drive the offense went down the field to take a 7-0 lead.

Kurtis Rourke had key first down completions to Myles Price and Elijah Sarratt, while the drive was capped off with a two yard rush from Ty Son Laywon in wildcat formation.

This was about the only true first half success for the IU offense during the first half, though, as it was held to zero net yards for the rest of the half.

The defense, however, was solid throughout the half, responding well on a couple of occasions.

After blown coverages on 3rd and 35 and 4th and 10, Ohio State was knocking on the door to tie the game with a score, but the defense produced a great goal line stand, stopping the Buckeyes on a fourth and one on the IU two yard line.

Later in the half, after a Kurtis Rourke fumble, the defense responded again. In the redzone, D'Angelo Ponds tipped a Will Howard pass that was then picked off by Jailin Walker.

It was a very eventful first half to say the least, but it was ended with Ohio State capitalizing on a special teams misplay from IU.

With less than two minutes remaining, James Evans fumbled the snap and was tackled right after recovering it, setting up the Buckeyes at Indiana's seven yard line.

TreVeyeon Henderson punched it in to give OSU the lead going into the half, giving the Buckeyes the momentum heading into the second half.

It was more of the same from the Indiana and the offense as, even after halftime, it struggled to get anything going in both the passing and running games.

The half started off with a three and out from the offense, but it got even worse as Caleb Downs returned the ensuing punt 79 yards for a touchdown.

This started out the half on the wrong foot for IU, and the offense just couldn't respond. In the third quarter, Indiana had four drives, all resulting in punts and totaling just 36 yards between all of them.

Rourke totaled exactly zero yards in the third quarter, passing just four times with zero completions, furthering the disappointment seen from this offense throughout the game.

Rourke and company simply could not garner any offense at all, and it didn't get better in the fourth quarter either.

It took until six minutes left in the game for Rourke to complete his first pass of the second half, as he finally found Elijah Sarratt again for a solid pass play.

This allowed IU to get its first offensive momentum of the second half, as the drive that had Rourke's first completion of the half resulted in the only points the offense scored in the second half.

Ty Son Lawton rushed two yards for his second TD of the game, ending the offense on a positive note, although it was still a very poor half from Rourke and company that resulted in the loss.

The defense for IU was also subpar in the second half as, while not as disappointing as the offense, it regressed after the halftime break, allowing 178 yards and 17 points.

It seemed as if the defense flipped a switch after the special teams miscues as, after the dropped snap on the punt and the punt return allowed, the defense allowed the Buckeye offense to have a field day.

After the punt return for OSU and the ensuing punt from the offense, the defensegave up a touchdown on the Buckeyes' first offensive drive of the half, allowing Will Howard and company to move down the field with ease.

The defense didn't allow a touchdown on the next two Ohio State drives, though allowing a field goal in the middle of the fourth quarter to allow OSU to extend its lead to 31-7.

After the offense had its first scoring drive of the second half, the defense faltered again, allowing a TD on the Buckeye drive after an onside kick.

This gave the Buckeyes a 38-14 lead, possibly making a difference as the point differential went from bad to worse in the defense's last showing of the game.

While this performance wasn't as egregious as the offense's, for the unit that kept Indiana in the game for the majority of the first half, the second half just wasn't the same.

After special teams put Indiana in a tough spot, the defense couldn't make the big plays that it made in the first half, resulting in the 38-15 loss from the Hoosiers.

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