After a tremendous opening drive, fifth-ranked Indiana swiftly spiraled offensively in Ohio Stadium, suffering its first loss in 364 days with a 38-15 defeat to second-ranked Ohio State.
In its first offensive series in front of the raucous Buckeye crowd, the Hoosier offense made a statement, drawing first blood with an 11-play, 70-yard touchdown drive.
“I thought we got off to a good start,” Indiana’s Curt Cignetti said postgame. “It was a good football game there for a while.”
Indiana had the Ohio State crowd on their heels after the defense picked up a gargantuan goal-line stand on the following drive, but the Indiana offense couldn’t drive its way down the field again.
The momentum-killing moment in Saturday afternoon’s game was on the Hoosiers’ second drive of the game. On third and one at the Indiana 26, it seemed as if a Buckeye had jumped across the line of scrimmage, which would have resulted in an Indiana first down. Following a long discussion amongst the officiating crew, it was determined that the guilty party was right guard Bray Lynch, moving Indiana five yards back into a third and six scenario.
“By all indications, they jumped offside, but we got called for the penalty. I’m not sure they made the right call.” Cignetti said. “I’m not saying the game would have been different, but that’s where the game changed.”
The subsequent play ended with Kurtis Rourke being taken down, killing what could have been a promising drive at a critical time of the game.
It was a series of unfortunate events that sent the Hoosier offense into its rapid regression. The next drive went backward and ended with Indiana’s punter, James Evans, having trouble with the snap, setting the Buckeyes up for a quick touchdown to take the lead before the half.
“That [False Start] was the key right there,” Indiana running back Ty Son Lawton said of the penalty. “That’s when everything kind of went downhill.”
From the first snap, Rourke and Indiana were snapping via the silent count to offset the deafening noise reigning down from the more than 105,000 people that packed The Horseshoe on Saturday. The silent count was working well to keep the Hoosiers from false start penalties, but it allowed Ohio State rushers to jump the snap, and the advantage continuously worked in the favor of the Buckeyes.
“I felt like Ohio State was catching on to our silent cadence, so it was easy for them to jump the snap,” Lawton said. “I feel like we could have delayed it a second or two longer to throw them off.”
An Indiana offense that has, for the most part, been at the top of almost every statistical category completely vanished as the Hoosier offense only mustered up a total of 7 yards in its next five drives.
“We didn’t get anything going on offense, that’s what happened,” a frustrated Cignetti said. “For probably five or six series, we got nothing done on offense.”
In total, the Hoosiers finished with 151 yards, which is over 300 yards under its season average of 453. The demons of Indiana teams of years past had returned, and the Hoosiers couldn’t seem to shake them away.
The Buckeye defense hounded Rourke to the tune of five sacks, resulting in a total loss of 46 yards. Even when Rourke wasn’t taken down, there was constant pressure in his face, forcing inaccurate throws, which is uncharacteristic for the Hoosier signal caller.
“They brought some good blitzes and timed them up well,” Rourke said. “I gotta do a better job at recognizing them and know where to go with the ball.”
Indiana’s College Football Playoff resumé speaks for itself at this juncture of the season, but an offensive spiral that was displayed in Columbus on Saturday afternoon only fuels the fire of the naysayers outside of the locker room.
Despite the loss, Indiana remains in control of its own destiny ahead of next week’s regular-season finale with rival Purdue for the Old Oaken Bucket at Memorial Stadium. It will be a chance for the Hoosiers to flush Saturday’s loss and prove its worth, an opportunity Rourke is eager to prepare for.
“We’ve got to go handle Purdue and then take it one game at a time.”
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