Once again during the Urban Meyer era Indiana proved to be less than a doormat and once again Ohio State emerged victorious with a 38-17 decision over the Hoosiers on a chilly afternoon in the Shoe.
Yes, the passing game was downright anemic but the Buckeyes still ran it for nearly 300 yards and they remain the lone FBS program yet to surrender a rushing touchdown.
If the win felt slightly unsatisfying consider Ohio State is now 16-0 under Meyer in the month of October and your head coach also holds the highest winning-percentage among active FBS coaches at a staggering .854.
In reality, the key yesterday was to get through the game with two things – a win and no major injuries – with Ohio State set to take its show on the road to face Wisconsin and that's exactly what happened.
But before we go all-in on Wisconsin Week here are Five Things that stood out in yesterday's dumping of the Hoosiers.
DIGGIN' ON PARRIS
As recently as the middle of last week Meyer was raving about Parris Campbell for his selflessness and impact on special teams, most specifically as a defensive force on punt and kickoff coverage.
Yesterday it was Campbell's work as a kickoff return man that stole the show.
After Indiana trimmed Ohio State's lead to 17-10 with a minute left in the opening half Campbell responded with a 91-yard burst up the left sideline taking the ball all the way to the Hoosier 6-yard line.
Two plays later J.T. Barrett found the end zone giving Ohio State yet another score in the closing minutes of a 1st half while stemming the tide of Indiana's momentum as the lead pushed back to 24-10, good guys.
Campbell's big return looked even more important as Indiana took the 2nd half kickoff and promptly drove 89 yards for a touchdown cutting Ohio State's lead to 24-17. Without Campbell's clutch return that Hoosier touchdown could've easily tied the game at 17 and caused the Buckeyes to pucker a bit.
With that, tip your cap to Campbell for his big play that was probably just an untucked jersey away from being a 97-yard touchdown.
ANSWER YIELDS QUESTIONS
After Indiana opened the 2nd half with its 13-play, 89-yard touchdown drive cutting the lead to 24-17, Ohio State's offense took the field intent on answering the challenge.
Sure enough, the Buckeyes ripped off a 13-play, 85-yard drive of their own capped by a 1-yard plunge from Mike Weber giving Ohio State a 31-17 advantage late in in the 3rd quarter.
While the drive was impressive in that the offense responded to Indiana's march, it was interesting to see when the Buckeyes needed a score the staff dialed up exactly one pass play – a safe screen pass attempt to Weber that fell incomplete – within a dozen rushing plays.
On one hand you could argue the drive unfolded they way it did because the Hoosiers didn't prove they could stop the run and the staff opted to move the ball the surest way (those 12 carries went for an average of 7.1 yards). On another hand, you could question exactly how much confidence the staff had in the passing game at that moment when the pressure was on to answer Indiana's score.
Also of note, Barrett ran it eight times on the drive, a microcosm of a larger reality of Meyer and staff becoming over-reliant on the quarterback run when things get tight.
When Ohio State faces a better defense in a tighter game, yesterday's play-calling begs the question of whether or not the Buckeye offense will become as predictable as we saw at times last year – abandoning the pass game altogether and failing to leverage studs like Weber and Curtis Samuel on the ground in favor of the quarterback run.
Meyer noted as much in the post-game presser as he lamented the high volume of carries for Barrett offset by the lack of carries for Samuel but whether or not the strategy unfolds any differently in the future – or whether it needs to, I suppose – remains to be seen.
CAM STRIKES AGAIN
Because I still don't think he gets anywhere near the attention worthy of his greatness, I can't pass up an opportunity to gloss Cameron Johnston.
Ohio State punted just once last weekend because of the Rutgers effect but with his first real chance to be a factor since he dominated Oklahoma with all five of his punts dropping inside the 20, Johnston didn't disappoint yesterday.
Facing a legit return guy in Indiana's Mitchell Paige, the entire punt unit needed to step up and they did thanks largely to Johnston.
Averaging nearly 50 yards on six punts, Johnston dropped three inside the 20 and most importantly, helped ensure the Buckeyes surrendered exactly zero punt return yards.
Johnston – Australian for "holy crap this dude's leg is lethal" – is simply dominating the B1G in punting with a 50.1 average which is a full six yards clear of Northwestern's Hunter Niswander (44.0) while the Buckeyes lead the conference in net punting average at 46.7 – a ridiculous 9.9 yards better than 2nd place Northwestern. (The rest of the conference is separated by just 4.8 yards.)
paging wally pipp
Linebacker Dante Booker was again unable to play and Jerome Baker again made the most of his opportunity.
Starting his fourth straight game since Booker went down against Bowling Green, Baker was all over the field posting career-highs with 11 tackles and two TFL.
I hate to see a guy lose his job due to injury but I love to see a guy make the most of an opportunity and Baker has done exactly that.
After yesterday's effort Baker sits second on the team in total tackles (26), second in solo stops (15) and fourth in TFL (3.5). He also has a pick-six and a fumble recovery on his resume while looking increasingly comfortable in his new role.
A healthy Booker would, at worst, provide rotational depth but I just can't see Luke Fickell and Greg Schiano removing Baker from his starting role should Booker come back ready to play this week in Madison.
MIND THE GAP
Entering the season a chief concern was whether or not Ohio State, while loaded at defensive end, would have enough talent along the interior to stuff the inside running game.
Yesterday the Buckeyes again answered the challenge holding Indiana to 99 rush yards on 40 carries, good for just 2.5 per tote. In particular, Indiana's Devine Redding came into the game as the league's 2nd-ranked rusher averaging 103.3 yards per game but was held to 78 yards on 22 carries (3.5 avg).
Defensive tackle Dre'Mont Jones had another strong performance notching a career-high seven stops and reserve Robert Landers was once again a factor in rotational duty. I've been on the Landers train for a month now and over the last few weeks Jones has really stepped up his play.
Of note, starter Michael Hill who hasn't been a world beater, rose to the occasion on Ohio State's crucial goal line stand teaming with Nick Bosa to stop Redding on 4th and 1 from the 4-yard line with OSU nursing a 31-17 lead.
Normally I'd say I can't wait to see how the interior fares against Wisconsin knowing the Badgers historically love to pound the football but they frankly haven't been that great at it this year averaging just 161 rush yards per game, good for just 8th place in the B1G.
