J.T. Barrett knows what you're about to ask him. He knows why you're about to pick his brain about Ohio State's anemic passing attack in its three-touchdown victory over Indiana. But above all, he's also knows what he feels most.
“Grateful for a Buckeye win,” Barrett said minutes after No. 2 Ohio State dispatched Indiana 38-17. “Chance to go 6-0. Just grateful for that.”
Urban Meyer's team is 5-0 after pushing Kevin Wilson's more than capable Hoosiers aside Saturday afternoon in Columbus despite Barrett only completing nine passes for 93 yards. It is easy to expect a 58-0 thumping each weekend like the one the Buckeyes laid on Rutgers seven days ago. That isn't the reality, however, regardless the conference or opponent. Weird things happen in college football, like the fact the Hoosiers refuse to give Meyer's teams anything easy in their last five meetings.
But Meyer stands a perfect 5-0 against Kevin Wilson. So while there is an uneasiness, feeling that in victory is better than the alternative.
“We gotta make sure we win by three scores against a team we have a lot of respect for. So I feel lousy,” Meyer said. “We have to pick it up go again and get guys healthy, and we're getting ready for a stretch run.”
Barrett ran the ball an uncharacteristically high 26 times, gaining 137 yards and scoring once. Star H-back Curtis Samuel only touched in nine times, slashing and cutting his way to 82 yards and a score but failing to catch a pass. Ohio State's lone passing touchdown came with 3:51 left when Dontre Wilson screamed over the middle and raced 37 yards to the end zone to put Ohio State's victory on ice at 38-17.
“It was just an awkward game,” Meyer said. “It was one of those games, we're one of those teams that we have to, you saw that last year, a big part of our passing game is [the] execution of the deep ball.”
Barrett missed Samuel early with a bad underthrow that would have been six points. He didn't find open receivers like we're used to seeing. Meyer is fully aware Samuel needs the ball more too—“he had nine carries, that's not enough”—but Ohio State's defense stood tall when it needed to and Parris Campbell's long kickoff return before halftime helped the Buckeyes keep Indiana at arm's length.
“I'm grateful for winning because it's really tough to win in the Big Ten. I'm grateful for that, just understanding that there is a little frustration because we know we could have played a lot better.”– J.T. Barrett
Campbell raced 91 yards and shifted the momentum back in Ohio State's favor right after Richard Lagow hit Mitchell Paige for an 18-yard score that cut Ohio State's lead to 17-10 with a minute left before half. With the Hoosiers ready to get the ball at the start of the third quarter, Barrett and Ohio State capitalized as the quarterback scored from 5 yards out.
Indiana countered with a 13-play, 89-yard drive that ended in Lagow finding a wide open Danny Friend in the end zone to make it 24-17. Had it not been for Campbell's return, the Buckeyes could have found themselves tied in the third quarter for the first time this season.
“That was a dominating play,” Meyer said of the return.
Mike Weber's 1-yard plunge late in the third pushed the lead back to three possession, a needed touchdown as Barrett went the whole third quarter without completing a pass. He then had one intercepted after the ball went through Marcus Baugh's hands with fewer than 12 minutes remaining. With a chance to get within 7 once again, Indiana elected to try Ohio State's defense on 4th-and-1 from the 4-yard line, only to be stuffed and lose two yards.
“The fourth down, and that was the play of the day,” Meyer said. “And that's why we beat Indiana.”
But the fact the Buckeyes beat Indiana is what is most important. Fewer than 100 yards passing and 290 on the ground does nothing to signal the type of balance Meyer wants, but Ohio State's defense still has not allowed a rushing touchdown this season and made plays when it needed to. Cameron Johnston's ability to flip fields and keep the Buckeyes in solid field position situations after starting a pair of drives inside their own 5-yard line in the first half is another peg in the wheel of a team victory.
“A win’s a win. We won. Everybody needs to relax with that,” right guard Billy Price said. “At the end of the day, there are things we need to get better at. That’s the joy of coming back next week, to improve on the things that we didn’t do so well today and get better.”
Starting running back Mike Weber shared the same sentiment, even noting how Ohio State's locker room was "dead" after the game. But it was such in victory.
“I'm grateful for winning because it's really tough to win in the Big Ten,” Barrett said. “I'm grateful for that, just understanding that there is a little frustration because we know we could have played a lot better.”
The Buckeyes can ill afford to drop a game like the one on Saturday if they hope to stay on track and get to Indianapolis at the end of the regular season. After four dominant victories against hapless foes Bowling Green, Tulsa and Rutgers plus a signature 21-point win at Oklahoma, the bar has been set. It is always going to be high at Ohio State.
“The positives are just learning what we did wrong. We’ll be in [Sunday] watching film and we just have to learn from it,” Campbell said. “I try to tell the guys in our room to keep our heads held high at all times because it’s not about us at the end of the day, it’s about the team.”
Meyer isn't blind to it. His players are too and know there are things both must get better at before a trip to Madison to play Wisconsin under the lights next week. But doing it after a win is much easier than with a checkmark in the loss column.
That's what Ohio State claims it is focusing on even though plenty of what it did in its triumph against a conference opponent that always gives it fits was uncharacteristic.
“Now being in my fourth year being here, it's really hard to win football games in the Big Ten,” Barrett said. “I don't want to take away that by any means. We won a football game. I'm very grateful for that. Grateful for the teammates that we have and that was a good team in Indiana that we just had.”
Holes in the passing attack are apparent. Penalties are still an issue—the Buckeyes had nine for 83 yards—and a young defense fell out of position more than once against the Hoosiers.
But don't expect Ohio State to dwell too much on those negativities in a 21-point win, at least for Saturday night. In the end, it could down as its most meaningful win of the season.
“Let's get it fixed. We won by 21. It's much easier to fix if you win than if you lose,” Meyer said. “You guys saw it. You saw what they did last week. They beat Michigan State. So let's take that one move on and get ready for Wisconsin.”
