Ohio State is now 4-0 after defeating Indiana, 42-35, in an ugly game Saturday afternoon.
Ohio State went off in its first two offensive plays, scoring a touchdown on two bullets from Justin Fields to Garrett Wilson. That dominance continued throughout the first half, leading the Buckeyes to enter halftime with a 28-7 lead, with both Fields and Michael Penix Jr. performing well with almost 200 passing yards each after two quarters.
On today's Three Key Stats, we'll look at Justin Fields' three interceptions, Michael Penix Jr.'s success through the air, and Indiana's lack of ground game against the Buckeyes defense.
Justin Fields throws three interceptions
Fields is, in fact, human, which many of us doubted before this game. The Ohio State quarterback – and Heisman Trophy favorite entering the weekend – threw his first two interceptions of the season in the first half and then a third interception in the second half.
1. The worst throw of Justin Fields career.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 21, 2020
2. Heck of a play by Julian Fleming. pic.twitter.com/3tT3KJtNnb
Fields also struggled in other aspects of the game, including throwing more incompletions on Saturday (12) than he had in the first three games of the season (11). He finished the day by throwing 18 completions on 30 attempts. Fields' arm accounted for nearly half of the Buckeyes yards against Indiana – 300 of Ohio State's 607 total yards – and he added 78 rushing yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Michael Penix Jr. goes off with 495 yards
The Indiana quarterback solidified his status as one of the Big Ten's best quarterbacks on Saturday, passing for 495 yards against an Ohio State secondary that struggled throughout the afternoon. In the first half, Penix threw for 197 yards and one touchdown, but he was apparently just getting started. He hit his stride in the second half, throwing for 298 yards and four touchdowns.
4th and 10 and @IndianaFootball gets the TD! pic.twitter.com/WVH0rDuiML
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 21, 2020
Penix smoked the Buckeyes' secondary multiple times throughout the afternoon, including a 68 yard bomb down the field to Miles Marshall.
Penix was one yard short of the Indiana single-game passing record, and only had one interception on the day, a pick-six thrown straight to Shaun Wade. He and wide receiver Ty Fryfogle put themselves in Ohio State's record books for their production.
Indiana had -1 yards rushing
The Hoosiers continually could not get the ground game going, as the Ohio State defensive line stopped almost every attempt early on. The longest run the defense gave up was nine yards by quarterback Penix, and then an eight yard scamper by running back Sampson James. Since the running game was failing, the Hoosiers turned to the pass game for most of the game – and, to Ohio State's detriment, it worked.
As was the case in last game against Rutgers, this game truly was a tale of two halves. Ryan Day will have some work to do before the Buckeyes travel to Champaign to face Illinois and Lovie Smith next weekend.
