Ohio State Dominates Indiana, 56-14, to Improve to 10-0

By Dan Hope on November 12, 2022 at 3:22 pm
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The weather didn’t slow Ohio State down this week.

With the temperature below 40 degrees and snow flurries in the sky at Ohio Stadium, but much calmer winds than a week earlier at Northwestern, the Buckeyes heated up quickly and burned through the visiting Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday, earning a 56-14 win in their penultimate home game of the season to improve to 10-0 on the year.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#2 Ohio State 21 7 14 14 56
INDIANA 7 0 0 7 14
NOV. 12, 2022 • Ohio STADIUM • Columbus, Ohio

C.J. Stroud threw five touchdown passes to four different receivers, including Kamryn Babb on the first catch of his Ohio State career, while the Buckeyes ran for three touchdowns and more than 300 yards on the ground.

After both teams punted on their opening possession, Ohio State scored the first touchdown of the game on a 6-yard pass from Stroud to Emeka Egbuka.

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That came after a trio of running plays – including a 32-yard run by Miyan Williams and an 18-yard gain on a reverse to Marvin Harrison Jr. – gained a combined 60 yards to get the Buckeyes into their goal-to-go offense.

Dallan Hayden increased Ohio State’s lead to 14-0 on its third possession when he ran for a 14-yard touchdown on his first play in the game.

That came after fellow backup running back Xavier Johnson gained 34 yards on a swing pass out of the backfield, also on his first play of the game.

Ohio State needed only one play to reach the end zone on its fourth possession as Marvin Harrison Jr. got wide open to catch a 58-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud, extending Ohio State’s lead to 21-0 with 2:37 still to play in the first quarter.

After gaining only 15 yards on its first three possessions, Indiana drove down the field for its points of the game on its final drive of the first quarter. AJ Barner capped a six-play, 75-yard scoring drive with a contested 7-yard touchdown catch over Cameron Brown after the Buckeyes gave up a 49-yard pass from Dexter Williams II – who replaced Connor Bazelak at quarterback after Indiana’s first three possessions – to Andison Coby on a blown coverage.

Williams put Ohio State back ahead by three scores on Ohio State’s sixth possession, going all the way to the end zone for a 48-yard touchdown on a 3rd-and-1 run.

OHIO STATE METRIC INDIANA
662 TOTAL YARDS 269
340 RUSHING YARDS 150
43 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 40
7.9 AVERAGE per RUSH 3.8
3 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 0
322 PASSING YARDS 119
19-30 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 9-24
16.9 AVERAGE per COMPLETION 13.2
5 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 2
27 1st DOWNS 11
73 TOTAL PLAYS 64
9.1 YARDS PER PLAY 4.2
5-6 RED ZONE 2-2
7-14 third down conv 3-17
3-15 PENALTIES 2-20
33:19 POSSESSION 26:41

Those would be the final points of the first half as the Buckeyes were stopped on each of their final two possessions of the second quarter. Williams suffered a lower-body injury on Ohio State’s final series before halftime – an injury serious enough that he had to be helped off the field and carted back to the locker room – and Mitch Rossi was stopped short of the line-to-gain on a 4th-and-1 run two plays later.

Indiana threatened to score in the final minute of the first half after a 28-yard pass from Williams to Malachi Holt-Bennett, but Ohio State’s defense preserved the Buckeyes’ 28-7 halftime lead with back-to-back sacks – the first split by Lathan Ransom and Steele Chambers, the second by Jack Sawyer and Ty Hamilton – to knock the Hoosiers out of the field goal range.

Ransom came up big again on Indiana’s second possession of the third quarter. After sacking Williams on second down, Ransom made Ohio State’s first blocked punt since 2019 on fourth down, which Johnson recovered and returned to the 2-yard line. That set up Ohio State’s first touchdown of the second half on a 1-yard pass from Stroud to Cade Stover two plays later.

Stover scored another touchdown on Ohio State’s next possession, diving through a tackle to stretch the ball across the goal line for a 12-yard score on Stroud’s fourth touchdown pass of the day.

Johnson scored Ohio State’s seventh touchdown of the day when he made a bevy of defenders miss on a 71-yard run – Ohio State’s longest run and third-longest play of the season to date.

Indiana scored its second touchdown of the game on a 19-yard pass from Williams to Donaven McCulley, which came after Reis Stocksdale muffed his second punt in as many tries and the Hoosiers recovered the fumble.

Ohio State’s eighth and final touchdown of the day came on the first career catch for Babb, who was mobbed by his teammates in celebration after his 8-yard score.

Ohio State will play its final road game of the season next week when it travels to Maryland to face the Terrapins next Saturday before returning home to Michigan in the regular-season finale. Next week’s game at Maryland will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised on ABC.

Game Notes

  • TreVeyon Henderson, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Dawand Jones, Chip Trayanum and Denzel Burke were among the Buckeyes who did not play against Indiana due to injuries.
  • Josh Fryar made his first career start at right tackle in place of Jones, while Jordan Hancock made his first career start at cornerback in place of Burke. Cameron Brown returned to the starting lineup at cornerback for the first time in four games after missing five of Ohio State’s last six games with injuries.
  • Miyan Williams made his third start of the season at running back in place of Henderson.
  • Ohio State men’s tennis players JJ Tracy and Andrew Lutschaunig were honored on the field during the first quarter after winning the ITA Fall Nationals doubles championship last weekend.
  • Former Ohio State linebacker Raekwon McMillan was introduced to the crowd during a media timeout in the second quarter.
  • 103,888 people attended the game.
  • Ohio State topped 300 rushing yards for the first time since it ran for 323 yards in the first game of the 2021 season against Tulsa.
  • Indiana’s James Evans punted for 500 yards on 11 punts.
  • Joe Royer saw his first offensive playing time of the season at tight end in the fourth quarter.

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