Ohio State Blows Out Indiana, 38-15, for Second Top-Five Win of Season

By Dan Hope on November 23, 2024 at 3:23 pm
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Michigan and Purdue might suck, but Ohio State does not.

Curt Cignetti’s efforts to back up his bold claim from his introduction at Indiana last winter came to a screeching halt on Saturday as the Hoosiers suffered a blowout loss to the Buckeyes, 38-15, for their first loss of the season.

The Buckeyes earned their second top-five win of the season to improve to 10-1 on the year, putting them a rivalry game win away from earning a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game and effectively clinching a College Football Playoff spot.

Caleb Downs scored Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown in 10 years to help the Buckeyes pull away from the Hoosiers in their penultimate game of the regular season.

  Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4  
#2 Ohio State 0 14 14 10 38
#5 INDIANA 7 0 0 8 15
NOV. 23, 2024 • OHIO STADIUM • Columbus, OHiO

The Buckeyes got off to a slow start, going three-and-out on their opening possession before allowing Indiana to drive 70 yards in 11 plays for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead on a 2-yard touchdown run by Ty Son Lawton.

Ohio State’s second drive appeared likely to stall out at midfield when an illegal block in the back penalty against Carson Hinzman and an intentional grounding penalty against Will Howard put the Buckeyes into 3rd-and-35, but Howard responded by completing passes of 25 and 24 yards to Carnell Tate to get Ohio State into the red zone.

The Buckeyes failed to finish the drive with points, however, as Quinshon Judkins was stopped for no gain on 4th-and-1 run from the 2-yard line.

After allowing Indiana to convert its first five third downs of the game, Ohio State’s defense finally got off the field as it sacked Kurtis Rourke for an 11-yard loss on an all-out blitz. The Buckeyes got the ball back at Indiana’s 44-yard line and took advantage of the short field, driving for their first touchdown of the game which came on a 11-yard pass from Howard to Emeka Egbuka.

Ohio State got the ball back in the red zone when Cody Simon forced a fumble with a third-down strip sack off an explosive blitz that was recovered by Ty Hamilton, but the Buckeyes gave the ball back without scoring when a pass went off of Jelani Thurman’s hands and was intercepted by Indiana linebacker Jailin Walker.

Ohio State got the ball back in the red zone again on its next possession when Caden Curry tackled Indiana punter James Evans at the 7-yard line after he dropped a snap. Ohio State took its first lead of the game with 21 seconds to play before halftime on a 4-yard touchdown run by TreVeyon Henderson.

Ohio State took a 14-point lead less than three minutes into the second half when Downs fielded a punt off a bounce and returned it for a 79-yard touchdown, Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown since Jalin Marshall had a 54-yard punt return touchdown against Indiana on Nov. 22, 2014.

The Buckeyes took a three-touchdown lead on their next possession with a 10-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Thurman.

Jayden Fielding made it 31 unanswered points for Ohio State when he made a 45-yard field goal with 8:56 to play.

Indiana nearly made the final score more respectable by putting together a 15-play, 75-yard drive that it capped off with another 2-yard touchdown run by Lawton and followed with a two-point conversion. After Indiana attempted an onside kick, however, Henderson sprung a 39-yard run to get the ball to the 1-yard line.

Ohio State could have let the clock run out from there, but the Buckeyes opted to go for another touchdown with Will Howard powering the ball across the goal line for a 1-yard touchdown to make it a 23-point final margin of victory.

Ohio State now enters its final week of the regular season with its minds on revenge as the Buckeyes host Michigan next Saturday at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State is looking to end a three-game losing streak against the Wolverines; if it does, the Buckeyes will clinch a berth in the Big Ten Championship Game, in which they would play Oregon in a rematch of their only loss of the year.

Team Stats

OHIO STATE       INDIANA
316 TOTAL YARDS 151
115 RUSHING YARDS 83
29 RUSHING ATTEMPTS 41
4.0 AVERAGE PER RUSH 2.0
2 RUSHING TOUCHDOWNS 2
201 PASSING YARDS 68
22-26 COMPLETIONS–ATTEMPTS 8-18
9.1 YARDS PER COMPLETION 8.5
2 PASSING TOUCHDOWNS 0
14 1st DOWNS 16
55 TOTAL PLAYS 59
5.7 YARDS PER PLAY 2.6
4-11 3RD DOWNS 6-14
8-58 PENALTIES 3-15
29:20 POSSESSION 30:40
1 TURNOVERS 1

Game Notes

  • Bennett Christian made his first career start as the Buckeyes opened the game in a two-tight end set.
  • Will Howard completed his first 14 consecutive passes to start the game before throwing his first incompletion.
  • Cody Simon had a career-high 2.5 sacks.
  • ESPN’s College GameDay and FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff were both in attendance for the game. Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields served as the GameDay guest picker and was recognized on the field during a first-quarter TV timeout.
  • 105,751 people were in attendance for the game.
  • Ohio State has now won 30 straight games against Indiana.
  • Indiana’s 151 total yards were the fewest by a Big Ten opponent against Ohio State since Indiana in 2021 and the fewest by a ranked opponent since Iowa in 2005.

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