Ohio State Shuts Down Vaunted Indiana Offense in Top-Five Win

Sometimes the best way to start a story is to simply let the stats tell the tale.

Indiana marched 70 yards down the field for a touchdown on its first possession, 17 of those yards coming off of penalties. For the rest of the game, the No. 5 Hoosiers could only cobble together 98 yards, finishing with 151 total and an abysmal 2.6 yards per play.

It’s the fewest yards Ohio State’s allowed to a Big Ten opponent since 2021, also against Indiana. The worst offense in the FBS, Kennesaw State, averages 4 yards per play, a whole 1.4 yards more than the Hoosiers found against the Buckeyes. Heralded Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke finished just 8-of-18 for 68 yards and the Hoosiers averaged just 2 yards per carry on the ground.

Whatever stat you select, the Buckeyes were dominant against an Indiana offense that’s otherwise been prolific this season.

“I felt like the plan going in was excellent, and I thought the defensive staff did a great job with it,” Ryan Day said after Ohio State’s 38-15 win. “Jim (Knowles) had a great plan, I thought Tim (Walton) and Matt (Guerrieri) both did an excellent job all week. ... But, like we talked about this week, this game is played by players, not coaches. It's about players. And our players played hard today.”

Indiana entered Saturday with the nation’s No. 2 scoring and No. 8 yard-per-play offense in the country. The first place to look for where Ohio State shut the crimson and cream down after its first drive is on pass rush.

The Buckeyes sacked quarterback Kurtis Rourke five times, with three of those takedowns coming on third down. Linebacker Cody Simon proved perhaps the Buckeyes’ best defender in general on Saturday but was especially effective on blitzes with 10 tackles and 2.5 sacks, one of which was the strip-sack seen below.

SACKED AGAIN@OhioStateFB's defense is bringing the pressure in the second quarter

(brought to you by @ATTBusiness #ATTBusiness #NextLevelNetwork) pic.twitter.com/ByUqmTqR34
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 23, 2024

Schematics have been a major part of the Buckeyes’ ramped-up pressure since it infamously recorded no sacks against Oregon in Week 7, and Knowles dialed up a gorgeous simulated pressure here. Ohio State came out in a 3-2-6 look, showing a five-man rush pre-snap. Post-snap, defensive end Jack Sawyer and linebacker Sonny Styles dropped into coverage while dimeback Lorenzo Styles Jr., who wasn’t showing blitz at first, looped around to rush B-gap as he, Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Simon overloaded the left side of Indiana’s offensive line.

The Hoosiers’ left tackle didn’t know who to block and a ferocious ransacking of the backfield by Simon resulted in a strip-sack.

“I’m just doing my job,” Simon said. “We practice those a lot during the week and I just try to do what they tell me to do and show out my instincts that they give me. I’m thankful I'm in that position. I'm just happy to be able to get those stops.”

Sawyer doesn’t feel that Simon gets enough credit for his role as quarterback of Ohio State’s defense from the Mike linebacker position. Simon is now up to 65 tackles, eight tackles for loss and five sacks in 2024.

“Cody's just a hell of a player, man,” Sawyer said. “He’s so smart. He's so physical and fast. I think he's one of the most underrated guys in the country. I think he's one of the best linebackers in the country. I feel like he might not get the national press that he deserves. I mean, he's just such a good player. He's so smart. And seeing him make plays like that, no one deserves it more than Cody Simon.”

Star defensive ends JT Tuimoloau and Sawyer looked the part of stars against the Hoosiers, with the former getting 1.5 sacks and the latter getting one. Sawyer looped around through A-gap on a stunt for his sack, coming free to smash Rourke.

“Coach Knowles and the staff put us in a good position to do that,” Sawyer said. “I just thank God for the opportunity to be playing for the Buckeyes and being out here in the Shoe against a top-five team like that – it's just something you dream about since being a little kid.”

“Being out here in the Shoe against a top-five team like that – it's just something you dream about since being a little kid.”– Jack Sawyer on his sack

In tandem with the team’s pass rush, Ohio State’s efforts in pass coverage shouldn’t be dismissed. Rourke entered the game as the No. 2 quarterback in the country for passing yards per attempt, at 10.1. On Indiana’s first drive of the contest, he went 2-of-3 for 32 yards and the 17 yards the Hoosiers gained in penalties both came on pass interference calls against cornerback Davison Igbinosun.

Rourke finished the game 8-of-18 for a measly 68 yards, just 3.8 yards per pass attempt. Lump in the 43 yards lost by Indiana on Ohio State’s five sacks and the Hoosiers netted 25 yards on 23 pass plays.

“I felt like the defensive line won the line of scrimmage, felt like we got after their offensive line in terms of getting into the backfield,” Day said. “I thought our guys in the secondary covered well because we knew they were going to take shots down the field. We still had too many of those fast interference calls that we've got to get cleaned up, that’s just the truth. But, I thought the linebackers, at least it looked like on the field, were timing up the blitzes really well to get into the backfield.”

The running game wasn’t much better for the Hoosiers, even excluding the sacks they allowed. They picked up a sack-adjusted 3.6 yards per carry, with just 83 rushing yards in total. Sawyer felt the defense dominated once Indiana got off of its opening script.

“We're playing our best football right now, all of us collectively,” Sawyer said. “You saw the defense, kind of going to a different gear this game after the first drive. that's what we're capable of. And it feels great to be playing like that right now.”

There was one more edge Ohio State had on Saturday: The home crowd in the Horseshoe. The atmosphere against Indiana was easily the most raucous of the season.

One advantage offenses typically have is the snap count. They know it and defenses don’t, which normally allows offensive linemen to fire off when they first hear the word “hut” or a clap of the hands or whatever a quarterback’s cadence is. The defensive line has to watch the ball or opposing players for movement before moving itself. But the noise level in the Shoe was such that Rourke couldn’t be heard properly and the Hoosiers had to opt for a silent count, meaning the offense and defense were both going by the snap of the football.

“I thought the crowd was awesome,” Day said. “I thought our guys played with great passion. I thought the two of them just played off of each other the entire game. I think the fact that they had to go to a silent cadence didn't make a difference in this game. They tried to clap early, they couldn't. They went to the silent cadence, and that made a huge difference. Give the fans so much credit. I thought they brought great energy.”

Ohio State will expect another raucous crowd and seek another dominant defensive effort in The Game next week. Even more so than it usually does, it’s a matchup that’s been circled on the Buckeyes’ calendar all season.

“This is the game that you came back for,” Sawyer said. “It's a game that has impacted so many lives in the last few years. And I want this one so bad for so many different reasons.”