BLOOMINGTON, IN – The biggest home game in Indiana history was ruined by Ohio State’s Jeremiah Smith, and a Hoosiers foot that was just out of bounds.
For the past 14 months, the talk of college football has centered around the Hoosiers stacking up wins and a national championship.
All the while, the Buckeyes just sat quietly in the background with the best player in the sport, waiting for their turn to prove the doubters wrong after a loss at Texas earlier in the season thanks to a fourth quarter collapse.
Even though Julian Sayin did not have his most productive outing on Saturday, all he needed was his Heisman Trophy candidate Jeremiah Smith to bail him out a time or two en route to a close-shave 19-15 victory over the Hoosiers.
Plenty of times this afternoon in Bloomington, it felt as though this Ohio State team was just one play away from ending the party. But, with Josh Hoover throwing a touchdown pass with just over 10:12 remaining in the fourth quarter, we found ourselves wondering if the Buckeyes would once again blow a fourth quarter lead.
As 1:02 was remaining in the game, the Indiana crowd bursted into cheers after Nick Marsh came down with what the Hoosiers thought would be the go-ahead touchdown catch in what would be one of the wilder endings we’ve seen this season.
Turns out, it was one of the crazier plays we’ve witnessed, but for all the wrong reasons for Indiana, as Nick Marsh immediately signaled by grabbing his helmet.
As the fireworks went off inside Memorial Stadium, the mood quickly shifted within the hearts of Hoosier fans, as Nick Marsh was ruled to be out of bounds when he caught the football, sending the Ohio State sideline into a frenzy of joy.
“We had it, but we just didn’t make it happen,” Curt Cignetti said following the loss. “It’s a hard one to swallow, learn from it and move on.”
A 22-game winning streak for Indiana came to an end, while Ohio State defensive coordinator Matt Patricia jubilantly told assistant coaches after the game that he’d rather not watch the final play over again.
What we witnessed on this chilly day in Bloomington will go down as one of the most complicated games over the past few seasons for both teams.
Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin will at the very least be out a “couple of weeks”, according to head coach Ryan Day following the game, after suffering a shoulder injury during the fourth quarter that saw him return to the sidelines wearing a sling.
Ohio State does have a bye next week, before a trip to USC in late October.
Everything was starting to come up roses for the defending national champions during a frantic fourth quarter, which also saw Jeremiah Smith give the Buckeyes the eventual game-winning touchdown.
“I actually ran the wrong route,” Smith said postgame. But, Julian (Sayin) trusted me and I made the play.”
The pageantry of college football was on display for the few days leading up to this top-five showdown in Bloomington, as fans flocked to town in hopes of seeing Indiana extend its winning streak to 23 games.
But, the heartbreak would come sneaking around the bend over what might be the wildest 20 seconds of recent Big Ten memory, thanks to the insane final few minutes.
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Is this the defining game for an Ohio State football team that has all the potential to be inside Lucas Oil Stadium at regular season’s end for a Big Ten title game?
Absolutely, but they’ll have to get through the next month without a starting quarterback who nearly cost them the game on multiple occasions on Saturday.
In what was actually an uneventful game for nearly three full quarters, each squad decided to save their best theatrics until the final minutes.
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On one hand, Indiana has a ways to go on the offensive side of the ball, even with Josh Hoover slinging it. It’s no secret that this unit is not fundamentally the same as we witnessed last season, but that doesn’t mean Curt Cignetti’s squad can’t put itself in a position to hoist the Big Ten trophy once again.
But, the Hoosiers will need more out of their starting quarterback, along with a group of wide receivers who found themselves looking over their heads numerous times against the Buckeyes.
Who knows, maybe they put it all together, but judging by what we witnessed on Saturday, there are plenty of things to fix if they are going to make another CFP run.
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For the Big Ten, nobody can deny the drama created in the buildup to this one, with so much on the line in terms of postseason placement.
A loss would not have destroyed the Buckeyes chances at making the postseason, though the same cannot be said for their week-two opponent in the Texas Longhorns after their loss to Florida.
Now, though, with a win on the road in Bloomington in front of a crowd that was foaming at the mouth for another win over the Buckeyes, this Ohio State team will have to endure at least the next few weeks of the season without Julian Sayin.
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On one of the most entertaining weekends for Indiana football, the Ohio State Buckeyes came into their house and earned a colossal Big Ten game in one of the most important times in recent memory.
Now, we see where each team goes from here, with plenty of quarterback questions remaining.
