3 Key Stats That Explain Indiana Football's Loss to Ohio State

Indiana (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) wasn’t short on opportunities against Ohio State (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington – including the final play of the game. 

But the Hoosiers wound up falling just short (final score of 19-15), and left their home field with their first loss in 22 games. The contest was characterized by a few key digits, and a few key plays. We break it down below:

Key stats that defined Indiana's loss to Ohio State

Indiana’s rushing yards per carry: 2.5

The Hoosiers’ dominance in the Curt Cignetti era has always started on the ground. Indiana runs the ball to free up the pass. Not against Ohio State, though. 

The longest run of the afternoon? A Josh Hoover scamper for eight yards. The total rushing yards: 73. And the Hoosiers managed just 2.5 per carry. No explosives. No chunk plays. Just a whole lot of nothing on the ground.

Indiana’s rushing attack has been concerningly inefficient at times this year (3.0 yards per tote last week at Nebraska). The offense will continue to sputter if the ground game doesn’t make strides moving forward.

Ohio State’s fourth-down efficiency: 100 percent

Holding the Buckeyes to just 6-of-15 on third down was impressive work for the Hoosiers defense. But, on two occasions, those third-down stops were just temporary Band-Aids that couldn’t stop the bleeding. 

The first came late in the second quarter. Indiana’s defense had strung together a trio of excellent stops, stuffing Ohio State twice and forcing an errant throw from Julian Sayin. 

But on fourth down, the Buckeyes used Jeremiah Smith to draw all of the Hoosiers’ attention on the left side of the field, leaving running back Bo Jackson unattended for an easy touchdown pass that gave Ohio State the lead and momentum entering the break. 

Then, on a 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers read the play action, held strong and forced Sayin to unload a bomb to the end zone – a heave that stud wide receiver Jeremiah Smith came up with (because, why wouldn’t he?). That put Indiana in a 12-point hole it wasn’t able to dig itself out of. 

Combined Indiana and Ohio State turnovers: four

The turnovers worked for and against both teams. If the Hoosiers held on and got that late first-half stop at the goal line, the entire first half would have been summed up by Amare Ferrell’s interception, which set up Indiana’s only score in the first two quarters. 

Then, in the second half, the Hoosiers, who hadn’t fumbled in forever, coughed up the ball twice. The first granted Ohio State a free three points and snuffed any hope of Indiana stealing momentum back to start the second half. 

The second – which was a free rush that blindsided Hoover – didn’t change much considering it was already fourth down. Nevertheless, both were certainly out of the ordinary for the Hoosiers. And, not for nothing, Hoover was quite fortunate he didn’t throw multiple interceptions. 

On the flip side, an errant overthrow from Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin gave Indiana life late in the third quarter. It should have been flipped into points, but the Hoosiers were unable to pay it off (missed a 55-yard field goal).