My THOUGHTS.....INDIANA

                 Many times, football is a game of survival.  The goal is to survive and go on to the next game, and that is exactly what Ohio State did Saturday in Bloomington against a game Indiana squad that pulled out all the stops.  The Buckeyes had just enough in the tank to overcome generally sloppy offensive play thanks largely to Ezekiel Elliott's record-setting day and a defensive stand on the game's final possession in a lackluster 34-27 win.  After just 31 yards on 10 carries in the opening half, Ezekiel Elliott exploded in the 2nd half tallying 13 carries for 243 yards and three long scores in leading the Buckeyes to the win.  His 55, 65, and 75-yard runs were even more impressive when you consider Elliott was taking some serious shots on other plays as the Hoosiers stacked the box sensing Ohio State was moving away from the downfield passing game.  Elliott scorched the record books on a day when the Buckeyes needed every yard he could muster. His 11.9 yards per carry set the Ohio State single game record and his 274 rushing yards tied Keith Byars for the second-best single game effort in school history while his 243 yards in the second half set a new OSU record for yards in a half.  During his streak of 10 straight 100+ yard rushing games, he has amassed over 1,600 yards with 19 touchdowns.  Unfortunately, it seemed like everyone else on the offense was hit-and-miss.    Ohio State turned it over three times, all avoidable mistakes.  Jalin Marshall racked up an impressive 110 yards of offensive production, but seemed to revert back to where he was in the middle of last season when he had trouble hanging on to the ball.  Both his fumbles were clearly due to not securing the ball when going down and clearly avoidable.  So was the badly thrown pick by Cardale Jones in which he should’ve seen Indiana’s Tegray Scales dropping back into the passing lane.  I was surprised about the lack of involvement of Braxton Miller, who had only one carry for 14 yards and one catch for a minus 9.  The Wildcat formation was shelved for much of the game, but surely they could’ve used Miller in different formations and gotten him the ball on more plays.  Highlighting the offensive struggles (except for Elliott) was the horrendous red zone production.   The Buckeyes made four trips within the “red zone” (inside the opponent’s 20) and only came away with two field goals, a missed field goal, and Jones’ pick. 

With three turnovers yesterday, Ohio State now has 13 in five games.  Averaging 2.6 turnovers per game, Ohio State has turned it over at least twice in four of their five games.  Yesterday's three turnovers led to 10 points for the Hoosiers and kept them in the game ,and it’s not just the turnovers.   Against Indiana, the Buckeyes also committed eight penalties totaling 109 yards including three facemask infractions, two illegal blocks, two pass interference calls and one unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Despite a few lapses here and there, the Ohio State defensive line shined and stepped up when they had to.  Indiana had the ball 1st-and-goal on Ohio State’s 6-yard line trailing by a touchdown. Had the Hoosiers found a way to get into the end zone, they could have opted to go for the two-point conversion and the win.

Indiana committed a false start, then had an incomplete pass and two short runs before it was faced with a fourth-down play. With the game on the line, the Hoosiers had a bad snap and backup quarterback Zander Diamont threw one up for grabs that eventually landed incomplete.   Ohio State’s defense registered just one sack against Indiana, but the Buckeyes were quite dominant up front.

Ohio State repeatedly made plays in the backfield to stifle the Hoosiers’ potent rushing attack. Indiana, as a team, registered 176 yards on the ground on 55 carries. That’s an average of just 3.2 yards per rush and that number includes Diamont’s 79-yard touchdown run.

Hoosiers star running back Jordan Howard got hurt in the game, but he was held in check prior to injury, rushing for just 34 yards on 14 carries. In his place, Devine Redding carried the ball 30 times and gained just 45 yards.

Those numbers were largely because of the play of Ohio State’s defensive line. The group of Adolphus Washington, Tommy Schutt, Joey Bosa and Tyquan Lewis combined to make 29 tackles. Bosa and Lewis combined to have six tackles for loss and Lewis had the team’s lone sack.

Ohio State wide receiver Corey Smith suffered what looked to be a serious leg injury when he got rolled up on the sideline. Smith was carted off the field and was seen after the game with a cast on his left leg.  Linebacker Raekwon McMillan was not on the field for several consecutive series in the fourth quarter for Ohio State as Cam Williams was in at middle linebacker. McMillan was on the sideline with his helmet on, but wasn’t out on the field in the middle of the Buckeyes’ defense.  The word was he appeared to be suffering from a migrane headache.

Five games in, the Ohio State offense appears to have more questions than answers.  Fortunately, the Buckeyes are playing Maryland next week rather than Michigan or Michigan State, so the coaching staff still has some time to make the necessary adjustments.