MY THOUGHTS.....INDIANA

          It wasn’t pretty at times, and Indiana made them sweat throughout much of the game, but the Ohio State Buckeyes eventually pulled away to defeat the Hooisers 49-26.  

Of course, Dwayne Haskins continues to awe everybody as his 455 yards was just three short of Art Schlichter’s single game record of 458 set against Florida State in 1981.  His six touchdown passes tied a school record with J.T. Barrett and Kenny Guiton.  Haskins also became the first player in B1G history to throw for at least five touchdowns in three games in a single season, and the Buckeyes are only halfway through the regular season.  Haskins threw two picks, but on each one, he was hit as he threw the ball.  By and large, the Ohio State offensive line did an excellent job of pass protection, as he was sacked only once.  Parris Campbell was the recipient of nine of Haskins’ throws. Once of which he turned into a 71-yard catch and run to the end zone at the start of the second half to give the Buckeyes some breathing room.  As great as Haskins and the receivers were, the Ohio State ground game was surprisingly not energetic.  A look at the stats reveal that since a team average of 7.1 yards per carry in the opener against Oregon State, the Ohio State ground game has decreased production in every game since.  Against the Hoosiers, they garnered a disappointing 154 yards and just 3.2 yards per carry.  I noticed the middle of the offensive line (Malcolm Pridgeon, Michael Jordan, and Demetrious Knox) did not consistently get a surge against Indiana’s defense.  Now, part of this could be due because Indiana, like Penn State and several teams before, was utilizing run blitzing quite a bit and bringing a safety up to provide an extra man in the box.  As a result, it has been tough, as of late, for Dobbins and Weber, to break through the first level and get into the secondary.

The defense once again struggled at times against a dual-threat quarterback.  They yielded four pass plays of longer than 30 yards.  Indiana quarterback Peyton Ramsey was particularly effective in the first half, as he threw for 239 yards and two touchdowns.  All four starting defensive backs took bad angles or just plain got beat at times.  However, I noticed the defensive line wasn’t getting much of a push and was hardly getting pressure on Ramsey, not even coming close to a sack.  However, give the beleaguered defense credit for the way they played in the second half.  The defensive line posted three TFLs and a sack and the secondary held Ramsey to a mere 83 yards through the air in the second half.  Pete Werner played a solid game against both the run and the pass, as he had three PBU while dropping back in coverage.   The Ohio State defense also continues to do a good job stopping the opposition on third down.  After limiting Penn State to just 18 percent on third downs (3 of 17), they proceeded to be almost as stingy against the Hoosiers, limiting them to a mere 3-of-14 (21 percent).  Pete Werner again played a part on several third down stops.  Damon Arnette and Malik Harrison broke up passes to force Indiana punts and Dre’Mont Jones notched a third down sack.

Finally, a word about the officiating.  I use Twitter frequently during the games with my observations.  I have always attempted to call out bad officiating, even when it benefits Ohio State.  I will continue to do so; it is my First Amendment right, which I and my buddies I served with, put our lives on the line for.  I will continue to call things the way I see them.  People have the right to disagree; they DO NOT have the right to tell me, or anyone, to "shush".  Rather, I suggest they "unfollow" or "block" me on Twitter..

However, in the interest of fairness, I stated that I would review the game broadcast and the calls which I questioned.  I find after making such a review:

-a couple of the pass interference calls against Ohio State defenders were close and could’ve gone either way, however, there wasn’t enough there to question the call on the field.

-the penalty against Chase Young, which some in the local media questioned, looked legit to me.

-the crew in the replay booth blew the “catch” in the third quarter on the sideline by Indiana’s Nick Westbrook that was originally ruled out of bounds. Replay after replay did nothing to provide clear evidence to overturn what was called on the field as his elbow of his arm with the ball hit out of bounds at the same time his rear end hit the field.   

-On Indiana’s lone touchdown drive of the second half, the Hooisers went for it on fourth down and one at the OSU 11 with 5:36 left in the third quarter.  Indiana running back Steve Smith had his knee hit the ground just before he reached the ball to the ten-yard line.  It was clearly a bad spot that the replay booth failed to correct.

This is to take absolutely nothing away from Indiana.  As I mentioned in my pre game post, the Hoosiers have a recent history of making the Buckeyes sweat and with the way Peyton Ramsey is playing, Indiana’s going to play quite a few teams tough.  Michigan and Penn State need to be on notice; this Indiana team will not go down without a good fight.  The Buckeyes, with their defensive issues, are NOT a playoff-caliber team at this moment in the season.

Next week, the Minnesota Golden Gophers come to town and Ohio State has another good chance to try some new things and wrinkles on the defensive side to hopefully improve.