No. 4 Ohio State got the victory it craved, but it came at a heavy cost: starting quarterback Julian Sayin is expected to miss several weeks with an injured right arm. Sayin threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Jeremiah Smith on fourth-and-1 early in the fourth quarter before leaving. The Buckeyes held on for a 19-15 victory over No. 5 Indiana on Saturday when wide receiver Nick Marsh's left foot came down out of bounds on what would have been the go-ahead score for the Hoosiers with 1:02 to go.
The defending national champions extended their streaks to 22 straight overall wins and 19 in a row at home, the two longest active streaks in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Buckeyes (6-1, 4-0 Big Ten) also got a measure of revenge for last December's loss to the Hoosiers in the league's title game. "When the ball was in the air, I started thinking about getting a 2-minute drill ready to go," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. Instead, the Buckeyes simply ran out the clock.
Indiana (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) refused to go down easily. After Smith's score gave Ohio State a 19-7 lead, Josh Hoover returned from a right arm injury and led the Hoosiers on a 75-yard drive, capped by a 19-yard touchdown pass to Marsh and a two-point conversion to Turbo Richard that cut the deficit to 19-15 with 10:30 left. On the final drive, Marsh was wide open near the front corner of the end zone, but his foot landed on the white paint, and he knew it immediately.
Indiana coach Curt Cignetti suffered his first home loss in three seasons, in the first top five game ever played at Memorial Stadium. "That was our blitz check," Cignetti said. "We had it, we just didn't make it happen. This one is a tough one to swallow."
Source: ESPN General · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing