No. 2 Ohio State struggles at times but downs IN 38-17

Barrett had 137 yards and a touchdown on the ground, carrying the ball 26 carries. IN travels to Columbus to take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in a game that could get ugly. A week after racking up nearly 700 yards of total offense, the Buckeyes were held to just 372 yards, well below their season average.

The competition the teams have played, of course, isn’t all that even. Oklahoma has faced Houston and TCU in addition to the Buckeyes. Once he started coaching, we had to wait 25 games for OSU to lose again. Of course not, because it was the worst-kept secret in college football that Urban Meyer would be coming to Columbus the next season.

The Hoosiers had a chance to pull within a touchdown in the fourth quarter when freshman cornerback A’Shon Riggins, a native Ohioan, intercepted Barrett’s pass and returned it 31 yards to Ohio State’s 13.

Being four-TD underdogs is fairly illustrative of that fact-and the lack of confidence expressed by college football oddsmakers in Indiana.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer says this is the best IN team he’s seen during his five years IN Columbus. Meyer is 5-0 against the Hoosiers, but they’ve created major headaches in four of them.

Barrett’s numbers were not good throwing the ball, 9-21 passing for 93 yards and one touchdown and an interception.

“We had to win the damn game, and he’s one of our best players”, Meyer said. “With that, I have to do a better job of just reading the coverages better and getting the ball to our playmakers”. The Buckeyes had been punching the Hoosiers in the mouth, but the Hoosiers fought back. In the opener against Bowling Green he threw a career-high six touchdown passes for four different receivers and threw for a career-best 349 yards. Two plays later, Ohio State was taking a 24-10 lead into the locker room at half.

Ohio State’s defense sealed the outcome when Malik Hooker intercepted a pass by IN quarterback Richard Lagow with 2:57 left.

Linebackers Raekwon McMillan and Jerome Baker were all over the field. Two plays later, Barrett ran through the Hoosiers untouched for a touchdown to make it a two-score game at halftime.

Tindal, 5-foot-11 and 175, came toward to the line of scrimmage in run support and went low on Newsome, 6-7 and 318.

Mike Weber sprinted around the left end from 9 yards to put the Buckeyes ahead 10-3 with 10:47 left in the second quarter. He galloped for 144 yards on 14 carries last week against Rutgers and had a touchdown on a 46-yard breakaway run. The Hoosiers would only trail by seven at this point.

The other big play that haunted the Hoosiers came after IN cut the Ohio State lead to 17-10 after Lagow hit Mitchell Paige on an 18-yard touchdown play with 1:03 to play IN the second quarter. As great as this would be, it hasn’t happened in 28 years, and in case you haven’t heard it from one of Ohio’s millions of former residents, this Buckeye team is pretty dang good.

Barrett completed 9 of 21 passes for 93 yards with one touchdown pass and one interception in No. 2 Ohio State’s 38-17 victory over in at Ohio Stadium on Saturday. Key play: Devine Redding’s 12-yard run on 3rd-and-2 to the IU 39.

IN played a solid road game, as it was able to contain Ohio State’s offense for much of the night.

The last time IN defeated Ohio State IN football was 1988.

Navy seemed to take the upper hand in the third quarter, however, with a touchdown on their first possession of the half. I’m sure I’ll get it next time. Officials ruled it a fumble initially – Jalyn Holmes recovered for the Buckeyes – and review upheld the call.

But for now, Houston will still need help just to play for the AAC championship, and Navy shows no reason to believe they may let up in conference play.

“I didn’t really feel anyone near me”, Campbell said.