Shorthanded Hoosiers give nation’s No. 1 a scare

It wasn’t pretty but the Ohio State Buckeyes remained undefeated after beating Indiana on Saturday.

Ezekiel Elliott had three second half touchdown runs of over 55 yards and No. 1 Ohio State withstood a furious rally in the closing minutes Saturday as the Buckeyes held on to beat Indiana 34-27 at Memorial Stadium.

Diamont scrambled on third-and-goal from the 10 and his final throw in the back of end zone was batted away.

Ohio State gained 517 yards of offense, more than half of that total coming from Elliott, while Indiana posted 402 total yards against an Ohio State defense that ranked among the nation’s best through its first four games. Elliott, who ran for 274 yards on 23 carries, had touchdown runs of 55, 65 and 75 yards.

Ohio State’s exasperation then perhaps peaked in the third quarter, when Jones was intercepted deep in Indiana territory by Tegray Scales, whose 32-yard return set up a 55-yard touchdown drive for the Hoosiers.

Ohio State’s red-zone offense was putrid Saturday, producing just six points on four opportunities.

Urban Meyer, the rest of the coaches and the players say there is no room for fear or doubt. “It was a great call on a great scheme and the O-line blocked it perfectly. I really didn’t have to do much but outrun the DBs to score”.

Meyer is now 42-3 as Ohio State’s head coach. “Zeke’s just such a good second-level runner”. Only after the Buckeyes became a run-heavy team in the second half did they start to click. “What we have not done (in the past) is be a consistent team and this team is a little bit more consistent”. Now, five games into the season, untimely penalties and turnovers (Ohio State has had multiple turnovers in every game but one) look like they’re a bit of a trend.

“I’ve learned to enjoy these“, Meyer said.

The Buckeyes also extended their Big Ten regular-season record streak to 25 in a row – and could tie Oklahoma for the most weeks ranked No. 1 (101), if they can hold onto it. The Buckeyes have also won 15 consecutive road games and 18 games overall in a row.

That the Hoosiers took the Buckeyes to the brink Saturday is doubly impressive, given that quarterback Nate Sudfeld and running back Jordan Howard both sustained injuries.

Even still, the Hoosiers took a hard earned 10-6 lead into the half after holding Ohio State to 1-of-8 on 3rd down conversions.

“I told them at halftime, ‘you thought you could play, ‘ ” Wilson said.

Sudfeld’s injury meant the insertion of backup quarterback Zander Diamont into the game.

It was a game full or surprises.

Still, the Hoosiers wouldn’t give in and Diamont would score on the keeper by going 79 yards down the field as he sprinted right through the Buckeyes defense. But after UCLA (4-1, 1-1) got stranded inside its 1 by Matt Haack’s punt, the Bruins snapped the ball out of their own end zone with 4:16 left for their second safety of the night.

A few contend Meyer wanted to run the clock, which I’m sure he did, but I don’t think that’s the reason he handcuffed Jones. We just have to play one play at a time, and then just see what happens.

Jones had a couple of completions over 20 yards – including his 23-yard touchdown to redshirt junior wide receiver Michael Thomas – but none of them were like the deep balls he underthrew last week.