No. 6 Ohio State Claims 45-17 Victory Over Indiana – Ohio State Buckeyes
9/28/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept 28, 2002
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Maurice Clarett scores 3 TDs as Ohio State beats Indiana 45-17.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Freshman tailback Maurice Clarett ran for three touchdowns to lift No. 6 Ohio State to a 45-17 victory over Indiana Saturday in front of 104,194 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
The game was the first for Clarett after undergoing knee surgery Sept. 17 to repair a torn meniscus. Clarett carried the ball 21 times for 104 yards and three scores as the Buckeyes accumulated 461 yards of total offense, including 244 yards on the ground. Quarterback Craig Krenzel was 11-of-16 for 152 yards, including one score. Michael Jenkins added 93 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns as the two Buckeye quarterbacks combined for 217 passing yards in the game.
Ohio State scored first on a 2-yard rush by Clarett with 39 seconds to play in the first quarter. The score capped a 12-play, 50-yard drive in which Clarett carried the ball eight times for 34 yards and added an 8-yard catch to account for 42 yards on the drive.
Indiana scored on its next possession capping a 10-play, 48-yard drive with a 49-yard field goal by Brian Robertson to make it a 7-3 score with 12:16 to go in the first half. Clarett scored his second touchdown of the game with 5:42 to go in the second quarter on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 27-yard pass completion from Krenzel to Jenkins. The drive took six plays and 44 yards.
Indiana marched 81 yards on eight plays for its first touchdown of the day that pulled the Hoosiers within a 14-10 score with 2:09 to play in the first half. Gibran Hamdan hit Tyke Spencer for the 17-yard score. Three plays earlier Hamdan threw to John Pannozzo down the right sideline for a pickup of 41 yards.
Ohio State added a touchdown just before halftime to extend its lead to 21-10. Clarett took the ball around the right side for a 4-yard score with 38 seconds to play capping a five-play, 45-yard drive. It was his third touchdown of the game and his 10th TD of the season.
The Buckeyes out-gained the Hoosiers in yards of total offense (200-169) during the first half. Ohio State had 100 yards on the ground, led by Clarett’s 51 rushing yards. Jenkins had 49 receiving yards in the opening half.
On the first drive of the second half, Chris Gamble scored his first career touchdown taking a reverse 43 yards for the score to put Ohio State on top 28-10 with 12:25 in the third quarter.
A block of Ryan Hamre’s punt by Dustin Fox on Indiana’s next possession led to Ohio State’s next score. Krenzel connected with Jenkins for a 4-yard TD pass to give the Buckeyes a 35-10 advantage. The drive went four plays and 18 yards.
Nugent banged in a 51-yard field goal with 1:20 in the third quarter to put Ohio State on top 38-10. It was the longest field goal of his career by six yards.
After stopping the Hoosiers on the OSU 12-yard line on fourth down, the Buckeyes drove 88 yards on 10 plays for their final touchdown of the day. Jenkins caught a second TD pass, this time a 15-yard reception from Scott McMullen, who entered the game for Krenzel. The score came with 5:43 to play in the game.
Indiana was successful on the fourth down of its final drive scoring on a 30-yard pass completion from Eaton, Ohio, native Tommy Jones to Courtney Roby with 3:04 on the clock.
Ohio State held Indiana to 339 yards of total offense, though the Buckeyes gave up 283 passing yards while holding the Hoosiers to 56 yards on the ground. The Buckeye defense had three sacks of Hamdan totaling 16 yards. Hamdan completed 16-of-26 passes for 210 yards. Jones was 3-for-6 for 73 yards and scored one touchdown.
Ohio State travels to Northwestern next week for a 7 p.m. (EDT) kickoff against the Wildcats on ESPN2. Indiana is idle.
