Defense, Special Teams Lead Buckeyes to 38-15 Win Over No. 5 Indiana
11/23/2024 3:28:00 PM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1) used a run of 31-unanswered points to win 38-15 and secure the 30th-consecutive victory over No. 5 Indiana (10-1, 7-1) Saturday at Ohio Stadium. The Hoosiers scored first in the opening quarter before the Buckeyes scored 14 points in both the second and third quarters in the Top 5 win in Columbus. Ohio State’s defense and special teams were instrumental in the victory. The Buckeyes sacked Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke five times for losses of 46 yards. Caleb Downs added a 79-yard touchdown on a punt return during Ohio State’s scoring run to help break the game open. Quarterback Will Howard completed 22-of-26 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. He also added a score on the ground late on a 1-yard rush. He targeted receiver Emeka Egbuka seven times for 80 yards and one score. Running back Quinshon Judkins paced the ground game with 36 yards on 14 carriers. TreVeyon Henderson added 68 yards on nine carries and one score. Cody Simon led the defense with 10 tackles and two and a half sacks. Ohio State remains in Columbus next Saturday for the regular-season finale against Michigan at Ohio Stadium. Fox Sports will televise the battle with kickoff scheduled for noon.
First Quarter
No. 5 Indiana 7, No. 2 Ohio State 0
Ohio State opened with the ball after Indiana won the pregame coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. TreVeyon Henderson put the Buckeyes at the OSU25 after a 19-yard return. Ohio State moved to its 33 before a Joe McGuire punt of 49 yards that was returned 12 yards by Myles Price to the IU30. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke completed his first pass of the game for the Hoosiers to Price for a gain of 13 and a first down to the IU44. Aided by an Ohio State pass interference call, Indiana moved to the OSU38. After two short rushing gains, Rourke connected with Elijah Sarratt for 19 yards to the OSU15. Indiana stayed on the ground the next three plays for a first down at the OSU4. Ohio State was called for pass interference on the next play before Indiana scored on a 2-yard rush right on a direct snap to Ty Son Lawton for a 7-0 Hoosier lead. Indiana scored with 6:52 on the clock on a 70-yard, 11-play drive over six minutes, 12 seconds. Ohio State quarterback Will Howard started Ohio State’s second possession at the OSU25 after a touchback. On the second play of the drive, Howard found receiver Carnell Tate for 9 yards before another completion to running back Quinshon Judkins for another 5 and a first down at the OSU38. The Buckeyes earned another first down on a Judkins rush of 5 yards and a Howard carry for 5 more to the OSU48. Henderson then rushed over the right side before another grab by Tate for 10 to the IU35. Ohio State was called for a block in the back and then intentional grounding a play later to move the Buckeyes back to the OSU40. A scrambling Howard then found Tate for a gain of 25 to the OSU35. Facing fourth-and-10, Tate caught a pass for a gain of 24 to the IU11 for the first down. The quarter ended with a Judkins rush up the middle for a gain of 2 to the IU9.
Second Quarter
No. 2 Ohio State 14, No. 5 Indiana 7
Judkins opened the quarter with a rush of 5 to the IU4. Henderson rushed middle on the next play for a gain of 2 to the IU2. Ohio State then turned the ball over on downs after Judkins was stopped on fourth-and-1. Sarratt got the Hoosiers some breathing room with a 9-yard catch to the IU11 on Indiana’s first play from its 2. Rourke moved Indiana to their 26. After a false start call against the Hoosiers moved Indiana back to their 21, Ohio State’s Cody Simon and JT Tuimoloau sacked Rourka for a loss of 11 to the IU10. The Hoosiers punted it away, a 46-yard kick returned by Ohio State’s Caleb Downs for 12 yards to the IU44. Howard went to Emeka Egbuka for a gain of 8 before a Henderson catch for 4 yards for a first down at the IU32. Jeremiah Smith then got into the action with a 12-yard reception to the IU20. Two plays later, both pass plays to Egbuka, the Buckeyes tied the game at 7-all on an 11-yard catch in the back left corner of the endzone. The drive covered 44 yards on five plays over 2:20. Howard was 5-for-5 passing on the scoring drive. Ohio State’s defense got to Rourke again, a sack for a loss of 9 and an IU fumble recovered by Ohio State’s Ty Hamilton at the IU18. The Hoosiers got the ball back three plays later after Howard was intercepted at the IU11 by Jailin Walker on a tipped ball over the middle. Indiana rushed the next four plays before another Ohio State sack, this time for a loss of 8 back to the IU27 by Simon. The play led to the two-minute timeout. The Buckeyes forced another Indiana punt but the snap was muffed giving Ohio State the ball at the IU7. Howard then rushed for a gain of 3 to the IU4. Two plays later Henderson scored from 4 yards out over the left side to give the Buckeyes a 14-7 lead with 21 seconds left in the half. The half ended when IU took a knee after a touchback to run out the clock.
Third Quarter
No. 2 Ohio State 28, No. 5 Indiana 7
Indiana opened the second half with the ball at their 25 after a touchback. Indiana fumbled on the second play but it was recovered by the Hoosiers at their 32. Indiana lost 5 yards on a delay of game penalty and after an incompletion, Indiana had to punt from their 27. Ohio State capitalized. After a 52-yard kick, Downs gathered the ball on the bounce at the OSU21 and returned it 79 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-7 Buckeyes with 12:44 on the clock. Downs started up the right sideline before cutting left and scoring untouched. Back at their 25, Indiana took over after a touchback. Ohio State’s defense did not allow a first down and got the ball back after a 42-yard Hoosiers punt to the OSU25. Howard completed his first pass of the drive to Egbuka for a gain of 25 down the right side. Two rushes produced 3 yards before a first-down completion to Smith for 13 yards to the IU34. Henderson then went up the middle for 5 before a Judkins first down rush of 8 yards to the IU21. Smith then rushed right on a reverse for a gain of 12 to the IU9. Henderson rushed the Buckeyes inside the IU5 with a 5-yard gain. Another Henderson rush for 3 yards to the IU1 set up a Howard to Jelani Thurman 1-yard touchdown pass in the back right of the endzone. The Buckeyes ran 10 plays to cover 75 yards over 5:45 to take the 28-7 lead. Indiana used a couple large gains on the ground to move to the OSU42 before Ohio State’s defense forced a fourth-and-11 at the OSU43. The Hoosiers called timeout with 3:42 to go in the quarter. The Hoosiers elected to punt after the break. Ohio State took over at their 9 after a Brandon Inniss fair catch on a 34-yard kick. Indiana got the ball back four plays later after a McQuire punt of 45 yards placed the Hoosiers at their 41 after a fair catch. Sawyer was then in on a pair of sacks around a 7-yard rush to set up a fourth-and-21 at the Indiana 30 to end the quarter. The last setback was a solo Sawyer sack after he combined with Tuimoloau on Indiana’s first play of the drive.
Fourth Quarter
No. 2 Ohio State 38 No. 5 Indiana 15
The Hoosiers opened the final quarter with a punt, giving the ball to Ohio State after a kick of 40 yards. Howard and the Buckeyes faced a fourth-and-1 at the 50 before a Egbuka caught a pass for 25 yards to the IU25 for a first down. A couple penalties pushed the Buckeyes back to the IU40. Ohio State called timeout facing a third-and-21 situation from the IU36. After a completion to Smith for 9 yards to the IU27, Jayden Fielding came in to convert on a 45-yard field goal to up the lead to 31-7 with 8:56 left. The drive covered 43 yards on 11 plays over 5:51. On Indiana’s next possession, the Hoosiers moved down the field and crossed midfield into Ohio State territory on a 3-yard rush by Justice Ellison to the OSU49. Rourke continued to drive the Hoosiers inside the OSU15 with a 5-yard rush to the OSU14. After the Buckeyes were called for pass interference, the ball was set at the OSU2 before the two-minute timeout. The Hoosiers scored out of the break on a 2-yard rush by Lawton to make it 31-15 Indiana after a successful two-point conversion pass. Indiana attempted an onside kick but it went out of bounds to give Ohio State possession at the IU40 with under two minutes to play. Henderson then rushed on Ohio State’s first play for 39 yards up the middle and stopped shy of the goal line at the IU1. Howard then rushed the remaining yard for the touchdown to give Ohio State the 38-15 win.
