COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Pat McAfee sang the praises of Indiana in his traditional, umm, enthusiastic style on ESPN’s live “College GameDay” broadcast, equally enthusiastic Ohio State fans responded with loud boos and a chant of ‘overrated.’
Described later by McAfee as “an island of misfit toys, a group of people that were outcasts,” these upstart Hoosiers were about to face a sporting giant on a football-mad campus. With the Buckeyes 10.5-point favourites at kickoff, Saturday seemed as likely a time as any for a Cinderella story to end for Canadian star quarterback Kurtis Rourke and his Indiana teammates.
Indeed, after a promising start, things slipped away for Indiana on a windy, chilly and damp afternoon at mammoth Ohio Stadium. Fifth-ranked Indiana is unbeaten no more after a 38-15 loss to the second-ranked Buckeyes before 105,751 of the loudest fans you’ll ever hear.
It was Ohio State’s 29th win in a row (the longest head-to-head streak in Division I) against its far less acclaimed Big Ten rival as the home side capitalized on mistakes by an Indiana team playing in its most hostile environment to date.
Rourke, who transferred to Indiana from far-smaller Ohio University for what has turned out to be an outstanding final college season, had his least productive day as a Hoosier. Facing relentless pressure after some Ohio State adjustments, the native of Oakville, Ont., finished 8-for-18 passing for only 68 yards. He was sacked five times, fumbling once on a crushing blind-side hit by an untouched Cody Simon.
While the score turned out to be relatively one-sided, it wasn’t a Buckeye blowout until the second half. The question becomes will it be enough to keep the Hoosiers in the 12-team College Football Playoff mix. Indiana faces lowly Purdue at home in the regular-season finale next week. While 11-1 would be a fantastic season by any measure, there have been cries, especially from SEC territory, about the Hoosiers’ strength of schedule not being up to snuff for a potential playoff team.
On this day, against a top opponent, the Hoosiers showed they were ready to compete. But to win at a place like this, against one of the country’s premier programs, you can’t beat yourself. Two key special-teams blunders — a dropped snap by punter James Evans late in the first half and a 79-yard punt return for a touchdown by Ohio State early in the second half — essentially turned a 7-7 deadlock into a 21-7 Buckeye lead.
The crowd also did its part. A false-start penalty and a delay-of-game penalty on third-and-short opportunities ended up killing Indiana drives when the game was still in reach.
Indiana was the darling of college football heading into the contest. Brash first-year coach Curt Cignetti — “I win. Google me,” he said at his first press conference — brought in 27 transfers and has turned the team with the most losses in Division I history into a true national contender.
Before Saturday’s game, the 63-year-old football lifer didn’t back down.
“We earned the right to be here,” Cignetti told ESPN. “There’s no magic wand. We’ve got the largest scoring margin, victory margin in college football, right? There’s a narrative out there that’s created another chip for us. People can stick that narrative up their you know what.”
The refs helped feed into that narrative, too, hilariously referring to the visiting team as “Illinois” by mistake during the coin toss.
Hours earlier, Ohio State offensive line coach Justin Frye seemed to take a shot at Cignetti at the OSU marching band’s pre-game session at a nearby arena.
“I learned from my dad a long time ago that those who talk and run their mouths most of the time know nothing,” Frye told the band and crowd at the traditional Skull Session. “Those that lock their jaw, shut their mouth and go to work are the ones you gotta fear the most.”
No matter, Cignetti’s charges quickly showed Frye, the refs and the fans they would be no pushover.
Rourke delivered a statement drive on Indiana’s first series to give Indiana a 7-0 lead.
After the Indiana defence forced a three-and-out to open the game, Rourke went to work, silencing the ear-splitting crowd with two huge throws up the middle for completions on third-and-long. An 11-play, 70-yard drive was capped by a two-yard touchdown run on a direct snap to running back Ty Son Lawton, with Rourke lined up beside him in the normal RB spot.
The drive showed Rourke would not be fazed by the challenge. But his quarterbacking counterpart, Ohio State’s Will Howard, was ready for battle, too.
While the Buckeyes missed a glorious chance to tie it when they were stuffed on fourth-and-one at the Indiana two on the next sequence, Ohio State’s defence held firm and gave Howard a short field for the third drive. Howard finished it with an 11-yard TD pass to Emeka Egbuka. At that point, Howard was 13-for-13 for 105 yards. Like Rourke, Howard transferred ahead of this season, joining Ohio State after four years with Kansas State.
Meanwhile, protection issues kept popping up for Indiana, leaving Rourke little time to survey the field. The field-position game swung in Ohio State’s favour, and the eight-time national champions were on their way to a familiar finish.
“Google this. Today will be 29,” were the words on a sign held high by an Ohio State fan before the game, referring to the Buckeye win streak versus the Hoosiers.
The fan was proven right. Indiana finally has lost another football game.
