Ohio State wasn't interested in a Hoosiers remake

The Buckeyes mashed Indiana's undefeated dreams, but an expanded playoff could offer hope.

Cody Simon, Ohio State

Norman Dale did not coach football. Neither did Hickory High come unglued at the sight of the perennial champions. Saturday’s events will not displace “Hoosiers” as a prized nugget of Indiana folklore, except maybe for the trail of tired headlights, headed back west. The Hoosiers tried to punch above their weight at Ohio State, and the result was preordained.

Indiana came to Columbus with a 10-0 record and an offense that, even though it hadn’t beaten a ranked team, functioned nicely. Good balance, a tough offensive line, lots of experience. The Hoosiers took the opening kickoff and annexed 70 yards, scoring on a 2-yard run. Then they held off the Buckeyes on their own two-yard line. Ohio State tied the game on its next drive, but Jailin Walker intercepted Will Howard’s pass in the red zone on the one after that. The Hoosiers were looking quite comfortable in prime time, or at least Big Noon.

After that? Burn the rest of the tape.

James Evans, the punter, bungled a snap, lost 23 yards, and set up Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson for a 4-yard touchdown.

Trailing 14-7, Indiana opened the second half with the ball. Evans punted it to Caleb Downs, the Alabama transfer, who noticed two Hoosiers rushing past him during the catch, deduced that the remaining numbers were in his favor, and whooshed 79 yards. Make that 21-7.

Those two punt plays put Indiana found itself in two unfamiliar positions: Trailing by two touchdowns, and playing someone who was accustomed to be leading by two touchdowns. Irony isn’t dead; when the Hoosiers’ 1967 team won the Big Ten, the operational motto was Punt John Punt, since John Isenbarger twice took off running instead of punting, much to the surprise of his coaches. It worked both times.

But these mishaps led to a 38-15 rout, and Ohio State raised itself to 10-1 overall and 2-1 against teams ranked in the Top 5 at the time they met. The one loss was a 1-pointer at Oregon, and if the Buckeyes beat Michigan Saturday, they will get another shot at the Ducks in the Big 10 championship.

The Hoosiers had minus-3 yards in that second-quarter reality bath. They wound up with 151 total net yards. Quarterback Kurtis Rourke was sacked five times and completed eight passes. Cody Simon had two-and-a-half sacks, forced a fumble, and was in on 10 tackles. Simon already has his finance degree from TOSU (The Ohio State University) but, when it came to a fifth season, he decided to spend it with his original school instead of picking a new home. The Buckeyes’ well-heeled roster could use some financial guidance. It obviously got the message that coach Ryan Day had no interest in a close win. “Leave no doubt,” Day said, although the Buckeyes spread a lot of it on the opposing sideline.

Curt Cignetti, the first-year Indiana coach who signed an eight-year deal last week, dismissed a question about the Hoosiers’ playoff worthiness. “It’s obvious,” he said. Certainly it seemed more solid after Mississippi, Alabama, Colorado and Texas A&M were floored later on. The Hoosiers have Purdue remaining, and Penn State has Maryland. Both second-tier teams will likely finish with 11-1 records. Both lost to Ohio State. Neither played Oregon, and neither had a significant non-conference win. It’s clear that their fates should be tethered. Neither should get into the playoff, or be left out, without the other. In the old, 4-team playoff, Indiana’s no-show on Saturday would have been disqualifying. As it is, the 16-team format will force the Hoosiers, and several other teams, to belabor the point that they aren’t the best team in the country.

Otherwise:

Oklahoma 24, Alabama 3: For the first time in 13 seasons the Crimson Tide failed to score a touchdown. For the first time in 20, it scored only three points. This was a core meltdown against a team that lost back-to-back games to Texas and South Carolina by a total of 69-12, and needed this win to get to 6-5 and bowl eligibility. Jalen Milroe threw a pick-6 and completed 11 passes to teammates. The Tide gave up 260 yards rushing to the worst running team in the SEC. It’s hard to square this with the team that beat Georgia, throttled Missouri 34-0 and dominated LSU on the road, 42-13. Such inconsistency is unfamiliar to ‘Bama fans, who never dreamed their club might miss the 12-team playoff.

Florida 24, Mississippi 17: The Rebels have played three one-score games this year and lost them all. This one drops them to 8-3. Combined with losses by Alabama and Texas A&M, it put Georgia into the SEC championship game alongside the Texas-Texas A&M winner. Jaxson Dart was 24 for 41 with two picks in the final five minutes, and Mississippi found it hard to run with Henry Parrish on the sideline. Ole Miss (8-3) has turned it over 14 times in its past nine games. As for Florida, it rose to 6-5 and is surviving what appeared to be the nation’s toughest late-season schedule. It lost 34-20 to Georgia in a game that was tied in the fourth quarter, was whipped 49-17 at Texas when quarterback DJ Lagway was hurt, but has beaten LSU and Ole Miss consecutively. Its final against Florida State doesn’t seem so fearsome, and a win would create a 7-5 record and, with any justice, prolong the tenure of coach Billy Napier.

Kansas 37, Colorado 21: Maybe Arrowhead Stadium, the site of this game since Kansas is renovating its stadium, got the Buffaloes thinking more about the NFL than the task in hand. They were run over by Kansas’ Devin Neal, who ran for 207 yards on 37 carries and scored four touchdowns. “We started smelling ourselves a little bit,” said Deion Sanders, who observed that his team “was intoxicated with success.” His son, quarterback Shedeur, greeted that observation with a no comment. Colorado (8-3) was the third consecutive ranked opponent to fall to Kansas. 

Iowa State 31, Utah 28: The Cyclones (9-2) gave up a 91-yard drive and fell behind Utah, 28-24, on the road. Rocco Becht came to the rescue with three consecutive completions, setting a third-and-1 on the Utes’ 29. Running back Carson Hansen then threw a gadget pass for a  26-yard gain to Gabe Burkle. Hansen barged for a 3-yard touchdown that put the Cyclones in a 4-way Big 12 tie. Iowa State can get to the Big 12 championship game if it wins at home against Kansas State, and Arizona State can do the same if it beats Arizona. Colorado (which plays Oklahoma State) and Brigham Young (Houston) will need help.

SMU 33, Virginia 7: SMU extended Rhett Lashlee’s contract this week, hoping to squelch rumors from Arkansas or other locales. The Mustangs (10-1) wrapped up a spot in the ACC championship game with a routine road win. Kevin Jennings, who is undefeated as SMU’s quarterback, hit 25 of 33 passes for 323 yards, and SMU had nine sacks, which is a confidence booster after a 3-game stretch in which SMU gave up 70 points. The Ponies meet Cal in the regular-season finale, and they’ll play either Miami or Clemson for the league title. If they’ll lose, they still have a plausible playoff case to make.

Columbia 17, Cornell 9: The Lions knocked off Cornell, 17-9, and joined Dartmouth and Harvard in a tie for the Ivy League championship. It was the first for Columbia since 1961. Caleb Sanchez, who played for West Coast powerhouse St. John Bosco High, completed 11 of 19 passes, and Joey Giorgi ran for 165 yards. The Lions finished 7-3 for first-year coach John Poppe. Yale’s 34-29 win over Harvard helped Columbia forge the tie. The Lions set a collegiate record with a 44-game losing streak that ended in 1988 with a win over Princeton, after which the students tore down the goalpost and took parts of it on the New York subway. Marcellus Wiley, the ex-pass rusher for the Chargers, is the last Columbia player to be drafted by the NFL, but Lou Gehrig and actors Ed Harris, Brian Dennehy and Matthew Fox all played for the Lions, along with Hall of Fame ballplayer Eddie Collins, Attorney General Eric Holder, and author Jack Kerouac.