Hoosiers Now

LIVE BLOG: Follow As No. 5 Indiana Has Showdown With No. 2 Ohio State

It's the biggest game of the season for Indiana football as the Hoosiers play their toughest opponent yet in Ohio State.

Todd Golden

Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. celebrates his touchdown with teammates in the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium.
Indiana Hoosiers wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. celebrates his touchdown with teammates in the first quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Memorial Stadium. / Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images
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Hello everyone! Welcome to the live blog for the biggest game of the season for No. 5 Indiana as it takes on No. 2 Ohio State.

It seems like the entire season has been pointing at this game. It's a game that can make or could break Indiana's playoff aspirations. A win would almost certainly put the Hoosiers in Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game on Dec. 7.

Indiana is 9-50-4 all-time in Columbus. Now would be a good time for the Hoosiers to break into double-digit wins.

• Feel bad for James Evans. He made a mistake at a crucial time, but he's been brilliant for the Hoosiers over the course of his career. I hope the scapegoaters keep that in-mind.

• Some halftime stats: Total offense: Ohio State 128, Indiana 53. Indiana has an 8-7 in first downs, but that's partly because Ohio State has been handed field position inside Indiana territory twice.

Indiana QB Kurtis Rourke is 6-for-9 for 50 yards. Ohio State QB Will Howard is 15 of 17 for 106 yards, 1 TD and 1 interception.

Indiana has three rushing yards on 20 carries, but that's largely down to three Ohio State sacks (Rourke is at minus-28 yards) and the bobbled snap by James Evans (minus-23 yards). Indiana running backs have 56 yards on 15 carries.

• Halftime - Ohio State 14, Indiana 7. Buckeyes hyped up. They leave the field just before halftime with a big play that was handed to them by the Hoosiers. Far from over, though. Curt Cignetti prides himself on keeping his teams composed when things aren't going well. That test is here for the Hoosiers. Indiana gets the ball to start the second half.

• Ohio State 14-7, :21 2Q. This time the Buckeyes take advantage of the Hoosiers' miscue. Just when I was thinking Ohio State was going to the well too often in running the ball against Indiana's defensive front, they get a push to the left side on Henderson's TD run. Obviously, Indiana hasn't had to overcome many mistakes this season, but they do now.

• Touchdown Ohio State. TreVeyon Henderson goes left and scores from 4 yards out.

• 7-7, 141 2Q. Indiana forced to punt and disaster occurs. Punter James Evans lets a good snap go through his hands. Evans falls on the ball at the Ohio State 7-yard line. Evans has been so good for Indiana, but that hurts big-time.

• 7-7, 200 2Q. Indiana has been able to get its running game going on this series. Justice Ellison is up to 34 rushing yards, but Indiana hasn't been able to keep Ohio State defenders off of Kurtis Rourke. Cody Simon got his second sack and Ohio State's third sack overall as the Hoosiers face 2nd-and-18 from their own 27 when the game resumes.

• 7-7, 522 2Q. Indiana defense gives back what the Indiana offense gave up. Ohio State QB Will Howard was flushed forward in the pocket and tried to find Jelani Thurman over the middle. Indiana corner D'Angelo Ponds tipped the pass and linebacker Jailin Walker snagged the ball out of mid-air at the Indiana 11-yard line. A momentum-breaker for the Buckeyes? We'll see.

• 7-7, 623 2Q. Disaster for Indiana. On third down, Kurtis Rourke was hit from behind by Cody Simon. The ball came loose and Ohio State recovers at the Indiana 18-yard line. Ty Hamilton got the recovery. After that efficient first series, Indiana's offense has struggled.

• 7-7, 722 2Q. Indiana hasn't had an answer for Ohio State QB Will Howard. He's 14-for-14 for 116 yards and the Ohio State fans are back into this game. Indiana tackling has been a tad lacking. Ohio State breaking free where other teams haven't been able to.

• Touchdown Ohio State. Emeka Egbuka with an 11-yard touchdown catch on the left side of the end zone.

• Indiana 7-0, 942 2Q. A false start penalty got Indiana all out of sorts on 3rd-and-1 in Ohio State territory. Live stats gave the penalty to Bray Lynch, the broadcast to James Bomba. On 3rd-and-6, Ohio State brought a blitz and sacked Kurtis Rourke for an 11-yard loss. Indiana is forced to punt and the Buckeyes take over at the Indiana 44-yard-line.

• Indiana 7-0, 1335 2Q. Review confirms that Judkins was short on a first down. What a huge moment for the Hoosiers after the defense let Ohio State out of jail from that 3rd-and-35 situation earlier in the series.

• Indiana 7-0, 1335 2Q. Huge moment for the Hoosiers as they hold the Buckeyes scoreless near the goal line. Indiana forced a 4th-and-1 from the 2-yard line. On a somewhat delayed handoff from the shotgun, Quinshon Judkins went up the middle. CJ West, Mikail Kamara and James Carpenter were among the Hoosiers who stopped Judkins short of the 1-yard line. It's under review, but it looked clear to me that Judkins was short of the first down distance.

• End of 1st quarter - Indiana 7, Ohio State 0. Buckeyes at the Indiana 9-yard line when the second quarter begins. Ohio State's offensive line has not looked any worse, or any better, than any other line Indiana has faced. The Buckeyes have been able to get a push at times, but Indiana's been able to apply pressure too.

• Indiana 7-0, :08 1Q. Indiana seemingly got a bit of good fortune as Carson Hinzman was called for an illegal block in the back on a 26-yard gain on a screen pass to TreVeyon Henderson. Probably was a penalty, but it was unnecessary as Henderson had already cleared the defender.

After that, Indiana defense went into swarm mode. Henderson was hit for a 5-yard loss by Jacob Mangum-Farrar and then on a blitz, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was called for intentional grounding.

All good, right? Not so fast. Ohio State faced 3rd-and-35 and gained 25 on a pass to Carnell Tate and then went for it on fourth down and completed a 24-yard pass to Tate inside the 10-yard-line to get out of jail. That hurts for the Hoosiers.

• Indiana 7-0, 652 1Q. Can't ask for a better start from the Hoosiers. Indiana marches 70 yards in 11 plays and takes the edge off the crowd at Ohio Stadium. Kurtis Rourke was 2-for-3 on the series for 32 yards. Indiana picked on Ohio State DB Davison Igbinosun, who was called for a pair of pass interference penalties. Indiana passes its first test against this Ohio State defense with flying colors.

• Touchdown Indiana. Ty Son Lawton runs it in from 2 yards out.

• 0-0, 835 1Q. Indiana staying within itself on its opening offensive series. Good decisions being made by Kurtis Rourke as he’s throwing underneath the safeties to good effect. A pass interference penalty on a pass to Elijah Sarratt also helped the Hoosiers cause. Indiana in the red zone.

• 0-0, 1304 1Q. Encouraging start for the Indiana defense. Buckeyes advanced eight yards, but is forced to punt. Indiana takes over at its own 30.

• Indiana starters: Offense – WR Myles Price, RB Justice Ellison, QB Kurtis Rourke, WR Elijah Sarratt, WR Miles Cross, TE Zach Horton, C Mike Katic, T Carter Smith, G Bray Lynch, T Trey Wedig, G Tyler Stephens.

Defense – S Shawn Asbury II, LB Jailin Walker, LB Aiden Fisher, CB D’Angelo Ponds, DE Mikail Kamara, DT CJ West, CB Jamier Johnson, S Amare Ferrell, DE Lanell Carr Jr., DT James Carpenter, DB Terry Jones.

Pregame

• Indiana won the toss, a rarity, as the Hoosiers deferred and will get the ball the second half. I think that's only the second time the Hoosiers have won the toss.

• On College GameDay, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Lee Corso (donning an IU helmet) picked Indiana. Nick Saban, Kirk Herbstreit and guest picker Justin Fields picked Ohio State. I picked Indiana in our predictions story released on Thursday.

• On Big Noon Kickoff, Urban Meyer, Matt Leinart, Mark Ingram and Brady Quinn all picked the Buckeyes. They do score predictions. Meyer (32-26), Leinart (35-24), Ingram (34-27) and Quinn (44-20).

• Indiana has no one on its injury report. Myles Price is back after he got knocked out of the Michigan game. It's remarkable how healthy the Hoosiers have been all season.

• Ohio State confirmed that center Seth McLaughlin is out. ESPN's Pete Thamel reported that Carson Hinzman will play in McLaughlin's place. Hinzman started for Ohio State in 2023.

Also on the report listed as out for Ohio State is WR Nolan Baudo, OL Zen Michalski and WR Reis Stocksdale. RB TC Caffey and T Josh Simmons are listed out for the season along with McLaughlin.

• It’s jarring seeing those early season highlights of Indiana at Memorial Stadium with plenty of seats empty. How things have changed.

• Fashion report: Indiana never changes. No alternate look worn all season and that doesn’t change now. Hoosiers are in all-white with their red helmets.

Ohio State will be in their usual gray helmets, scarlet jerseys and gray pants.

• Curt Cignetti clearly read my column this week? Good to see Cignetti in good spirits and keeping it loose.

• Temperatures are in the high 40s with light wind coming in from the north. For Nov. 23, it's hard to complain about that.

• Indiana last won in Columbus in 1987, a 31-10 victory. The other victories for Indiana came in 1901, 1905, 1913, 1924, 1937, 1943, 1947 and 1951.

I looked up the 1924 game, since it was 100 years ago. The game was played on Nov. 8, 1924 and Indiana won 12-7. Those Hoosiers dealt the Buckeyes their first Big Ten loss and earned their first Big Ten victory. The lede paragraph of the story said, "Indiana upset the Big Ten dope bucket and spilled the contents all over Ohio Stadium here today by winning 12 to 7, from the Ohio State eleven."

Got to love those old school sportswriting terms. It turned out to be the only Big Ten (Western Conference officially back then) win the Hoosiers would get. Ohio State was sent reeling and did not win another Big Ten game either.

Related stories on Indiana football

  • HOW TO WATCH INDIANA-OHIO STATE: Everything you need to know on how to watch Saturday's big game. CLICK HERE.
  • TODD'S TAKE: The backlash against Indiana just grows the chip on the Hoosiers' shoulder that Curt Cignetti loves them to have. CLICK HERE.
  • AIDEN FISHER THINKS INDIANA IS READY FOR OHIO STATE: Indiana linebacker ready to play with "bad intentions". CLICK HERE.
  • PREDICTIONS, 3 KEYS FOR OHIO STATE: What does Indiana need to do to be successful in Columbus? CLICK HERE.
  • MEET THE OPPONENT: Things to know about No. 2 Ohio State as No. 5 Indiana heads to Columbus. CLICK HERE.
  • WHAT DO THE LATEST CFP RANKINGS MEAN FOR INDIANA? A look at where the Hoosiers sit in the College Football Playoff picture. CLICK HERE.
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Todd Golden
TODD GOLDEN

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