Sunday rewind: Ohio State 23, Indiana 3
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Ohio State’s dominance of Indiana spans more than three decades.
But even as it left with a 23-3 triumph in its season opener, officially marking a 28th consecutive win over the Hoosiers, it was not the typical trouncing.
The Buckeyes were held to 23 points, their fewest in the series since a 23-17 win in 1993, a departure from the recent meetings in the series.
Ohio State had scored 42 points or more against the Hoosiers in all six of its previous meetings with Tom Allen’s teams.
Here are more stats and observations following Saturday’s win.
Star of the game
As the Buckeyes had trouble getting Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka involved in the passing game, tight end Cade Stover stepped up as a big-play threat. He caught passes of 49 and 24 yards, among five receptions for 98 yards.
Other standouts
Not only did running back Chip Trayanum lead the Buckeyes with 57 rushing yards as he spelled TreVeyon Henderson, but he also lined up as a fullback, blocking for Miyan Williams out of the I-formation on his 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. On the other side of the ball, cornerback Denzel Burke, looking to move past his sophomore slump, broke up a pair of passes, and Sonny Styles showed his range at safety with four tackles.
Turning point
Ohio State had a 7-0 lead when quarterback Kyle McCord threw an interception in the second quarter, and the Hoosiers drove to the edge of the red zone after taking possession. But the Buckeyes’ defense held them to a field goal, keeping them from tying the game at a touchdown apiece.
Second-guessing
Should McCord have been named the starting quarterback outright over Devin Brown? He was behind center for eight of the Buckeyes’ 10 drives. It might be a matter of semantics, and coach Ryan Day expressed a desire for Brown to play more in the weeks ahead, but McCord looked borderline entrenched.
Repercussions
A new starting quarterback and overhauled offensive line got much-needed reps in the first of Ohio State’s early season tune-ups to build toward a high-profile clash with Notre Dame at the end of the month.
Playoff forecast
A win over Indiana adds little to a postseason resume, but had the Buckeyes not pulled away in the second half, a close one would have been a slight blemish.
Confidence calculator
6/10. For as much as the offense sputtered, a result of an offensive line that looked porous, the Buckeyes’ defense was stingy, flashing the potential for continued progress in their second season in Jim Knowles’ system.
Numbers to know
0: Neither McCord nor Brown threw a touchdown pass, only the third time since Day took over in 2019 that the Buckeyes did not have at least one scoring toss.
1: After explosive plays doomed Ohio State’s defense down the stretch last season, it allowed only one play of 20 yards or more to Indiana.
8: Of the 31 rush attempts by the Buckeyes, eight resulted in no gain or a loss of yards.
16.7: Ohio State converted only two of 12 third downs for a percentage of 16.7%, which marked its lowest since 2017.
153: Indiana totaled 153 yards of offense, the fewest allowed by the Buckeyes since their last trip to Bloomington in 2021. In the rout two years ago, they held the Hoosiers to 114 yards.
Depth chart development
Williams was third in the backfield rotation, but featured as the short-yardage back. Three of his seven carries came when the Buckeyes lined up inside the 10-yard line, and he had a nose for the end zone in those situations with touchdown runs of 7 and 3 yards.
Knee-jerk message board threads
“3 losses" - dottingtheeyes.com
“Hartline worst OC since Bollman???” - bucknuts.com
“I’m Trying Not to Overreact, but the QBs Just Don’t Make Me Feel Good” - elevenwarriors.com
Who’s next?
After a Big Ten game to open the season, Ohio State heads into the non-conference portion of its schedule, starting with Youngstown State next weekend. The Penguins opened 2023 last Thursday with a 52-10 win over Valparaiso, but they should be overmatched in Columbus as a program from the Football Championship Subdivision.
Final thought
Was there too much ado over the chemistry between McCord and Harrison Jr.? Though high school teammates at St. Joseph’s Prep in Philadelphia, they weren’t always in sync against the Hoosiers. McCord targeted Harrison eight times. Only two resulted in completions. They might at least need more time to reestablish their connection.
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch. Contact him at jkaufman@dispatch.com and follow him on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @joeyrkaufman.
Get more Ohio State football news by listening to our podcasts
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football analysis on Buckeyes' 23-3 win at Indiana
