Hoosiers Fall in Heartbreaker to Buckeyes 19-15

Written by: TJ Inman

For the first time since December of 2024, the Indiana Hoosiers lost a football game. In front a raucous crowd at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, the #5 Indiana Hoosiers struggled to convert opportunities on offense early and came up one play short after rallying, falling to the #4 Ohio State Buckeyes 19-15 to end a 22-game winning streak. The defeat puts Ohio State in the driver’s seat for the Big Ten Championship Game and a bye in the College Football Playoff and drops IU to 6-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED FOR THE HOOSIERS

-Ohio State deserves a lot of credit but IU only has themselves to blame. The Hoosiers lost a pair of fumbles, missed two field goals and were poor on first down all afternoon.

-The Buckeyes went for it on fourth and one from around midfield and Julian Sayin lobbed a pass up for grabs. Amare Ferrell and Jamari Sharpe had a chance but Jeremiah Smith made his mark, made the right read and came down with the touchdown to put Ohio State ahead 19-7.

-The Hoosiers answered with the best offensive drive of the day as Josh Hoover got into rhythm and connected with Nick Marsh for a touchdown and then Turbo Richard for the two-point conversion to make it 19-15 with 10:30 remaining.

-After a Mario Landino sack forced a 2^nd and 28, Isaiah Jones made an incredibly poor mistake. He dove on backup quarterback Luke Fahey after a slide and handed Ohio State an automatic first down. Indiana accepted a holding penalty to make it 3^rd and 18 instead of 4^th and 8. On the ensuing third down play, the pass was incomplete. The punt went out of bounds at the 6-yard line with 5:32 remaining. IU got one first down but had to punt with 4:31 remaining. Indiana’s defense got a stop quickly and maintained two timeouts.

-IU had the ball trailing 19-15 with the drive starting at the 30-yard line with 3:07 left. Charlie Becker made a fantastic catch to get the ball past midfield. A roughing the passer penalty was called and gave Indiana a first down at the two-minute warning. On fourth and four, Josh Hoover lofted a pass to Nick Marsh but he failed to get a foot down in bounds and the pass was ruled incomplete.

STATS THAT STOOD OUT

-IU outgained the Buckeyes 369-316 and the turnovers were even at two. Josh Hoover threw for 296 yards with no interceptions and Charlie Becker was outstanding with 165 yards receiving.

-Ohio State was 2-2 on fourth down with two touchdowns. IU was 0-2 on fourth down, including the deciding incomplete pass.

The Hoosiers hit the road for a third straight game on FOX’s Big Noon Saturday as they play at Michigan next Saturday.