BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana football broke its 22 game win streak with a 19-15 loss against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Bloomington.
“That was a tough one not to win,” head coach Curt Cignetti said. “I thought our kids gave great effort and fight and hung in there and put ourselves in position to win the close game. Had so many opportunities to get it done, not only at the end of the game, but throughout the game."
It was the Hoosier offense that couldn't find momentum. They finished the first quarter scoreless, but started the second quarter with a touchdown as running back Turbo Richard made his way into the end zone. They would not score again until the fourth quarter, thanks to a 19-yard pass from Josh Hoover to Nick Marsh and then a successful two-point conversion by Richard.
Indiana finished with 73 rushing yards, an improvement from their previous game against Nebraska, but nowhere near what they were averaging through their first five games. Quarterback Josh Hoover had 296 passing yards and 1 touchdown, but completed 20 of 40 passes.
These offensive inconsistencies led the Hoosiers to struggle, and their defense ultimately kept them in the game down the stretch. Defensive back Amare Ferrell had a standout game for Indiana with two interceptions. Tobi Osunsamni was also key, providing four tackles and a sack.
Going into the game, it was all eyes on the Indiana defense as they would be facing the duo of quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. Smith finished with 4 receptions for 68 yards and a touchdown. Sayin completed 15 of 29 passes for 235 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. He suffered an injury in the fourth quarter and will miss several weeks for the Buckeyes.
“When two really good teams are playing, I mean you can’t, you have to capitalize off those opportunities,” Osunsami said. “I feel like whenever it’s a different opponent you can get away with those things but, in a game like this everything counts and matters so yeah, we just need to do better at capitalizing."
This marks just the third loss during Cignetti’s time at Indiana. Two of those three losses have been to Ohio State. With their record now being 6-1, the Hoosiers will use this loss to learn and improve looking ahead to the rest of their season.
“Sun comes up tomorrow, and get ready for Michigan,” Cignetti said. “Learn from the things we got to learn from. And it's still all ahead of us. We can accomplish anything we want, all our goals, except going undefeated."
