By Nick Jenkinson-SCINN Sports Director
The #4 Indiana Hoosiers fell to the #5 Ohio State Buckeyes 19-15 in front of Sold-Out Crowd on Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon. With fourth down and four on the Ohio State 27 Yard Line Josh Hoover had Nick Marsh in the end zone but he did not have his left foot in bounds by an inch and what would have been the game winner was a turnover on downs and the Hoosiers 22 game winning streak comes to an end along with a 19-game winning streak at home under Curt Cignetti.
Indiana is 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten and will travel to Michigan next week for another Noon showdown on FOX. Ohio State moves to 6-1 overall and 4-0 in the Big Ten and have next week off before they travel to USC on Halloween. Indiana beat Ohio State 13-10 in the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium last December, but the Buckeyes have owned the Hoosiers in the Regular Season. Indiana and Ohio State played to a 27-27 on October 13, 1990, in Bloomington. The Hoosiers beat the Buckeyes 41-7 on October 8, 1988, in Bloomington and 31-10 on October 10, 1987, in Columbus. Ohio State leads the all-time series 81-13-5.
Curt Cignetti is 33-3 overall at IU and 152-38 in 16 seasons overall. It’s the first time the Hoosiers have lost a football game since December 20, 2024, when the Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Hoosiers 27-17 in the first round of the college football playoff game. Indiana lost at Ohio State 38-15 on November 23, 2024, in Columbus as Ryan Day hands Curt Cignetti his second regular season loss as the Hoosiers head coach. Day is 88-13 in his 8th season in charge of the Buckeyes.
Ohio State Quarterback Julian Sayin completed 15 of his 29 passes for 235 yards along with 2 touchdown passes and 2 interceptions that were both picked off by Amare Farrell. Jeremiah Smith caught 4 passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Coming into the game Indiana was the only team that Smith had not caught a touchdown pass against when facing them multiple times and that changed with 12:46 go to in the game when he caught the second touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to make it 19-7 Ohio State. Bo Jackson caught a two-yard pass with 7 seconds left before halftime to make it 10-7 Ohio State. Connor Hawkins added two field goals with his first coming with 11:52 left in the first quarter to make it 3-0 Buckeyes. Hawkins added a 29-yard field goal with 11:51 left in the third quarter to make it 13-7 Buckeyes.
Indiana took the lead with 13:54 left in the second quarter when Turbo Richard scored on a 7-yard touchdown run to make it 7-3 Hoosiers. Indiana left points on the board twice when Nico Radicic missed a 32-yard field goal when it hit the left upright with 5:15 left in the second quarter. Josh Hoover was sacked on a fourth down and 4 with 9:05 left in the third quarter as the Buckeyes got the ball back at their own 38-yard line. Radicic attempted a 55-yard field goal with 1:15 left in the third quarter when it fell short. The Hoosiers fumbled the ball twice and until the first fumble Indiana went 1,437 consecutive scrimmage plays without losing a fumble, the longest active streak in the FBS.
Josh Hoover found Nick Marsh on a 19-yard touchdown pass with 10:30 left in the game to make 20-15. Marsh was wide open on the last play that would have been a touchdown but did not get his foot in bounds and Ohio State took two knees to run out the clock and send what a was electric Merchants Bank at Memorial Stadium crowd home disappointed as Ohio State continues to dominate Indiana in the Regular Season.
Hoover finished the game completing 20 of his 46 passes for 296 yards and one touchdown and no interceptions. Indiana’s running game ran the ball 29 times for 73 yards with Turbo Richard getting 46 yards on 16 carries. Charlie Becker caught 9 passes for 156 yards and Nick Marsh had 3 catches, 57 yards and a touchdown.
Indiana outgained Ohio State 369-313. The Hoosiers had 296 passing yards to 235 for Ohio State as Buckeyes had 78 rushing yards to 73 for the Hoosiers. Ohio State had 19 first downs to 17 for Indiana. Indiana ran one more play that Ohio State 69-68. Indiana had 4 sacks to 1 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes won the time of possession battle controlling the clock for 32 minutes and 12 seconds and Indiana for 27:48.
After the game Ohio State Head coach Ryan Day announced that Quarterback Julian Sayin will be out for several weeks. Sayin appeared to injure his right arm in the fourth quarter, left the game and watched the final minutes from the sideline wearing a sling. Luke Fahey came in and both of his passes were incomplete. As for Indiana Head Coach Curt Cignetti said after the game “Alright, well, the sun comes up tomorrow. We’ll have to get ready for Michigan.”
This was the first time in Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium History that a top five matchup has taken place. There had been a buzz all week leading up to this game and City of Bloomington was flooded with visitors as this was considered the biggest sporting event on the Indiana University Campus. The fans were tailgating early all the traditional Bloomington hotspots were packed with people lining up hours before the doors opened.
There were more than 600 media credentials handed out, which is the most for an Indiana University Football game as the Press Box was filled. 15 NFL Teams had scouts in attendance to see a history making matchup and Ohio State came into Bloomington and for the 30th time they left with the win. Indiana’s only other win against the Buckeyes in Bloomington came on October 29, 1904, when the Hoosiers 8-0. Indiana is 2-30-1 at home and 10-51-4 in Columbus and 1-1 in neutral sited games against Ohio State.
Indy 500 Champion Alex Palou led the Hoosiers out on the field in a specialized Indy Car with IU Colors and before the game opened the FOX Big Noon Kickoff Pre-Game Show driving his Indy Car with specialized IU Suit with former University of Alabama and 2009 Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram II as his passenger. It was bright sunny day in Bloomington but for Indiana fans it came up an inch short as Ohio State survives a place that normally has larger turnout than the home team but not this time as Hoosier fans go home disappointed that they did not pull this one out.