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Football
The Buckeye Watch - Indiana
By Tony Gerdeman

I've seen a lot of Ohio State – Indiana games that have featured scores into the 40s and 50s before, but never by both teams in the same game. This was a new one for everyone.

It was no secret that Indiana was going to score on the Ohio State defense in this game, but nobody was predicting 49 points – not even Tom Crean. But it happened, and now it has to be dealt with. When Indiana scores that much on you, whether you “let your foot off the gas or not”, you have a problem defending spread offenses that needs fixed immediately.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, the three spread teams left on the schedule all come to Columbus, and somehow that will matter.

The best news for the Buckeyes, however, is that Wisconsin and Penn State run offenses that this team is better suited to defend – provided there are still enough healthy bodies to field an entire defense.

But remember, all is not lost. Ohio State is still 7-0 whether you like it or not. Conference road games are tough. The Buckeyes have two tough Big Ten road wins to show for it, and are a possibility to be favored in the rest of their games this year.

Just be glad there is no SEC team waiting at the end of the tunnel.

Anyway, I'm sure you want to get to reading. If I was you, I would probably stop reading at around the 11:30 mark.

5:10 With Geno Smith tanking right now, it's too bad that Beano Cook passed away without ever getting to see college football's only three-time Heisman Trophy winner, Braxton Miller.

6:14 Nathan Williams is out today, which we've known about since this morning. “Fortunately” for the Buckeyes, it's a concussion and nothing knee-related. Also, Verlon Reed has changed his number to 8 now that freshman Ricquan Southward has left the team.

6:30 With Zach Boren moving to linebacker, this just has the feel of one of those games that begins to tip the crazy scales. Just coaches throwing stuff out there to see what sticks, hoping that one of a few dozen darts hits a bullseye.

7:09 Well, I just watched the refs give gift after gift to Notre Dame, so it looks like the fix is in in the state of Indiana tonight. Beware.

7:39 The rumors are true, Zach Boren is working at linebacker for the Buckeyes. I assumed if he played he would be pulled on passing downs, but he's apparently working with the first team in nickel. I wondered what the coaches would do with Storm Klein on passing downs, looks like I've gotten my answer.

7:47 Seeing pictures of the crowd, and the “Indiana side” is empty. Like Spring Game empty. Indiana's stadium would be full had this not been a night game. Buckeye fans didn't feel like staying overnight. Every night spent away from home in Indiana is like sleeping in your parents' guest room on a long weekend.

7:51 You know the guy in charge of organizing the aerial photo of a completely full and red-clad Memorial Stadium is pretty ticked right now.

7:59 The BTN is only showing the side of the stadium with fans in it. They ain't dumb.

8:01 Indiana wins the toss and defers. The Buckeyes will get the ball. First play from scrimmage is a little chest pass to Corey Brown in the backfield. He picks up seven yards. West Virginia does this all the time. It's a great way to increase Braxton Miller's completion percentage and up his passing stats. In fact, I think that's the only purpose of it.

8:05 Third and seven. Empty backfield. Here comes the blitz, Miller finds Stoneburner at the 50-yard line. Just a yard short. Will they go for it? Nope, I hear boos from the Buckeye fans, so they must be punting. Wait, they are going for it, so who was booing? Wait again, they got the first down? I am as confused as these refs. Also, I didn't realize there were enough Hoosier fans in attendance to be heard.

8:06 Braxton Miller scrambles for 16 yards on second and 20. It's amazing how often he is able to erase those drive-killing losses. I think Marcus Hall got away with a hold there, but who's gonna tell him to stop?

8:07 Third and four. Miller's pass to Brown is incomplete. There's a late flag for interference, but it's the right call. The defender had his arm wrapped around him. Brown probably should have caught that regardless.  BTN's Derek Rackley says “I didn't see any interference” as he watches Brown being grabbed from behind. Quality observation.

8:10 Corey Brown motions into the backfield with Miller and Carlos Hyde. It's the triple option again, and this time Miller pitches it out to Brown and he cruises into the endzone for the touchdown. That was a thing thing of beauty. Miller did a fantastic job on all of his reads that drive. Looked great on the triple option as well. Buckeyes take the 7-0 lead.

8:11 I'm not sure Indiana's gonna be able to defend the option very well tonight.

8:13 Philly is laying down on the table getting a post-touchdown rubdown. Apparently rushing touchdowns require deeper rubbing.

8:15 No Zach Boren on defense yet. Indiana goes three and out with two drops. As much as people want to lament the lack of tackling in college football today, what about the number of catchable passes that are being dropped?

8:17 Hyde gets stopped for nothing, then decides against that and dances for a bit before blasting through a whole for about eleven yards. It was like watching a guy that has to pee waiting for a stall to open. Dancing, dancing, holding it, holding it, then the door opens and you push past the guy just in time.

8:19 Third and nine. Incomplete to Devin Smith. It was short of the marker and he got away with an offensive pass interference. The only thing that could have made that play worse was a drop. Buckeyes punt.

8:23 Zach Boren is now in, but the BTN dudes are too busy talking about Rackley's iPad. “Yeah, it's really amazing. It's like a computer, but without the convenience of a keyboard!” Boren is in on the tackle. “Also, this thing has apps!”

8:24 The camera isolates on Boren, and still no mention of the fact that the starting fullback is at linebacker. Pass to Shane Wynn is incomplete. Boren was right there as well. No mention. Just keep talking about your iPad. “It's got the internet on it too! I think maybe Youtube as well.”

8:24 Third and eight. Boren covers the flats, but the pass goes to Jamonne Chester, and he drops it. Still no mention of Boren. “And then, when you pull back on the slingshot with your finger like this, and then release it, the bird flies towards the pigs in an attempt to destroy them, almost 'angrily', if you will.” Indiana punts.

8:26 Rod Smith gets the carry and powers through a couple of tackles and picks up 15 yards. Almost broke it like last week. I would like to see him attack the 'Wipeout' course.

8:27 Play-action. Miller is going downfield and it's dropped by Devin Smith. Would have been an easy six points. That's another drop. He fought that ball like it was a windmill and he was Don Quixote.

8:28 Third and 16. Hyde motions into the backfield. Miller keeps it on the read and picks up 18 yards. There are times when it's so easy for them. I would have never guessed that offense could be this easy. I always thought that offense was something you did in order to keep from putting your defense in a bad situation.

8:31 Buckeyes snap it quick on third and one and Miller loses three yards. That seemed unnecessary. Just pick up the first down and move on. Now they will have to settle for their third field goal attempt of the season. Somebody go dust off Drew Basil. He nails it from 35 yards out. Buckeyes lead it 10-0.

8:32 The conversation during the break: “Can you google on that thingy?” “Yep. They showed me at the store. Wait, watch this – it even has a camera.” “Oh my gosh! Let's take a picture.” “You got it!” In unison: “Cheese!” “Looks like I've got a new wallpaper!” “I know I've said this to you before, but you are my best friend. You were there for me when my apartment application was turned down, and I'll never forget that.”

8:37 Indiana's in the pistol with trips right. And Stephen Houston is gone. Right up the middle untouched. That's why you moved a fullback to linebacker. There's a flag, however. Ouch. Offsides. There was nobody there. Ryan Shazier was the only guy in the middle, Storm Klein went to the outside. Just good scheming, I guess. Buckeyes were so worried about the outside, and Indiana went inside. Buckeyes lead it 10-7. Where were the safeties?

8:43 Third and ten. False start on Marcus Hall. BTN guy: “That's gonna be a false start, looked like Carlos Hyde.” “Hyde coming onto the field late.” Um, Hyde was lined up at receiver and motioned into the backfield, which he's done a handful of times already in this game. Put the iPad down for awhile. Temple Run isn't going anywhere without you.

8:44 Buckeyes pick up four yards on the quarterback counter, which is strange because it normally gets 50 yards. Buckeyes will punt. Actually, no they won't, they will get it blocked. Three different guys could have blocked that. I wonder if they chose straws beforehand. They'll get it at the Ohio State 16-yard line. Urban Meyer is asking Zach Boren what happened. Boren is saying, “Well, I had to spend all week learning the defense, so you'll have to excuse me if I can't play ALL THREE SIDES OF THE BALL TO YOUR SATISFACTION!" And then he ran to his bedroom, slammed the door behind him, dove onto his bed and cried into his pillow. Replay shows that they weren't ready for the snap, or at least Boren certainly wasn't. If only the Buckeyes were able to control when they snapped the football. On a serious note, are they asking Boren to do too much tonight?

8:45 Stephen Houston runs by Boren for four yards. That's the end of the quarter, and it probably couldn't have come soon enough for Boren. Time to get some bearings straightened out. Buckeyes lead it 10-7 at the moment.

8:47 Braxton Miller has ten carries in the first quarter. That sounds reasonable. Le'Braxt'eveon Bell.

8:50 Third and one from the seven-yard line. Houston gets the ball and he runs untouched until Barnett gets an arm on him at the one-yard line. But it wasn't enough to keep him out of the endzone. When Indiana runs at will on you, the problem is bigger than just the linebackers, isn't it? Indiana leads it 14-10.

8:52 Rod Smith takes the kickoff back to the 32-yard line. Very intriguing prospect on returns. He might not make many guys miss, but he's gonna make them wish they had.

8:55 Third and six from the Ohio State 48-yard line. Quick slant to Philly for five yards. Just short. Reid Fragel is imploring his coach to go for it. They are.

8:55 Indiana calls a timeout because the Buckeyes were under center and Kevin Wilson didn't like it. The BTN guys did notice that Boren wasn't out there, however. They should be put in use to detect black holes because they are better at seeing what isn't there than what is.

8:58 Come back from commercial to see Hyde getting four yards somehow. Nice job. I shouldn't bash the BTN, this IS their first year on the air, after all.

8:59 Hyde blasts down to the 23-yard line on a 24-yard run. He was busting up linebackers like a Prohibition-era cop shaking down customers at speakeasies. “You're going to have to pay a fine for trying to tackle me. How much you got on you? [Reaches into jacket pocket, takes out wallet, takes the cash.] Okay, that'll work. Thanks. I don't want to see you around here ever again, got it?”

9:00 Third and six from the 18-yard line. Miller makes a check. He rolls right, throws for the endzone and there's a flag for pass interference. Now they're picking up the flag. It's actually a good call. That was just solid defense. Drew Basil's 35-yard field goal attempt just went wide left. The Special Teams attack again. Meyer is going to have to talk to them tomorrow. “Haven't I been good to you? Don't I call you my 'dudes' and my 'guys'? Dudes don't do that to bros, guys. Dudes do not do that to bros. I thought you guys were my dudes, and then you turn around and stab me in the back. Remember our saying, 'Kicks before chicks'. That's dude law, bros.”

9:06 First and ten. Cameron Coffman rolls right, throws it and it's nearly intercepted by Storm Klein. Zach Domicone was in there as well. How are the Buckeyes down to their fourth safety already?

9:06 Noah Spence peels off and tackles a screen pass after a two-yard gain. That's the equivalent of a baby taking his first step. Now go check his diaper for a poopy.

9:07 Third and eight. Buckeyes come on the blitz and Coffman's pass to Nick Stoner is incomplete. Those deep outs are going to be tough against Bradley Roby and Travis Howard. Rackley says Howard got away with the left arm on Stoner's hip. But he didn't see anything when Indiana did it to the Buckeyes earlier in the game. In order to become a color commentator for the Big Ten Network, I think the one-question interview goes like this: “When you played in the Big Ten, did Ohio State beat you so mercilessly that you will be able to evacuate all reason and objectivity and bring that anger and hate back up into your belly and make it the mainstay of your analysis?” If you answer yes, you're hired. Indiana punts.

9:10 Miller keeps it on the read, but slips down after two yards. The ground couldn't contain his cuts and gave way under the inertia. Actually, I don't even know if inertia is involved. Sometimes I just like to use words.

9:11 Third and eight. By the way, it appears that offense is hard to do again. Miller finds Philly for a first down. Whoa, that was a drop. They might want to hurry up. But they don't, and now it's being reviewed.

9:12 It will be overturned. I'm not sure what they're looking at for so long. “Yep, he dropped it. Hey, have you seen my new iPad. They say I can put my Andy Williams records on it.”

9:15 It's overturned. That's five drops so far. Time to punt. The BTN camera guy zooms in on Ben Buchanan's feet. Somebody has a crush!

9:16 So this is what a trap game is like, eh? Banged up defense, inconsistent offense.

9:18 Hey, it's Tom Crean. Awesome. He is to chewing gum what the '85 Bears were to the New England Patriots. “Hey Coach, what do you think about this game?” “I think Braxton Miller claps too much. That's MY thing.”

9:19 They isolate on Boren again. They just noticed! “First time this season” he's on defense. Well, if you're talking about this game as a whole, yes. Tunnel screen to for four yards. Boren on the tackle.

9:20 Indiana goes three and out but I had to turn the TV because I just couldn't stomach J Leman interviewing Crean. Like watching somebody eat through a mattress and choke on the box springs. The Hoosiers will punt.

9:21 It's blocked!Travis Howard blocks it and Bradley Roby lands on it in the endzone. That's the Freak Show. It's free to enter, but leaving will cost you. Buckeyes lead it 17-14. They're not just shutdown corners, they're also shutdown punt blockers.

9:25 Third and six. Coffman's pass is broken up by Roby. Time to punt. Or try.

9:26 There goes Philly with a huge return, but there's a flag down. Nice Braxton spin during the return. Maybe that's the penalty. "On the return, illegal use of Braxton Miller's spin move. Ten yards from the spot of the foul. First down." It was actually a block in the back.

9:30 Third and nine. Miller drops back, he's going deep. He's got Devin Smith for the touchdown down the sideline. They should do that three times a game. They can't stay with Devin Smith.  That was a terrific throw. Buckeyes boost their lead to 24-14.

9:34 Travis Howard breaks up a slant, delivering a big blow with his shoulder in the process. He comes off the field and Doran Grant comes on.

9:35 Third and six. BTN guy says let's see if Indiana notices Doran Grant. What is he, Folger's crystals? Of course they're going to notice him. They immediately throw to Cody Latimer for an eight-yard gain on Grant.

9:39 Indiana elects to run the clock, and Meyer elects to allow them to do so. They finally punt with ten seconds on the clock and the ball rolls dead at the three-yard line to end the half. Ohio State leads it 24-14 at halftime.

9:47 The Buckeyes held the ball for over 20 minutes in the first half. The Indiana defense will be dead by the end of the fourth quarter. They're gonna sleep in until like 2pm tomorrow. But then, isn't that why we go to college – to sleep in on Sundays?

9:48 Buckeyes have 260 yards of total offense. Have held Indiana to 150, which is actually pretty good.

9:51 Ohio State stopped themselves more than Indiana did. Stop stopping yourself and there will be nobody left to stop you. I just came up with that, but I probably heard it from watching cartoons or something. Splinter probably said it to Leonardo prior to a pool tournament or something.

9:53 How about Corey Brown emerging, eh? Not too shabby. He's becoming more than just a receiver, he's also running the ball and returning punts. Now the coaches probably want him to start making more plays in the passing game.

9:54 Braxton Miller has 171 yards of total offense. 123 passing, 48 rushing. Way too many carries with lost yardage, however. Sometimes he tries to do too much and refuses to accept that he's a little bit human.

10:02 Game back on. OSU to kickoff. It's a touchback. Urban Meyer is probably the only coach in the country disappointed with a touchback.

10:04 Coffman is going deep and it's caught by Kofi Hughes inside the 20 on Doran Grant. Grant never looked back. It went for 39 yards. Good coverage, he just never turned and looked for the ball. Shades of Chimdi Chekwa.

10:05 Now Grant gets flagged for interference. He bit on a pump and go and had to grab the receiver.  He comes out. Who comes in? Howard? Yep, he's banged up, but had to get back in there.

10:07 The Buckeyes hold and Mitch Ewald hits a 23-yard field goal to make it 24-17 Ohio State. Rough series for Doran Grant. I guess that will quiet down the people who want Travis Howard benched this year for stuff he did last year.

10:11 Rod Smith finds another nice hole on the kickoff and returns it out to the 33-yard line following right behind Bri'onte Dunn. That can't be appealing to try and stop. Like a mall cop pointing his pen and paper at a jewel heist. “Stop! I am writing down your descriptions. 'Male', 'Five-foot-nine', 'Ski mask'! I'm warning you!”

10:12 BTN guy says “Miller does not have a rushing touchdown this game.” One second later, Buckeyes run the QB counter and Miller goes 67 yards for the touchdown. Gotta love timely observations. That might be the most devastating play in college football right now. Buckeyes lead it 31-17. Miller now has 115 yards rushing on 15 carries.

10:16 Boy, that run by Miller has taken the wind out of Indiana's sails, which are made of old bath towels.

10:17 Third and eleven. Pressure by John Simon and Coffman's pass is overthrown. Indiana will punt. The BTN guys were surprised to see Boren out there again, as if that was just his second play. “Hey, it's Zach Boren!" “I'm curious, can you make phone calls on that iPad thing?” “I do not know. Try calling it.” Hoosiers punt.

10:21 Carlos Hyde gets the ball and he rumbles for 29 yards, taking the ball inside the 20-yard line. So much for IU getting tired by the fourth quarter.

10:24 First and goal from the three-yard line. Miller keeps it, but loses a yard. That was a stat padder. They were trying to get him a touchdown carry, but it failed. Now it's Hyde time.

10:25 Miller keeps it again and instead of running, he awkwardly throws it to Philly and it's intercepted. Ouch. That's gonna kill the redzone numbers. Amazing grab by Greg Heban. They are still working the kinks out on that play. There's a lot that goes into something like that. Give credit to the Hoosiers for making the improbable play.

10:27 Third and six from the 24-yard line. Corner blitz. Coffman finds Shane Wynn over the middle and he's gonna score on Christian Bryant, his childhood pal. And this game is no longer over. He caught a short pass over the middle and Bryant was too banged up to catch him. Buckeyes now lead it 31-24, instead of 38-17 like they had planned on. That was pretty quick.  Storm Klein was in coverage on Wynn, and that's never good.

10:30 Five minutes ago the Buckeyes were getting ready to put the finishing touches on this game. Now they have to keep playing. Hope they didn't already kick off their shoes.

10:33 What's this hand thing the Indiana fans are doing? Does the Hoosier football team double as a praise band?

10:34 Rod Smith gets the ball and he drags a tackler for nine yards. He is bursting through the line. Wow. Crazy to think that he was looking forward to coming back to this state tonight.

10:35 Smith cuts, then blasts up field for another 13 yards or so. He was patient, then saw the hole and went right to it. The Buckeyes have three legitimate runners right now, which is a rarity for them.

10:37 Miller on the keeper, gets hit low and late out of bounds. That will be 15 yards. Miller is down. Guiton gets warmed up. Bad enough going late with the hit like that, but even worse was how low it was. Miller is limping. He'll come back in after Guiton finishes this touchdown drive, though. Replays show that it wasn't that bad. Landed hard on his hip.

10:39 Guiton is in, but I don't like him out there because he doesn't have the same force as Miller when clapping. Five yards for Hyde, who has now rushed for over 100 yards in a game for the fourth time in his career. His four 100-yard games have come against just two schools – Indiana and Nebraska.

10:41 Second and nine from the 14-yard line. Option, Guiton shovels it to Hyde for a touchdown. Wow, that was a beauty move or two by Hyde. Kenny Guiton, the closer. Buckeyes lead it 38-24. Once again, the offense answers an opponent's touchdown with one of their own.

10:43 Tevin Coleman goes 63 yards on the kickoff return. Verlon Reed got a hand on him inside the 15-yard line, but he was the only one there. Coleman reversed field and there was nobody there to greet him.

10:44 Whoa, should have been pick sixed by Roby but C.J. Barnett broke it up. Oh man, that was bad.

10:45 And then Bryant just made a diving interception, but I have to assume that that was not an actual catch. After a replay, I don't think that's an interception. No way Christian Bryant makes a diving catch. Bryant making a diving catch is as unlikely as Devin Smith making an easy one. The ball moves after he hits the ground. I have no idea what the book definition of a catch is anymore, but I'll assume this isn't it.

10:47 Still reviewing this. Now they say the ball hit the ground, which it did.

10:48 Indiana has to settle for a 44-yard field goal with 3:54 left in the third quarter. It's good. Buckeyes lead it 38-27. There are two things that can survive a nuclear winter: cockroaches and this Hoosier football team. Just. Go. Away.

10:51 Miller comes back in. The BTN guys stop working on a sudoku long enough notice it.

10:53 Third and one. Carlos Hyde rumbles for 20 more yards. He is flat out blasting dudes. The Hoosiers are Space Invaders and Carlos Hyde has unlimited quarters.

10:53 The Buckeyes are now over 300 yards rushing again. Rod Smith gets the carry, fumbles, and  Miller dives on it for a three-yard gain. Hyde comes right back in. Smith didn't even get hit. That's not good. You have to hold your breath every time he's about to get hit anyway, but now you can't even wait to take a big gasp while he's running in the open field. You always have to be ready.

10:55 Braxton is going deep to Devin Smith and he drops it again. It was a perfect pass. I don't get it. Dude is killing Braxton's Heisman.

10:56 Empty set. Drops back. Looking downfield. Miller finally finds Hyde in the flats as the safety valve for 14 yards. He was looking downfield for four or five seconds, then finally saw Hyde. That's some quality QB'ing. We have now finished three quarters of play here in beautiful Bloomington with the Buckeyes leading 38-27. (Hey, it's dark out, you can't prove to me that Bloomington isn't more aesthetically pleasing when you can't see anything.)

10:58 Miller is 10-21 for 142 yards, but he's had six drops for what would have gotten him an additional 120 yards or so.

11:00 Trips right to start the fourth quarter. Hyde gets the ball and he runs a man's run from 22 yards out, shrugging off and ignoring tacklers like suggestions from his wife, and he barrels into the endzone for the touchdown. Holy cow that was an awesome display. This will be reviewed because his knee was close to being down inside the one, but man, I hope that's a touchdown because I don't want to see Indiana's defense subjected to any further abuse on this drive.

11:03 They put it at the one. That's bunk. It's a foot short if anything. Back to Hyde here. Huddling. Hyde plows in for the score and Braxton Miller attacks him like Hyde's a home invader and Miller has “been waiting for this day for a long time.” Ohio State leads it 45-27 and can finally relax a little bit.

11:08 Have seen a lot of Noah Spence tonight, but he needs to get home on one of these pass rushes eventually. Actually, that could be said for everyone. Where is the pass rush? Did it not make the trip? Are they coming in on Woody's second plane?

11:11 Speaking of Spence, he just crashed in hard and lost contain as Shane Wynn picked up 18 yards on an end around, getting the ball inside the Ohio State 15-yard line.

11:13 Touchdown run for D'Angelo Roberts from a yard out. Buckeyes back down to an eleven-point lead at 45-34 with 10:34 remaining. Let's not pretend like this wasn't somewhat expected. Depleted defenses sometimes give up points. I'm not sure if they should give them up this easily however.

11:15 Oh well, time to go back to Carlos Hyde. Most players stay loose by riding a bike, but here at Indiana there is a practice field where Hyde is currently trucking ten-year olds like he's speed-bullying.

11:20 Miller rolls left, then finally takes off and has some room. He picks up 13 yards before stepping out of bounds. And some type of Hoosier coach is talking trash to him for stepping out of bounds. Dude, you should be happy that Miller voluntarily tackled himself, because in case you hadn't noticed, your boys haven't done a very good job of it tonight.

11:23 Third and four from the Indiana 46-yard line. Empty set. Miller goes over the middle to Devin Smith and he breaks out of three tackles and runs to the other side of the field for the touchdown. Miller is mauling him. Smith looked like David Boston on that play, and Miller looked like his personal GNC clerk welcoming him back to the store. Buckeyes lead it 52-34. I guess that makes up for the two drops, because that should have been about a 15-yard catch at most. Braxton's day is done.

11:29 BTN guy asks “Should Ohio State be worried about their defense?” Why, what's the problem? Doesn't everybody plug in a fullback at middle linebacker instead of any one of a half-dozen four or five-star prospects?

11:31 It's fourth and eleven from the Indiana 37-yard line and Indiana is punting with 5:15 to play. Why punt? Have you quit? Have you seen your defense? Have you seen Ohio State's? You need to keep the ball and use this extra down. I don't get it.

11:35 Miller picks up four on second and ten and Indiana calls timeout. Why are they stopping the clock if they already gave up?

11:37 Hoosiers hold and force a punt. Buchanan booms it 50 yards to the Indiana 26-yard line.

11:41 Fourth and six. Indiana is going for it from their own 42-yard line. Nate Sudfeld's pass is caught by Chester for a first down. Urban Meyer dropped an F-bomb. He must be going against Chester this week in fantasy football.

11:44 Third and six from the Ohio State 39-yard line. The pass is dropped by the tight end, and then some dude's helmet comes flying into the picture. Flags galore. Meyer won't like this either. Orhian Johnson and Johnathan Hankins both flagged and they added both penalties. They called OJ for a hit on the play? That's ridiculous. And they can't even find Hankins' penalty.What a mess.

11:46 The Hoosiers capitalize with a 13-yard Duwyce Wilson touchdown on a catch and turn. Meyer can't watch. An Ohio State defense has allowed 40 points to an Indiana team. Not many Ohio State coaches can say that. Maybe one other?

11:48 Here comes the onside kick. Whoa, the dude just batted it back into play as the Buckeyes let it go. Not sure his foot wasn't down. It was. Wow, they gave the ball to Indiana. They'll have to review this. Yep, here's the review. Impossible to tell. Just too close. I don't really fault Roby for letting it go. Why should he go after a ball that is clearly going out of bounds.

11:50 The review stands. How fun!

11:52 Ryan Shazier just dropped an interception for the third time tonight. Don't throw it to “club hands”! I assume the fourth time is the charm, however.

11:54 I guarantee nobody added enough time on their DVR for this.

11:54 Sudfeld is pressured and throws about a seven-yard shovel to Stephen Houston and Houston races to the corner and finds the endzone. What a play by Sudfeld. Boren missed the tackle. That's what happens. Indiana going for two to make this a three-point game. They convert. It's 52-49 now. Amazing. This comes down to the onside kick. Recover and you win. Don't and you probably lose.

11:57 Here we go. They go the other way with the kick and Philly Brown falls on it. He stumbled and if he doesn't fall on it, IU's got that in field goal range. Holy cow. Rarely does the play of the game against Indiana come in the game's final minutes. The Buckeyes get the ball with just 1:04 to play. Two snaps and this game is finally over.

11:59 Ball game. Unbelievable. This is the feeling you get after beating a nine-year old 21-0 in basketball and making him cry. Yeah, you're happy you won, but you can't shake the feeling that you  probably did something wrong.

12:01 Urban Meyer will go into the postgame and say that the best part about 7-0 is the chance to go 8-0, but the worst part about being 7-0 is that people expect you to also have a top ten defense to go along with your top ten team.

12:03 I find myself thinking that OTHER teams have defensive lapses like this at times. Sometimes things just don't go right and an opponent has your number. But this Indiana. With their second and third-string quarterbacks, this isn't supposed to happen at Ohio State.

12:04 There was a weird feeling in the air this weekend given all of the defensive turmoil, and that air become oppressive in the last hour. This feels like one of those things that causes massive changes at other universities. This being Ohio State, however, I expect slight changes for the rest of the season, and then everyone will have a much better understanding of what they're working with. Tonight was never going to be ideal defensively, and being up by three scores in the fourth quarter probably didn't help them.

12:05 Actually, I take that back, being up by three scores in the fourth quarter is the only thing that saved them.

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