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After the Indiana Hoosiers secured their tenth win of the season against the Michigan Wolverines two weeks ago, the program that had never won ten games in a calendar year was officially in the midst of a dream season. Even if head coach Curt Cignetti believed otherwise, nobody else in the country believed that the Hoosiers would be on the brink of a Big Ten Championship Game appearance. That, in and of itself, qualified the season as a success.
Of course, the Hoosiers wanted more than just to be ‘on the brink.' Once a Big Ten title was clearly within their grasp, that became the sole focus, but on Saturday afternoon, Indiana learned two hard lessons:
- There are levels to Big Ten football, and they aren't on the level of the Ohio State Buckeyes just yet.
- A dream season can turn into a nightmare in just one afternoon.
The Indiana Hoosiers jumped out to a surprising 7-0 lead against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon, but then fell victim to a 31-0 Buckeyes run in less than 30 minutes of game action. This run emphatically slammed the door shut on Indiana's perfect season, and only time will tell if it will prevent the Hoosiers from competing in the College Football Playoff.
After the game, Curt Cignetti spoke about what doomed his team, and his Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Kurtis Rourke, against the 2nd-ranked Buckeyes.
“We couldn't protect the quarterback,” Cignetti said after the 38-15 loss, per Jake Trotter of ESPN.com. “Every time we dropped back to pass, something bad happened. … It was like a nightmare.”
Rourke, who was sacked five times by the Buckeyes defense, finished the game with just 68 yards passing, completing just 8 of his 18 attempts. It didn't help matters that Indiana was limited to just 2 yards per carry on the afternoon as well. In total, Indiana was limited to just 151 total yards in the game, and only 53 in the 1st half, which was the Hoosiers' lowest 1st half total in ten years.
The bump in competition certainly played a roll in why Indiana's winning streak was snapped, as was the environment. Following the loss, Cignetti admitted that his team was overwhelmed by the 105,000 fans in attendance in Columbus.
“We didn't handle the noise very well,” Cignetti said of playing in Ohio Stadium. “We didn't play our best game today. But I think a big part of that was because of them.”
Ohio State may be peaking at the perfect time. Not only did their offense do just fine against an Indiana defense that ranks top ten nationally in points per game allowed, but the defense held an explosive Hoosiers offense in check, continuing a trend that has only been disrupted by the 32 points they allowed in a mid-October loss to the top-ranked Oregon Ducks.
