Hoosiers Fall Against Ohio State

Saturday, September 14

Bloomington, Ind.

Noon

Indiana University

2-1 , 0-1

Ohio State

3-0 , 1-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Ohio State

Indiana

9/14/2019 3:22:00 PM | Football

By Pete DiPrimio
IUHoosiers.com

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana Hoosiers jogged in sun-splashed silence away from football misery that will sting for a long time. Memorial Stadium's Terry Tallen Football Complex loomed as sanctuary and reckoning for what had just happened, and what will.

"I'm very disappointed," coach Tom Allen said in the aftermath of Saturday's 51-10 loss to No. 6 Ohio State. "I take responsibility for how the team takes the field. It wasn't good enough."

What do you do when an opportunity is lost, when feel-good momentum from a 2-0 start is ripped away faster than a Michael Penix Jr. pass?

If you're the Hoosiers, you vow to learn from your worst loss in six years, build off it, find motivation to do what needs to be done from it.

The consequence of not doing that is, well, not an option.

"We'll talk to the guys and make sure people come back with the right attitude and mindset," linebacker Reakwon Jones said. "Be ready to work. Flush it.

"We'll be very critical of ourselves on the film. See what we can do to get better. We have to keep the guys' confidence up."

Ohio State (3-0) domination was everywhere you looked, from the score to total yards (528 to 257) to first downs (30 to 15) to plays made and more. The Buckeyes did to Indiana what the Hoosiers had done to Eastern Illinois the previous week.

"This shows us where we are," tight end Peyton Hendershot said. "It makes you practice harder.

"I think some people got complacent and were not working as hard."

The Hoosiers, as it turned out, weren't nearly good enough.

"To play the way we did is disappointing and frustrating," quarterback Peyton Ramsey said, "but it's a new week. This season is so young. We have so many more opportunities.

"We have to get back in our groove. Leaders have to lead. We have to continue pushing forward."

Allen will be at the forefront.

"That's where grit comes in. It's perseverance and passion toward the long-term goal.

"I feel I have a pretty good perspective on this program, where it's been and where we're trying to take it. We're trying to build a long-term program.

"When you believe in what you're doing, and you understand there are going to be all these arrows (and criticism) coming at you, but you don't get deterred. You don't let that stuff sidetrack you. You evaluate and make the changes you need to make."

The Buckeyes, who have outscored opponents 138-31, controlled offensive and defensive line play from the first snap, which gave their skill players nearly non-stop opportunities to dictate.

And so they did, led by quarterback Justin Fields (199 passing yards, 3 touchdowns) and tailbacks J.K. Dobbins (193 rushing yards, 1 touchdown) and Master Teague (106 rushing yards, 1 TD).

For the record, Ohio State does this to nearly every Big Ten team, even Michigan, which is 2-16 against their biggest rival in the 21st Century.

"They punched us in the mouth early and caught us off guard," Ramsey said. "We didn't execute."

"Ohio State is good," Hendershot said, "but we didn't play how we should have. We got off to a bad start and people started hanging their heads."

There was one big IU highlight, a double-pass play that resulted in wide receiver Donavan Hale's 49-yard touchdown toss to Hendershot near the end of the first half.

It was the Hoosiers' first receiver touchdown pass since Mitchel Paige hit quarterback Richard Lagow with a 5-yard scoring pass against Michigan State in 2016.

"We had practiced it for a couple of weeks," Hendershot said. "We thought the safety would be there, but it was wide open. It was unreal."

Other than that, it was an elite team playing at an elite level.

"There are about eight teams in the country that look like (the Buckeyes) do," Allen said.

With Penix sidelined by an injury, Ramsey got his first starting shot of the season. In an ideal world, he would have had a running game to negate the Buckeye heat.

In the real world, the running game was again missing in action (42 yards on 31 carries, 14 yards each by Ramsey and Sampson James), and that meant constant quarterback pressure.

Ramsey was sacked four times and hit often. He finished 19-for-33 for 162 yards with one interception (which cornerback Damon Arnette returned 96 yards for a touchdown). Jack Tuttle took over in the fourth quarter and finished 1-for-2 for four yards.

Ohio State pressure wasn't unexpected, Ramsey said.

"When you play them, you won't have much time. You go into the game knowing that. They're really good."

Ramsey wasn't about to blame his offensive line.

"There were drop backs when I had enough time to deliver the ball. They kept me upright. Overall the O-line did a good job of protecting me."

Allen has praised Ramsey's attitude in the wake of losing his starting job to Penix, and continued on Saturday.

"He was very gritty. He didn't get a lot of time to throw, but he fought and clawed and scratched. He did everything we asked him to do. The bottom line, we've got to protect him better.

"The windows are always tight against (Ohio State). He did a good job distributing the ball.

"He's been ready to be the guy at a moment's notice."

As far as how long Penix will be out, Allen said he didn't know.

"I don't think it's going to be long term. We'd like to get him back as soon as possible.

"He'll be rehabbing, so we'll see how next week unfolds. He's just got to do everything he can."

IU wanted a fast start. Ohio State didn't allow it. The Hoosiers were minus-7 yards after their first two possessions, but caught a break when the Buckeyes missed a field goal.

Then the breaks ended.

After an Ohio State touchdown, the Hoosiers found their offensive rhythm behind the arm and legs of Ramsey. That led to a Logan Justus field goal as the first quarter ended with the Buckeyes ahead 7-3.

Ohio State took charge in the second quarter with three touchdowns and a safety before the Ramsey-to-Hale-to-Hendershot TD play made it 30-10 at halftime.

Ohio State pitched a 21-0 second-half shutout, which left the Hoosiers steaming.

"The effort wasn't where it was supposed to be," Jones said, "and it showed. We'll get it fixed. We'll take it on the chin and continue to grow."

Added Allen: "You have to be laser focused. You can't be deterred by setbacks because they're going to come.

"One just hit us in the face, so how are you going to respond? That's what I challenged our team. We're going to find out the character of our program and where we stand."