Saturday, November 23
Columbus, Ohio
Noon
Indiana University
15
at
38
Ohio State
Top-5 Showdown Gets Away From Hoosiers
11/23/2024 5:00:00 PM | Football
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Perspective found Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke facing an unwanted Indiana football first in a crowded Ohio Stadium press conference room:
A loss
"This is a learning opportunity," he said in the aftermath of Saturday's 38-15 defeat to No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1) in front of a crowd an Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,751. "We have to learn from this and not have any more learning opportunities."
An unbeaten season was over, and playoff hopes were rocked, but not ended. Opportunity remained -- an 11-1 record with a regular-season-ending victory over Purdue (1-10 overall, 0-8 in the Big Ten) next Saturday, plus postseason possibilities.
"A loss is never fun," Rourke said, "but we have a big game, a rivalry game, coming up. We'll take 24 hours and get ready."
An 11-1 record would be the second-best record in school history behind the No. 5 Hoosiers' 9-0-1 1945 Big Ten championship squad. The 1967 Rose Bowl team was 9-1 in the regular season, 9-2 overall.
"I'm proud of the way we fought back and got it back to within two scores," coach Curt Cignetti said. "Ohio State won. They deserved to win. Add the (crowd) noise, and it made it a very challenging day for us."
As far as the playoffs, Cignetti said, "I don't make those decisions. We have a big in-state rivalry game against Purdue. We haven't beaten them since 2019. That needs to be everybody's focus."
Rourke said he hoped IU remained in the playoff picture.
"We trust ourselves against anybody. We'd look forward for an opportunity to get a rematch (against Ohio State), but next week is the big game. We have to handle Purdue."
A pair of special teams mistakes basically cost IU 14 points. The first was a dropped snap by punter James Evans at the end the second quarter that resulted in a loss of 23 yards and an Ohio State touchdown. The second came on a 79-yard Buckeye punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter. A 7-7 tie became a 21-7 deficit.
The Hoosiers never recovered.
"All we had to do was settle the game down," Cignetti said. "If we could stay within striking distance, we had a chance, but they had those two scores, and we couldn't respond."
IU gained 70 yards in its first possession, then totaled 81 the rest of the way against fierce Ohio State blitzing pressure. Rourke was sacked five times for a loss of 46 yards, and harassed relentlessly. He finished 8-for-18 for 68 yards.
"We couldn't protect the quarterback," Cignetti said. "We had communication errors. Every time we dropped back to pass, something bad happened."
Although running back Ty Son Lawton ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns, and Justice Ellison added 63 rushing yards, IU only averaged 2.6 yards per play. Cignetti said the crowd noise was a factor.
"I thought we'd be able to handle it," he said. "Some of the offensive linemen could hear, but the center couldn't.
"That didn't cost us the game. It was the ability of the opponent. This is a good team. This team is loaded."
IU held Ohio State to 316 totals yards. Cignetti said the defense played well.
"Ohio State has guys who can make plays. Our defense played hard. The offense and defense have to carry their share."
Ohio State had given up just one opening touchdown in its last 25 games before the Hoosiers drove for a touchdown capped by Lawton's 2-yard scoring run. They had the lead and momentum.
Then it got complicated.
"That first drive we executed at high level," Rourke said. "We took advantage of the looks we had. After that, we didn't take advantage of that as well as we wanted to. They brought some good blitzes. They timed it up well. They executed better."
IU couldn't have asked for a better start. It forced an Ohio State three-and-out on the game's opening possession, then went to work offensively.
Rourke hit first-down producing third-down passes of 13 yards to Myles Price and 19 yards to Elijah Sarratt to set up Lawton's 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Hoosier lead eight minutes into the first quarter.
Ohio State needed two plays to overcome third-and-35 for a first down, leading to a spectacular IU fourth-down stop by defensive linemen Mikail Kamara and James Carpenter at the Hoosier 2-yard line to maintain the shutout early in the second quarter.
Ohio State tied the score at 7-7 on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Howard to receiver Emeka Egbuka midway through the second quarter.
Then Rourke was sacked and fumbled. Ohio State recovered on the IU 18-yard line. The Hoosiers negated that with linebacker Jalin Walker's interception off a cornerback D'Angelo Ponds' pass breakup.
In the second quarter's closing two minutes, the Buckeyes capitalized on the botched Indiana punt attempt for a touchdown run and a 14-7 halftime lead.
Ohio State's Caleb Downs' punt return for a touchdown made it 21-7 two minutes into the third quarter. The Buckeyes added two touchdowns and a 43-yard field goal.
In the closing two minutes, Lawton ran for 2 yards and a touchdown, and Rourke hit receiver Omar Cooper Jr. for a two-point conversion.
Lawton called the loss "an eyeopener," but "We have to focus on who we have next, which is Purdue."
A loss
"This is a learning opportunity," he said in the aftermath of Saturday's 38-15 defeat to No. 2 Ohio State (10-1, 7-1) in front of a crowd an Ohio Stadium crowd of 105,751. "We have to learn from this and not have any more learning opportunities."
An unbeaten season was over, and playoff hopes were rocked, but not ended. Opportunity remained -- an 11-1 record with a regular-season-ending victory over Purdue (1-10 overall, 0-8 in the Big Ten) next Saturday, plus postseason possibilities.
"A loss is never fun," Rourke said, "but we have a big game, a rivalry game, coming up. We'll take 24 hours and get ready."
An 11-1 record would be the second-best record in school history behind the No. 5 Hoosiers' 9-0-1 1945 Big Ten championship squad. The 1967 Rose Bowl team was 9-1 in the regular season, 9-2 overall.
"I'm proud of the way we fought back and got it back to within two scores," coach Curt Cignetti said. "Ohio State won. They deserved to win. Add the (crowd) noise, and it made it a very challenging day for us."
As far as the playoffs, Cignetti said, "I don't make those decisions. We have a big in-state rivalry game against Purdue. We haven't beaten them since 2019. That needs to be everybody's focus."
Rourke said he hoped IU remained in the playoff picture.
"We trust ourselves against anybody. We'd look forward for an opportunity to get a rematch (against Ohio State), but next week is the big game. We have to handle Purdue."
A pair of special teams mistakes basically cost IU 14 points. The first was a dropped snap by punter James Evans at the end the second quarter that resulted in a loss of 23 yards and an Ohio State touchdown. The second came on a 79-yard Buckeye punt return for a touchdown early in the third quarter. A 7-7 tie became a 21-7 deficit.
The Hoosiers never recovered.
"All we had to do was settle the game down," Cignetti said. "If we could stay within striking distance, we had a chance, but they had those two scores, and we couldn't respond."
IU gained 70 yards in its first possession, then totaled 81 the rest of the way against fierce Ohio State blitzing pressure. Rourke was sacked five times for a loss of 46 yards, and harassed relentlessly. He finished 8-for-18 for 68 yards.
"We couldn't protect the quarterback," Cignetti said. "We had communication errors. Every time we dropped back to pass, something bad happened."
Although running back Ty Son Lawton ran for 76 yards and two touchdowns, and Justice Ellison added 63 rushing yards, IU only averaged 2.6 yards per play. Cignetti said the crowd noise was a factor.
"I thought we'd be able to handle it," he said. "Some of the offensive linemen could hear, but the center couldn't.
"That didn't cost us the game. It was the ability of the opponent. This is a good team. This team is loaded."
IU held Ohio State to 316 totals yards. Cignetti said the defense played well.
"Ohio State has guys who can make plays. Our defense played hard. The offense and defense have to carry their share."
Ohio State had given up just one opening touchdown in its last 25 games before the Hoosiers drove for a touchdown capped by Lawton's 2-yard scoring run. They had the lead and momentum.
Then it got complicated.
"That first drive we executed at high level," Rourke said. "We took advantage of the looks we had. After that, we didn't take advantage of that as well as we wanted to. They brought some good blitzes. They timed it up well. They executed better."
IU couldn't have asked for a better start. It forced an Ohio State three-and-out on the game's opening possession, then went to work offensively.
Rourke hit first-down producing third-down passes of 13 yards to Myles Price and 19 yards to Elijah Sarratt to set up Lawton's 2-yard touchdown run for a 7-0 Hoosier lead eight minutes into the first quarter.
Ohio State needed two plays to overcome third-and-35 for a first down, leading to a spectacular IU fourth-down stop by defensive linemen Mikail Kamara and James Carpenter at the Hoosier 2-yard line to maintain the shutout early in the second quarter.
Ohio State tied the score at 7-7 on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Howard to receiver Emeka Egbuka midway through the second quarter.
Then Rourke was sacked and fumbled. Ohio State recovered on the IU 18-yard line. The Hoosiers negated that with linebacker Jalin Walker's interception off a cornerback D'Angelo Ponds' pass breakup.
In the second quarter's closing two minutes, the Buckeyes capitalized on the botched Indiana punt attempt for a touchdown run and a 14-7 halftime lead.
Ohio State's Caleb Downs' punt return for a touchdown made it 21-7 two minutes into the third quarter. The Buckeyes added two touchdowns and a 43-yard field goal.
In the closing two minutes, Lawton ran for 2 yards and a touchdown, and Rourke hit receiver Omar Cooper Jr. for a two-point conversion.
Lawton called the loss "an eyeopener," but "We have to focus on who we have next, which is Purdue."
Players Mentioned
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