COLUMBUS, OH — The Ohio State Buckeyes continued their impressive football season with a dominant 38-15 win over the Indiana Hoosiers, improving their record to 10-1 overall and 7-1 in the Big Ten Conference. This victory extended their winning streak over the Hoosiers to 29 games and marked the Buckeyes’ 31st season with ten or more wins in school history.
After a sluggish first half, the Buckeyes got their game plan in gear and never looked back. In the second half, they kept their foot on the gas against the Hoosiers for an imperial performance at the Horseshoe.
Head Coach Ryan Day’s career record now stands at an impressive 66-9. He continued his undefeated 6-0 streak against Indiana. It was also his 20th win against a Top 25 opponent, highlighting his strategic prowess.
Quarterback Will Howard delivered an exemplary performance, completing 22 of 26 passes for 201 yards and two touchdowns. Howard demonstrated remarkable accuracy, with an 80 percent completion rate for the sixth time this season, making him the sole Buckeye quarterback to achieve this feat in a career. Howard also scored on a one-yard rush, highlighting his versatility. This brings him to 101 career touchdowns, including 74 passing, 26 rushing, and one receiving touchdown.
Emeka Egbuka led the Buckeyes’ receiving with 80 yards and a touchdown on seven receptions. His performance elevated his career stats, tying Garrett Wilson for eighth with 23 touchdown receptions and moving to third with 180 career receptions at Ohio State. Egbuka also climbed the all-time receiving yards list to seventh, surpassing Devin Smith with 2,549 yards.
TreVeyon Henderson was a force on offense with 68 rushing yards and a touchdown. His scoring play tied him for fifth on Ohio State’s career touchdowns list with 43 rushing touchdowns, alongside Buckeye legends J.K. Dobbins and J.T. Barrett.
Caleb Downs exhilarated the special teams with a fantastic, untouchable 79-yard punt return for a touchdown. That was Ohio State’s first punt return touchdown in a decade. The Buckeyes were formidable on defense, as they held Indiana to an impressive total of 151 yards of total offense. Cody Simon led with a career-high 2.5 sacks, contributing to Ohio State’s season-high five sacks on the day.
“Our guys just played with a chip today, and that’s the way you got to play the game of football,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day told the media.
In a display of team depth, 21 Buckeyes recorded tackles, with Simon and Sonny Styles leading with ten and eight tackles. The Buckeyes saw immaculate plays from Jack Sawyer, who finished with 1.5 sacks, and JT Tuimoloau, with another sack in the game. This collective team effort secured Ohio State’s victory, underscoring their dominance and depth as they march toward facing the Michigan Wolverines next Saturday.
“We don’t win this game, and we have no chance to go to Indianapolis and play in the Big Ten championship. And that’s real. We’ve had that approach for the last few weeks now, more than that,” Day said.
With one more obstacle standing in their way next Saturday, a win over Michigan will guarantee an earlier-season rematch against the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten Championship, where the Buckeyes will be looking to avenge that loss at Autzen Stadium.
Indiana, which has had some extreme success this season, could lose its opportunity to participate in the 12-team College Football Playoffs (CFP) with one blowout loss.
The Wolverines face the Buckeyes on Saturday, Nov 30 at 12 Noon ET on FOX.
