1) Uncharacteristic Fields - Fields trying to force those throws resulting in INTs is a big reason this game was not a blowout. It completely kept Indy around, gave them momentum, and hope. 

2) Garbage Refs - the second reason this game was not a blowout was horrible reffing. Baron Browning forced a fumble that didn’t even make the booth review?? Penalizing Davis for giving a final shove but not penalizing the Indy player for throwing Olave into the coaches long after the two were out of bounds was garbage. All of these misses and others I’m sure I’m missing took away a lot of momentum during key junctures.

3) Julian Fleming Play of the Game - During one of Fields’ interceptions, Julian Fleming hustled to the the defender and stripped the ball away resulting in OSU’s recovery. Given how close the game ended up being, in hindsight, that play was HUGE!

4) 2nd Half Struggles - Three games in a row, OSU has jumped out to a big lead only to struggle putting the opponent away. I’m not sure what to attribute this to. Cockiness? Complacency? Getting out-coached? Last year, Hafley and Mattison were masters at this chess game and pretty much always came out on top with their adjustments.

5) Top Ten Showdown - Maybe it’s because we are conditioned to think we should always spank Indiana, but this is not your daddy’s Indy. This was a slug fest and top ten win. Though frustrating to watch at times, we did overcome adversity and came away victors. I do think Indiana deserves credit for how close this was. They had a great game plan and it rattled Fields and forced Indy to air it out a ton. In a different year, this could have been one of those bad losses, but it wasn’t. Adjustments will be made, lessons will be learned, and we will get better from this.

TL;DR:

1) Justin Fields not himself today 

2) Reffing was bad

3) Julian Fleming strip was HUGE

4) OSU Struggling in 2nd Half

5) Indy showed they deserve top ten ranking