Five Things: Indiana Bests Ohio State in B1G Title Game As Offensive Line, Red Zone Offense, And Special Teams Falter Versus Hoosiers

Looking to capture its first B1G title in five years, No. 1 Ohio State struggled on offense and special teams, and gave up a couple back-breaking third down conversions on defense as No. 2 Indiana held off the Buckeyes, 13-10, last night in Lucas Oil Stadium.

The loss snapped Ohio State's 16-game winning streak dating back to last season's run through the College Football Playoff and cost the Buckeyes a No. 1 seed in this year's CFP seeding.

The defeat also gives Ryan Day a lot of coaching points to address over the next few weeks - for players and staff alike - as the Buckeyes gear up for a CFP run.

Knowing we'll all want to turn the page quickly as the CFP bracket gets announced in a few hours after this article runs, here are Five Things from the dogfight in Indy.

OFFENSIVE LINE WAS.. OFFENSIVE

A week after bullying Michigan in Ann Arbor to the tune of 186 rushing yards and zero sacks allowed, Ohio State's offensive line was the one getting bullied last night as Indiana racked up five sacks, nine tackles for loss and two quarterback hurries.

Ohio State had allowed just six sacks in 12 games entering last night but it was turnstile city against the Hoosiers. The right side of the line felt like the leakiest but I'm not watching the game again to verify. Right guard Tegra Tshabola struggled across the board and was relieved by Gabe VanSickle. The typically reliable Phil Daniels got worked a few times in pass pro and I'm quite certain center Carson Hinzman and left guard Luke Montgomery would say they produced their least effective performances of the season.

Ohio State managed a modest 87 rushing yards on 4.1 per carry when adjusted for sacks, but with those included, the rushing numbers drop to 58 yards on 2.2 a pop. Day and Brian Hartline also had to rely heavily on rollouts in the second half to give Julian Sayin any time to throw.

During and postgame, fan angst was widespread with much of it directed as the high usage of 13 and 14 personnel particularly in the red zone. I'm not saying I liked it either but I do think when your offensive linemen are getting worked nearly every play, a common reaction is to add big bodies tight ends to the line of scrimmage.

The questions Day and company need to answer the next few weeks as they gear up for the playoff is how much of the struggles were addressable issues with execution and how much can be attributed to Indiana's electric front exposing the Buckeyes in the trenches? And then what's the best reaction to avoid what we saw last night again?

RED ZONE BLUES

Already ranked outside the top-25 in red zone scoring and red zone touchdown rate, Ohio State's red zone offense was abysmal against the Hoosiers, converting on just 2-of-4 trips for 10 points.

The Buckeyes got off to a decent start with a touchdown on their first trip via a 9-yard touchdown pass from Julian Sayin to Carnell Tate to take a 7-3 lead followed by a Jayden Fielding 30-yard field goal to go in front 10-3 early in the second quarter.

From there it was dreadful however as the Buckeyes didn't score a point across two red zone trips in the second half despite covering 70 yards on one possession and 81 yards on the other.

The first trip, with OSU trailing 13-10 late in the third quarter, resulted in a turnover on downs after a strange 3rd-and-1 play from the IU 5-yard line. The play design called for Sayin to sprint out to his left with just one receiver target, a well-covered Jeremiah Smith, resulting in an incompletion, before a 4th-and-1 quarterback sneak failed reach the line to gain as Sayin's low crouch saw his knee hit the turf a yard short.

The second visit saw OSU facing 3rd-and-1 at the IU 9. This time, Sayin was asked to roll right out of 14 personnel before targeting Ohio State's fourth-best pass-catching tight end (the second option after a covered Bo Jackson in the flat), who was covered and unable to shield his defender, resulting in an incompletion in the end zone. I think that was the third-straight play (or at least 2nd in 3 plays) OSU was in 13 or 14 personnel with no Carnell Tate on the field. Following the incompletion, Day called on Fielding to attempt a 27-yarder that would've tied the game at 13 but he shanked it wide left from the right hash.

Beating the No. 2 team in the country isn't likely to happen when you chew up 151 yards and nearly 15 minutes of game clock on your last two real possessions of a tight game and come away with zero points thanks to red zone failures.

THIRD DOWN BAD

It's pretty common whichever team performs best on third down wins the game and that was certainly the case last night as Indiana was significantly more clutch on third down that the Buckeyes.

The Hoosiers converted 6-of-13 third down tries (46%) against an OSU defense allowing a 28% conversion rate on the season.

On its touchdown drive to take a 13-10 lead midway through the third quarter, IU converted back-to-back third downs to keep what turned out to be the game-winning drive alive. The first came on 3rd-and-2 as Lorenzo Styles was in coverage on a 51-yard pass from Fernando Mendoza to Charlie Becker. Four plays later, on 3rd-and-9, Mendoza connected with Elijah Sarratt for a 17-yard score on Jermaine Mathews Jr.

A few possession later, after Fielding's miss put OSU's defense in a desperate need to get a stop so the offense could have one last shot, Indiana faced 3rd-and-6 from its own 24-yard line. Hoosiers head coach Curt Cignetti could've played it safe and ran the ball but instead, he dialed up a go ball down the right sideline which Becker grabbed for 33 yards after getting behind Mathews in coverage. Game. Set. Match.

Ohio State's defense certainly wasn't the primary culprit in last night's loss but it did allow Mendoza to complete 6-of-9 passes on third down for 132 yards including those few back-breakers.

On the other side of the ball, Ohio State converted just 4-of-11 third down tries. A Sayin interception on a 3rd-and-6 snap during OSU's first possession of the game helped the Hoosiers to an early 3-0 lead. Sayin was sacked on a 3rd-and-6 snap from the IU 7 forcing the Buckeyes to settle for a field goal and a 10-3 lead in the second quarter.

Another killer was the already-discussed 3rd-and-1 play from the IU 9-yard line resulting in an incompletion to tight end Bennett Christian before Fielding's miss of the would-be game-tying field goal late.

GIVE INDIANA ITS FLOWERS

I'm not Curt Cignetti's biggest fan even though I think he's perfect for a program like Indiana's that was on life support for decades. I don't particularly like his schtick but the bottom line is that he's obviously a hell of a football coach and a really strong talent evaluator.

If you believe stars matter - like I do - then you have to be impressed with how Cignetti finds diamonds in the rough, develops them, and gets them all focused on a common goal.

He's put together a ferocious defensive line, he's got some elite playmakers on offense and what he's done with quarterbacks the last two seasons is impressive as hell.

Speaking of quarterbacks, Mendoza is tough as nails (and also very goofy lol) and man did he make big plays when his team needed it last night. I didn't enjoy watching it but if his performance keeps Old Man Pavia from winning the Heisman then at least there's that.

My point here is that Indiana is a damn good team. Sometimes Ohio State fans (and I'm sure other fans of powerhouse programs) forget that in matchup games the other team has good players and coaches trying to win too, instead focusing on what Ohio State didn't do as the sole reason it lost.

I think there's an argument to be made that Ohio State lost this game. I also think there's at least an equal argument that Indiana won it.

SPRINGBOARD?

Yeah last night was tough if you're a Buckeye fan but it wasn't as tough as losing to Michigan last year and we know what happened after that. Ohio State's coaches and players had some honest conversations and they got back in the lab. They had a ton of motivation following a tough loss, they came out firing against Tennessee and kept that avalanche going all the way to a national title.

Leading up to that magical run the staff heard about shitty playcalling and game planning, the offensive line heard it wasn't tough enough, the kicker was told he was void of any kind of clutch gene, and on and on. But the team responded more galvanized and determined than ever.

Maybe history won't repeat itself. We'll find out soon enough. But at least there's a silver lining here that these guys know they're beatable if they don't focus on things like improving offensive line play and red zone scheme/execution. Sayin now has a taste of a tight game in the fourth quarter. The secondary knows it can be had.

These are things that can serve as motivation to go on another run. This is still probably the nation's most talented roster and the program's number one goal is still within reach.