Ohio State snaps Indiana's 22-game win streak

Bloomington had never hosted a top-5 matchup before Saturday, and the town treated it that way from the moment the sun came up.

This was not just another big game. Indiana came in as the defending national champion, and Ohio State came in still sore about losing the 2025 Big Ten title game to these same Hoosiers. The student section was basically full 45 minutes before a noon kickoff in the cold. The press box was so packed it set a program record.

Chris Low

@Clowfb

Most credentialed media (more than 600) to ever attend an Indiana football game.

The early going belonged to the defenses. Indiana held in the red zone on the opening drive to keep it 3-0, and Jeremiah Smith had zero catches deep into the first half. Then the Hoosiers got the play their secondary had been waiting on all season.

Turbo Richard punched it in 2 plays later and Indiana led 7-3. That was the high point. The Hoosiers had a real chance to stretch the lead, and Josh Hoover made what might have been his best throw of the day, a 19-yard strike to Nick Marsh on third down with a rusher bearing down on him. The kick that followed had other plans.

Chris Low

@Clowfb

Indiana wastes as good a throw as you're going to see from Josh Hoover with the missed FG. With a defender coming free, Hoover threw a 19-yard strike to Nick Marsh on a third-and-4 play, but Nico Radicic's 32-yard FG attempt hit the left upright. Indiana 7, Ohio State 3.

That miss came back to bite them. Ohio State put together a 15-play touchdown drive before halftime to lead 10-7, and that was with the Buckeyes managing just 29 rushing yards in the half. Hoover went into the locker room 6-of-15 for 77 yards. Neither offense was doing much, which made every Indiana mistake count double.

The second half started with one of those mistakes. On Indiana's first possession, Davion Chandler hauled in a long gain and then put the ball on the ground, and Ohio State turned it into 3 more points. If you've watched Curt Cignetti's Indiana teams, this is the kind of sloppiness they just don't usually have.

Then Smith finally showed up. According to CBS Sports, Julian Sayin threw it up on 4th-and-1 early in the fourth quarter and Smith went up over 2 defenders for a 38-yard touchdown. That catch tied him with Braylon Edwards for the most career touchdown receptions in Big Ten history at 39. Indiana didn't fold. The Hoosiers answered with a 75-yard drive and pulled within 19-15 with 10:30 left, and then it got sloppy again.

Even so, Indiana got the ball back with one last shot. Hoover moved them into Ohio State territory, and with 1:02 left it came down to 4th-and-4. Hoover dropped it right where it needed to be, over the top to a wide-open Marsh in the end zone. Marsh's left foot came down out of bounds. Incomplete. Ballgame.

Ross Dellenger

@RossDellenger

The No. 4 Buckeyes will knock off No. 5 Hoosiers as Nick Marsh catches a potential game-winning touchdown - but out of bounds. IU's 22-game win streak ends.

Ross Dellenger@RossDellenger

Ohio State QB Julian Sayin emerges from the locker room in a right arm sling. Buckeyes lead Indiana 19-15 in the final minutes.

It's hard to imagine a crueler way for a streak like that to end. Hoover finished 17-of-34 for 296 yards and a touchdown, per CBS, and the throw that should have won it went down as just another incompletion. Indiana had gone 19-0 at home under Cignetti before Saturday.

For Ohio State, it's revenge for last year's Big Ten title game and a road win that puts the Buckeyes right back in the conference race. They do have something to worry about, though: CBS reported Sayin got hurt late with a shoulder injury, and how serious it is will shape the rest of their season. Indiana is still a top-5 team with plenty of season left. Now Cignetti gets to see how this group responds to losing for the first time in 666 days, after one foot cost them the game.