Instant Reaction: Ohio State defeats Indiana

Honestly, I had high hopes for Indiana to pull this off. I repeatedly referenced the 17-0 comeback Penn State had in the 4th quarter against Ohio State last year. So the lead Indiana had in the 1st half pushed me to put money on the Hoosiers.

But Indiana isn’t Penn State. Richard Lagow isn’t Trace McSorley. J.T. Barrett is a Heisman candidate and Ohio State’s freshmen RB Dobbin is a STUD.

This played out exactly how we thought it would and Ohio State won bigly, but there are some things to come out of this game:

1. Ohio State isn’t a #2 seed – OSU plays #7 Oklahoma next week in Columbus next week. Ohio State has holes in its play calling and a great Big 12 team like Oklahoma should be able to exploit them. I still think Penn State is the better team in the BIG 10. But only time will tell.
2. Indiana has a really really really strong offense, when speeding things up. 1st half Indiana was completeley different in what they showed in the 2nd. Maybe the players got tired. Maybe OSU flipped a switch at halftime. But other than the Lagow-Cobb connection, there was nothing. In the second half Indiana also slowed their pace and this really shifted the the game to the Buckeye’s favor.
3. Indiana’s O-Line vs. Ohio’s D-line – This was a huge match up to watch all game. And in the 2nd half both showed their colors. Indiana coughed up sack after sack and Lagow had to make throws under pressure.

Honestly, the end of this game shouldn’t have to be a surprise. We all knew that Ohio State would win. But regardless, what a way to start the football season, even if it was only for a half.

Football. Is. Back. I cannot wait for the rest of the season.