Rapid Reaction: 3 initial thoughts from the 38-15 loss for Indiana football vs Ohio State

Indiana football fell to Ohio State on Saturday afternoon in what has major implications in the College Football Playoffs.

In a 38-15 loss for Indiana, the Hoosiers failed to find any groove after halftime.

It was Indiana’s first loss of the season and one that puts some cause for concern in its case for the postseason.

Here are some quick thoughts from the loss.

Indiana’s middle drives: Two drives gave Indiana football any sort of momentum — if you can call it that — in Saturday’s loss. The first drive and the final drive. Both resulted in touchdowns. Outside of that it was 31 plays for 28 yards — including a botched handling of a snap on a punt before the half and a fumble — both giving Ohio State short fields. Indiana’s inability to move the ball after the first drive was a major issue all game long and a huge reason for that was the offensive line. While that group has been terrific all year, it was a huge reason for the loss on Saturday. Kurtis Rourke had veery little to no time on almost every drop back and forced Indiana into a very one-dimensional offense.

Battle of the trenches: As mentioned, Indiana’s inability to win the trenches on both sides of the ball was the deciding factor. Indiana’s offensive and defensive lines dominated the first quarter — then it was a total flip. IU had just three tackles for loss and zero sacks. Ohio State? Five sacks and eight tackles for loss. Indiana had no ability to block Ohio State’s pass rush and it showed on numerous third downs in the middle part of the second quarter. It was the first time that IU’s lines were dominated in every aspect — a vast difference from every other game this year.

Indiana is still a playoff team: It was not the result Indiana football wanted — or needed — but this is still a playoff team. It’s the SEC vs Indiana — and every SEC team that is in the conversation for a CFP spot has had one performance that has been forgettable. This was Indiana’s. And, for a half you could make the argument that Indiana was the better team and it was a few minor mistakes that cost the Hoosiers. Indiana has shown it can hang. Indiana has shown it can dominate teams. Indiana has also shown it is one of the top teams in the country. Every single team has had a miscue this season. This is Indiana’s. But, to say an 11-1 team in the Big Ten isn’t worth a spot over a 3-loss SEC team is ridiculous. With Ole Miss losing on Saturday to Florida, Georgia struggling for the majority of its game vs UMass and other potential matchups that could move the needle, one half that wasn’t in favor of Indiana, on the road to a top-2 team, shouldn’t be the one deciding factor.

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