No. 3 Ohio State’s 19-15 road win over defending national champion Indiana did more than hand the Buckeyes control of the Big Ten race. It also left them staring at a far messier path to the College Football Playoff.
The victory ended Indiana’s 22-game winning streak, but it came with a brutal cost: starting quarterback Julian Sayin is out indefinitely with an elbow injury. That could leave Ohio State to close the season with three-star true freshman Luke Fahey under center.
Sayin’s injury dropped into the middle of an offense already trying to find itself in conference play. The Buckeyes have been inconsistent on the ground, and while Jeremiah Smith has been electric through seven games, the gap behind him is massive - he has 33 more catches, 716 more receiving yards and 10 more touchdowns than the next most productive wide receiver on the roster.
That was enough for college football media personality Josh Pate to sound the alarm Friday on ESPN’s "Bussin' & Pate."
"Man, I'm on the bus with it," Pate said. "If they were churning out yards in the run game, and frankly this is a problem for a lot of teams with high-profile quarterbacks with high expectations and highly paid rosters, if Bo Jackson or Legend Bey was the equivalent of Zeke back in the day, I'd be okay. They haven't been that yet."
Pate also pointed to what could be waiting for Fahey and Ohio State down the stretch. The Buckeyes still have five games left, and every one of those opponents owns at least a 4-2 record. Two of them are sitting just outside the top 25.
"Here's the problem: at USC, Oregon (maybe with Dante Moore back), Northwestern, at Nebraska, Michigan," Pate said "There's no stretch of three games there where you look and say 'that's where they'll get right.'"
The playoff committee has already shown it can weigh quarterback injuries heavily. In the 2024 College Football Playoff, Alabama earned the No. 4 seed at 12-1 over undefeated Florida State after Seminoles quarterback Jordan Travis suffered a season-ending injury.
Travis had started 11 games before getting hurt against North Alabama. Florida State still beat No.
5 LSU and No. 16 Duke with him at quarterback, then won at unranked Florida and against No.
14 Louisville in the ACC Championship after he was lost.
Ohio State’s situation is different, but the fear is real: a powerhouse with a thin margin for error, a backup quarterback, and a finish line lined with difficult games.
Elsewhere in the Big Ten, UCLA suddenly owns the clearest route to an unbeaten regular season among league teams, even after losing its starting quarterback. USC, currently No. 16, may be the Bruins’ only ranked opponent left in the regular season.
Indiana and Iowa, despite both falling to Ohio State, also appear to have a cleaner road to the playoff than the Buckeyes. Indiana’s Nov. 14 meeting with USC may be the last ranked team on its schedule, while Iowa’s trip to Northwestern on Nov. 7 should be its final matchup against a ranked opponent.
Oregon could also work its way back into the conversation if Dante Moore returns. But the Ducks likely need perfection the rest of the way, which means beating a surging Northwestern team and then winning at Ohio State.
In Other News...
Indiana Escaped Michigan But A Bigger Hoosiers Concern Just Grew
Indiana got what it came for in Ann Arbor, leaving with a 13-6 overtime win over Michigan and another victory to keep the season rolling at 7-1. The defense did the heavy lifting, tightening at key moments and delivering the stop the Hoosiers needed in overtime after a game that never really let the offense settle in.
Josh Hoover and the passing game were the bigger concern even in a win, with the offense sputtering for much of the afternoon. Hoover finished 8 of 18 for 81 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and while Indiana will happily take the result, the way it got there leaves plenty for the Hoosiers to sort out if they want to keep climbing. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana-Michigan Sparked Another Officiating Debate Fans Will Recognize
The second quarter at Michigan offered Indiana something every road team will happily take and every fan base will immediately scrutinize: a roughing-the-passer flag that extended a drive and helped the Hoosiers turn it into three points. Fox analyst Joel Klatt did not hide his frustration with the call on Michigan freshman Tariq Boney, saying it was the kind of penalty that can swing a game and echo the broader officiating complaints viewers have heard in other matchups this season.
For Indiana, the result was a 6-0 edge at that stage, but the larger conversation quickly moved beyond the scoreboard. Klatt pointed to the growing pattern of similar penalties and the way they can hand out free yards at the exact moment a defense believes it has made the stop it needs. Indiana will gladly accept the field position and points, but the debate over where the line is drawn on those hits is likely to linger long after this trip to Ann Arbor. [Read more 🡒]
Michigan Coach Just Made Indianas Statement Win Look Even Bigger
Kyle Whittingham did not spend much time sugarcoating Michigans 13-6 overtime loss to Indiana, and that only made the Hoosiers result look more impressive in hindsight. The Michigan coach pointed to his teams problems on the ground, its red zone issues and the turnovers that kept the offense from ever finding a rhythm, a blunt acknowledgment of how hard Indiana made things on a night when points were already at a premium.
Even in defeat, Whittingham still praised Michigans defense and said he remains confident in the programs overall quality, which only underscores how well Indiana handled the bigger picture. Michigans offense has been stuck near the bottom nationally in success rate, EPA per play and yards per game, and Indiana still dragged the game into overtime before finishing it off, turning what looked like a sturdy win into one that now reads as a statement. [Read more 🡒]