Ohio State left Bloomington with a win, but the Buckeyes also walked away with a bigger question hanging over the program: the health of Julian Sayin.
The No. 4 Buckeyes slipped past No.
5 Indiana in a high-end matchup, then watched their starting quarterback head to the sideline in a sling after an apparent right shoulder injury. Before leaving, Sayin put together a line that told the story of the night - 15 completions on 29 attempts for 235 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
One of those touchdowns came on the kind of throw that shifts a game. On 4th-and-1, Sayin launched a 38-yard strike to Jeremiah Smith, giving Smith a chance to climb the ladder and finish the play. Smith kept adding to his case as one of the sport’s premier weapons, coming into the game with 48 catches for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns before tacking on four receptions for 68 yards and another score against Indiana.
Indiana still had a late window to steal it back. Down 19-15, the Hoosiers pieced together a drive that started to gain steam when Josh Hoover found Charlie Becker for 25 yards with less than three minutes left, then hit him again for 16 more on the same possession. Becker turned in a huge night of his own, finishing with nine catches for 165 yards.
That drive carried Indiana to the 27-yard line and into one final shot on 4th-and-4. Hoover took the deep shot to Nick Marsh, who appeared wide open in the end zone, but Marsh’s first step landed out of bounds, turning the play into an incomplete pass.
Ohio State took over from there and kneeld the game away, moving to 6-1. It was a major test for the Buckeyes, and they passed it even after suffering the loss to the Texas Longhorns earlier in the season.
Now the focus shifts to the bye week and then USC on Halloween. Ohio State still has a strong path toward the College Football Playoff and a run at the National Championship, but everything will hinge on how Sayin looks in the coming weeks.
In Other News...
Ohio State Just Entered A Quarterback Debate Nobody Wanted
Ohio State was already navigating the usual late-season pressure when Julian Sayin went down against Indiana, and now the Buckeyes have an unexpected quarterback conversation on their hands. The injury to the starting quarterback adds a jolt of uncertainty at a position Ohio State had hoped to keep settled, with coach Ryan Day needing to sort through a depth chart that suddenly looks a lot thinner than it did a week ago.
Luke Fahey stepped in after Sayin exited the game, but his performance left enough questions to keep the job open. Tavien St. Clair is waiting in the wings as one of the most highly regarded young quarterbacks on the roster, and the Buckeyes may now have to lean on a pair of freshmen sooner than anyone expected while Sayin works his way back. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Recruiting Pipeline Looks Even Stronger Than Fans Realize
Ohio States recruiting machine is already rolling well beyond the usual horizon, with the Buckeyes sitting on 20 verbal commitments in the 2027 class alone. That group includes six national top 100 prospects and the countrys No. 1 overall player, DJ Jacobs, a sign that the programs future roster construction is moving at a pace most schools cannot match.
The pipeline does not stop there, either. The 2028 class already features five commitments, four of them nationally ranked and headlined by quarterback Christopher Vargas, while the 2029 class has a commitment in wide receiver Austin Miller, who is ranked No. 50 nationally. For a staff trying to keep the Buckeyes stocked across multiple cycles, the early breadth is impressive enough, but the next question is how long this momentum can keep building. [Read more 🡒]
Indianas Playoff Picture Just Got More Complicated After AP Chaos
A wild upset weekend around college football has turned the playoff race into a moving target, and Ohio State is right in the middle of the ripple effects. Several top-ranked teams fell, including No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Notre Dame, creating a fresh scramble near the top of the AP rankings even though USC was idle and did not have to spend the weekend on the field.
The Trojans still picked up a little from the chaos, climbing to No. 17 in the AP Top 25, but the bigger question is whether they can turn that position into a real playoff push. Oddsmakers still view USC as a long shot at +425 to make the College Football Playoff, and the road ahead runs straight through opponents like Ohio State and Indiana, the kind of games that could either validate the buzz or leave the picture just as murky. [Read more 🡒]