Since Curt Cignetti’s ”Google Me” was a theme late in the game on Saturday, a search engine theme felt appropriate for the recap.
Ohio State earned their 29th consecutive win over Indiana on Saturday, beating the Hoosiers 38-15 in Columbus. Indiana entered the game with a 10-0 record, marking the first time in school history that they started a season 10-0, and this was their first game as a Top 5 team where they were playing another Top 5 team.
It was obvious the Hoosiers weren’t ready for the moment, as they were buried in the final three quarters of the game by a Buckeye squad that was playing in their third Top 5 matchup this year. Not only did Indiana lose their first game of the season, first-year head coach Curt Cignetti had to eat some crow for comments that he made after being hired to replace Tom Allen.
When he was speaking at an Indiana basketball game shortly after taking the job, Cignetti said Ohio State (along with Michigan and Purdue) sucks. Then when talking about what he tells recruits, Cignetti says he tells them “Google me”. I do respect the confidence Cignetti has in his abilities, especially after he took the Indiana job, where success isn’t something enjoyed in Bloomington very often. Saturday’s game was just one of those days where Cignetti had to eat a few of those things that he said in the past.
Because of the “Google me” comment, as well as the trolling that was done by the Ohio Stadium scoreboard and Will Howard late in the game, it feels like using some past and present search engines to describe the win by the Buckeyes would be a perfect way to wrap up the win over the Hoosiers before we all turn our attention to Michigan and start crossing out every M we see for the next week.
Excite
The best moment in today’s game was the punt return touchdown early in the third quarter by Caleb Downs. Indiana had gotten the football out of halftime and quickly went three-and-out before Downs took the punt by James Evans 79 yards to the house.
Even more incredible about the punt return touchdown is it came 10 years to the day of the last Buckeye punt return touchdown, which Jalin Marshall scored, which also came against Indiana.
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Even though Downs isn’t quite at the level of Colorado’s Travis Hunter when it comes to having an impact on multiple aspects of the game, his ability to return punts with effectiveness shows just how incredible of an athlete he is. What made the return even crazier is it didn’t even look like Downs was running that fast during the return, never going faster than a brisk jog.
The touchdown put Ohio State in firm control of the game, giving them a two-touchdown lead over the Hoosiers. In reality, the punt return sealed the victory for the Buckeyes since they would continue to extend their lead, with Indiana only scoring late in the game to make the score look a little more respectable on their end.
Downs hasn’t had to put up the tackle numbers that he did at Alabama last year, but there is no questioning that he is the most important player on the Ohio State defense this year, essentially playing quarterback in the defensive secondary. There was talk during the offseason that Ryan Day and Chip Kelly might try and use Downs at running back at points during the season, but honestly, that isn’t needed with the depth the Buckeyes have at the position.
It feels like using Downs as a returner is the perfect way to use him outside of the defense to impact the game.
Monster
Early in the game, the Ohio State defense was playing very passive, allowing Indiana to march down the field on their first drive to score a touchdown. Then defensive coordinator Jim Knowles decided it might be a good time to turn up the blitz to try and make quarterback Kurtis Rourke uncomfortable. Enter linebacker Cody Simon, who continued his stellar play in the second half of the season.
Simon finished the game with a team-high 10 tackles, 2.5 sacks in the game, as well as a forced fumble. The senior from New Jersey almost added a fumble recovery to his stat line but the football somehow squirted out from under him after he pounced on a Justice Ellison fumble on the second play of the second half. Lamentations of the missed turnover were quickly quieted as two plays later, Caleb Downs returned the punt for a touchdown.
To say Simon is saving his best for last might be an understatement since he is playing the best football of his Ohio State career in his final season in the scarlet and gray. There’s a reason why Simon was voted to wear the Block O uniform this year, and he has shown why he is deserving of the honor with what he has done since the beginning of October, registering at least 10 tackles in three of the last six games.
Dogpile
It wasn’t just Simon who was making noise in the backfield on Saturday, pretty much the whole defense was having parties behind the line of scrimmage. The Buckeyes registered five sacks in the game, with Jack Sawyer recording a sack and a half, while J.T. Tuimoloau had the other sack. The pressure Ohio State put on Kurtis Rourke led to the Ohio transfer having his worst game as a Hoosier, completing just eight passes for 68 yards.
Along with the heat Rourke was under, the Buckeye defense didn’t allow the Indiana rushing attack to get going. The Hoosiers finished the game with just 83 yards rushing on 41 carries. While those numbers might be skewed a little bit because of the sacks of Rourke, as well as the botched snap by punter James Evans, running backs Ty Son Lawton and Justice Ellison were never really able to get going after the first drive of the game.
WiseNut
I swear this was a real search engine and I just didn’t make it up for the sake of this article. After starting in 2001, WiseNut lasted until 2007, when it shut down. Luckily for Ohio State fans, it doesn’t look like Will Howard is shutting down any time soon.
The Kansas State transfer has put together an amazing season as quarterback of the Buckeyes. After completing his first 14 passes of the game, Howard finished Saturday’s victory by completing all but four of his 26 pass attempts. With a completion percentage over 80 percent, Howard notched his sixth game this season with a completion percentage of 80 percent or better, which is the most in school history.
Photo by Jason Mowry/Getty Images
Even though Howard might not have the highlight moments of guys like Cam Ward or Shedeur Sanders, it seems like he always makes the correct read and puts the football where it needs to go, much like on a throw to Jeremiah Smith where the freshman wide receiver was double covered. Howard knew if he threw it high, only Smith would be able to grab it, and at worst it would have resulted in an incompletion. Smith ended up catching the football and moving the chains.
Howard’s interception in the game wasn’t even really his fault, as he put the football on Jelani Thurman’s hands. The tight end just wasn’t able to haul it in, and an Indiana defender was able to catch it after it bounced off Thurman’s hands.
If Howard’s performance today and throughout this season so far hasn’t earned him the respect of Ohio State fans, then his trolling of Cignetti on the sidelines — when he said “Google that sh*t” and put out a fake cigarette — should instantly make him a favorite of every Buckeye fan. Howard’s stock can rise even higher if he is able to lead Ohio State to a win over Michigan next week and end the losing streak of the Buckeyes to That Team Up North.
Bing
Why Bing for Emeka Egbuka? Because it was the sound I made every time Emeka Egbuka moved up a spot in the Ohio State record books on Saturday. Against the Hoosiers, Egbuka had his best outing since the Oregon game, catching seven passes for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Egbuka now is in third place in school history in receptions with 180, passing Chris Olave. The senior receiver also moved past Devin Smith for seventh place with 2,549 career receiving yards. The receiving touchdown for Egbuka was the 23rd of his career, tying Garrett Wilson for eighth-most at Ohio State. This is the 35th-straight game Egbuka has played in where he has caught at least one pass.
DuckDuckGo
The win over Indiana on Saturday means that Ohio State just needs to win next week against Michigan to clinch a rematch with Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis next month. If Ohio State, Penn State, and Indiana all win next week, those three teams will all have one conference loss, but the Buckeyes will hold the tiebreaker because of head-to-head wins over both schools.
Then again, I probably shouldn’t assume that will be the case since it took the Big Ten a couple of days after Oregon’s win over Wisconsin to officially confirm the Ducks as the first team to clinch their spot in this year’s Big Ten title game.
Next month’s game in Indianapolis will have massive playoff implications since the winner will receive a first-round bye. Just imagine Oregon fans feeling like it is finally their year and banking on a bye in the first round after their win over the Buckeyes in Eugene in October only to lose to Ohio State the night before the playoff matchups are announced.
Again, this is all contingent on the Buckeyes beating Michigan next week, so let’s just get by the Wolverines first before we look too deep into a rematch with the Ducks.