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2014 national title anniversary: Look back at Ohio State football’s win vs Indiana
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- 2014 national title anniversary: Look back at Ohio State football’s win vs Indiana
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the 2014 national championship season, when the Ohio State football Buckeyes went 14-1 and captured the first College Football Playoff title. We'll relive that remarkable year by sharing the game stories from that campaign as they appeared in the pages of The Columbus Dispatch.
Now up: Ohio State's game against Indiana .
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Lackluster play still yields win
Buckeyes shake off turnovers, clinch East title
November 22, 2014
Some of them tried to put a pleasant face on it.
It was a 15-point victory. It did clinch the Big Ten East division title for Ohio State and a return trip to the conference championship game. No Buckeye suffered a serious injury.
But to call Ohio State's 42-27 victory over visiting Indiana yesterday anything but lackluster is an exercise in spin control.
"I'm not happy about the win," safety Tyvis Powell said. "A win is a win in the books, but everybody in the locker room feels sick about the win. We know we have room to get better, and that's what we need to do, especially since we have the rivalry game coming up" against Michigan on Saturday.
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The scare against a Hoosiers team that was winless in the Big Ten and a five-touchdown underdog isn't a mortal blow to the Buckeyes' standing in the College Football Playoff rankings, but it won't help. Ohio State is sixth and needs to move to fourth in the next two weeks to earn a spot in the national semifinals.
Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett is flipped by Indiana’s Rashard Fant in the first quarter. Barrett ran for 78 yards and passed for 302.
And if not for Jalin Marshall 's huge bounce-back performance, Ohio State might have been looking at a disaster.
A week after losing two key fumbles at Minnesota, Marshall scored four straight touchdowns, starting with a 54-yard punt return that erased a 20-14 third-quarter Indiana lead.
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"There's definitely a little bit of redemption," the redshirt freshman said. "I'm just satisfied with the team win. I feel like that was very important to the win today, so I'm excited about that."
As was the case last week, Ohio State (10-1, 7-0 Big Ten) took a 14-0 lead and looked headed for a rout. As was the case last week, the Buckeyes committed three turnovers – a fumble by receiver Michael Thomas and two interceptions thrown by J.T. Barrett – to give their opponent oxygen.
The differences were that Indiana (3-8, 0-7) isn't as good as Minnesota and that it took Ohio State's offense a while to escape the doldrums even after the string of turnovers ended.
"We jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and the stadium was dead, and we were dead," coach Urban Meyer said.
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The fans had an excuse. Icy roads caused many in the announced crowd of 101,426 at Ohio Stadium to arrive late.
Tardy fans missed a 65-yard touchdown run by Ezekiel Elliott and a 4-yard touchdown pass from Barrett to Jeff Heuerman on Ohio State's first two drives.
But Indiana scored after a 53-yard scramble by freshman quarterback Zander Diamont on third-and-11, and then came the Buckeyes' three consecutive turnovers, followed by four straight punts.
"That's just what turnovers do," Elliott said. "Turnovers are momentum-swingers. We lost all our momentum with the turnovers."
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Ohio State held Indiana star running back Tevin Coleman in check in the first half. But midway through the third quarter, he ran 90 yards untouched to put Indiana ahead 20-14.
Then Marshall took over. Buckeyes punter Cameron Johnston pinned the Hoosiers at their 1-yard line with a 50-yard line drive that somehow died before it would have rolled into the end zone. Ohio State's defense forced a three-and-out, and Marshall caught the punt, headed upfield, made one sharp cut and went untouched into the end zone.
Marshall then caught three touchdown passes – two on shovel passes to allow Barrett to break Troy Smith's Ohio State record for touchdown passes in a season – as the Buckeyes pulled away late.
Coleman's 52-yard touchdown with just over a minute left gave him 228 yards in the game.
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"Sometimes in college football, things don't go exactly as scripted," Meyer said.
"We're fine. It was somewhat of a close call. We just have to play better, but we still are division champs."
Still, it's the second straight close call at a time when it's important to be peaking.
"It's icy, and the stadium's not full at the beginning of the game, and you're playing a team that's 0-6 in the Big Ten," Heuerman said. "The juice level is kind of down.
"It was just kind of one of those games, but we battled through it and got the win, and that's all that matters."
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Now it's on to Michigan. Even though the Wolverines are having another forgettable season, the rivalry still is the rivalry.
"Regardless of records or anything, the most motivated, most prepared team will win this next game," Meyer said. "That's this rivalry."
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State football 2014 National Championship year: Indiana game
