The Hoosiers burst out into a early lead after Stephen Houston scored on a five-yard touchdown run with seven minutes left in the first quarter to put themselves up 10-0. But then, out of nowhere, came an amazing 81-yard touchdown run by Braxton Miller to Ohio State back in, followed by a couple of field goals, to jump towards a 13-10 lead.
Into the third quarter, Dan Herron would score off of a 15-yard run to put the Buckeyes up 20-13. IU would come marching right back after a 34-yard touchdown pass by Tre Roberson to Kofi Hughes to tie it all up at 20 points. Towards the end of the third quarter, Miller would score on another rushing touchdown, scoring off a 20-yard run to put the Bucks up seven.
With just four minutes left, Ohio State was clinging on to a touchdown lead. But the game was over after Travis Howard picked of Tre Roberson's pass down the middle to ensure a victory. Ohio State would score with under three minutes left with a two-yard run by Carlos Hyde.
Buckeyes' interim head coach, Luke Fickell, needed a big turnover for his team.
"That was the one thing that you keep staring at, looking out there: Man, we've got to get a turnover. We've got to get a turnover," said Fickell. "It wasn't until the very end of the game that we came up with it."
Indiana was on it's own 28 with one yard to go on second down. Roberson made the pass, but it landed in the wrong hands, as Howard helped end the game.
"I locked eyes with the receiver and the quarterback," Howard said. "I was just, like, 'There's no way he's going to throw that pass.' I was able to run over there and make a great interception."
Roberson, a freshman, has been making most of his starting time with IU. He's been playing well as a true freshman and could be the quarterback for the future; now that the fact that top quarterback recruit, Gunner Kiel, decommitted.
He did play well, completing 11-of-21 passes for 174 yards and a touchdown, along with 70 yards extra to go for on the ground.
"I was trying to get it to (the medium receiver)," said Roberson. "But it was a bad ball by me. It was all my fault."
It was a good showing from the two freshman quarterbacks. Roberson did some great things in both the passing game and rushing game. As for Miller, he wasn't much of a factor at all in the passing game, only completing five-of-eleven passes for 55 yards and an interception. However, his running game phenomenal with 105 yards off of 14 rushes with two scores.
In fact, Ohio State was amazing in the running game. Including Miller, the Buckeyes produced three 100-yard rushers for the day. Dan Herron had 141 yards and and Carlos Hyde had 105.
The Hoosiers lost their seventh game in a row, but they are still young.
"We didn't need to play perfect to beat those guys," coach Kevin Wilson said. "But we did need to play up to our potential."
Indiana is in for another tough Big Ten showdown as they'll face Michigan State next.
