Indiana’s fourth-down gamble came within inches of paying off. Instead, it ended the longest active win streak in college football.
No. 4 Ohio State held on for a 19-15 win over No. 5 Indiana on Saturday at Memorial Stadium, snapping the Hoosiers’ 22-game winning streak and 19-game home winning streak, the two longest active streaks in the FBS. It was also the first home loss in Curt Cignetti’s three seasons in Bloomington.
The game was ultimately defined by one snap.
Trailing by four, Indiana faced fourth-and-four from the Ohio State 27-yard line when Josh Hoover found a wide-open Nick Marsh in the front corner of the end zone. The fireworks went off, but Marsh’s left foot came down out of bounds, wiping away what would have been the go-ahead touchdown.
“We all saw the last play. We’re fourth-and-four. We’re expecting a house blitz. Never really know. Rolling the dice, and that’s our blitz check that we ran,” Cignetti said afterward.
“We just called it because they got us on it. That one other series in the third quarter on fourth down, where he got sacked down in the red area. And we had it. We just didn’t make it happen. So it’s a hard one to swallow. You know, sometimes you learn from it and move on.”
The defending national champions trailed, 19-7, early in the fourth quarter before Hoover, who appeared to hurt his right shoulder in the third quarter, answered with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Marsh and a two-point conversion to Turbo Richard to pull Indiana within 19-15 with just more than 10 minutes left in regulation.
Hoover finished 20-of-40 for 296 yards with a touchdown and a lost fumble, his first turnover of the season. Sayin went 15-of-29 for 235 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions before leaving with a right arm injury. Ohio State coach Ryan Day said Sayin will likely be out for a couple weeks.
Cignetti credited his team’s fight but acknowledged the empty scoring opportunities Indiana left on the field.
“That was a tough one not to win,” Cignetti said. “I thought our kids gave great effort and fight. Hung in there and put ourselves in position to win a close game, and had so many opportunities to get it done. Not only at the end of the game, but throughout the game, just too many missed opportunities.”
Saturday’s game was a rematch of last season’s Big Ten title game, which Indiana won 13-10. Now the Hoosiers have to regroup quickly, with a trip to Michigan up next Saturday.
“Well, the sun comes up tomorrow,” Cignetti said. “And we’ll have to get ready for Michigan.”
Next, the Hoosiers visit Michigan while Ohio State visits No. 19 USC in two weeks.
