INDIANAPOLIS — The moment wasn’t too big for Indiana football on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The No. 2 Hoosiers (13-0) locked up the top overall seed in this year’s College Football Playoff and a first-round bye into the Rose Bowl with a 13-10 win over Ohio State.
It was just the latest history-making moment for an IU team that's upended the college football landscape under coach Curt Cignetti. This was the Hoosiers' first win over Ohio State in three-plus decades and their first Big Ten title since 1967.
Indiana had more yards in the first half (166) than it did in last year's game against OSU (151) and bullied OSU’s offensive line. Fernando Mendoza gave the Hoosiers a 13-10 lead with a 17-yard touchdown to Elijah Sarratt midway through the third quarter.
Ohio State responded with a long drive down to Indiana's 9-yard line before the Hoosiers' defense stiffened to force a short field goal. Buckeyes kicker Jayden Fielding pulled the tying attempt wide left, giving IU the ball with the lead and 2:48 remaining.
After a pair of IU runs followed by Ohio State timeouts, Mendoza found receiver Charlie Becker for a 33-yard completion and first down. Becker's third catch brought him up to 71 yards for the game.
The first down took the game to the two-minute timeout with the Buckeyes hanging on to one timeout. From there, the Hoosiers were able to salt away the clock with runs before punting the ball to Buckeyes with 18 seconds remaining.
Pinned down to their 14-yard line, Ohio State couldn't get into field goal range to try and tie it.
Indiana football's breaks rare explosive against Ohio State
Indiana football set up a key score in the third quarter with a 51-yard completion from Mendoza to Becker down the middle of the field. It was just the third play of 50-plus yards Ohio State's defense had given up all season.
With IU's leading receiver Omar Cooper Jr. suffering an injury on the opening drive of the game, Becker stepped up in a big way just as he did when Sarratt was sidelined for nearly the entire month of November.
Three players later, Mendoza hit Sarratt in the corner of the end zone to give Indiana a 13-10 lead after the Hoosiers settled for field goals on all three trips inside the red zone during the first half.
Indiana’s linebackers step into the spotlight during the Big Ten title game
Indiana went into halftime with more sacks (three) than Ohio State had given up in a single game all season long.
With OSU leaning on multiple tight end sets, IU had three linebackers on the field for much of the game and they spent much of that time harassing Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin.
Hardy came through with a sack that forced the Buckeyes to punt at midfield and Jones chased down Sayin for a third-down sack in the red zone. It was an impressive display of athleticism from Jones with the quarterback rolling out of the pocket away on the opposite sideline from where he lined up.
They were a big reason why the country’s top third-down offense — Ohio State converted 56.9% of its third-down attempts during the regular season — was 0 for 4 at the half in those situations.
Indiana's defense came through with a key stop at the end of the third quarter to force a turnover on downs at its own 4-yard line by stopping Sayin for no gain. The Buckeyes put together a 12-play, 70-yard drive only to come up empty handed.
Indiana football plays musical chairs on the offensive line
One of IU’s biggest question marks coming into the game was the state of its offensive line. The Hoosiers' starting left guard Drew Evans made his return to the lineup and held his own against Ohio State’s talented front despite a heavily taped right ankle.
The same couldn’t be said for the right side of the line.
Starting right guard Bray Lynch was replaced in the lineup by Adedamola Ajani after committing a holding penalty near the end of the first half. Starting right tackle Zen Michalski was taken out of the game for Kahlil Benson on the same drive after giving up a sack.
Benson, who started 10 games at the position this season, had been slowed in recent weeks with a lower body injury he suffered in a win over Maryland on Nov. 1. The backups remained in the game for the entire second half without allowing a sack.
Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Indiana football beats Ohio State to win Big Ten championship