BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Let's not get too excited here.
Sure, Ohio State just demolished the better-than-they-usually-are Indiana Hoosiers Saturday. The final score was 41-10, and it could have been much worse.
Therein lies the problem.
For all the domination, the Buckeyes played a phenomenally sloppy football game from the start.
It started on the first offensive play, when a run was called back because of a clipping call. By the time the first half was over, the Buckeyes had eight penalties for 81 yards. Included was a roughing the passer penalty on fourth down that kept alive an Indiana scoring drive and a pointless personal foul that negated a kickoff return for a touchdown by Ted Ginn Jr.
In addition, turnovers plagued the Buckeyes. Both Indiana scores came off Buckeye mistakes, including a fumble by Ginn that was returned for a touchdown by Indiana linebacker John Pannozzo. The Hoosiers' first score, a second-quarter field goal, came after quarterback Troy Smith was intercepted at the goalline by Indiana cornerback Tracy Porter, who returned the pick into Indiana territory.
There should have been one more. Reserve linebacker Mike D'Andrea tried to fair catch the opening kickoff of the second half but instead had the ball ricochet off his chest. The Hoosiers recovered the football, only to have to kick it over because of an inadvertent whistle, proof that the officials also had a sloppy performance on the day.
"We sure tried to make it interesting with our penalties and allowance of things to happen in the special teams like that kickoff return," coach Jim Tressel said afterward.
In all, it was much more interesting than it should have been. The Buckeyes had a complete physical advantage and let Indiana hang around far too long. Now, the challenge becomes fixing it.
Fumbles have become a far too common problem for the Buckeyes. OSU has put the ball on the ground 22 times in seven games, an average of more than three times a game, and lost it a total of 11 times. That could be a problem in the Buckeyes' final games, including road trips to Minnesota and Michigan and a home match-up with Northwestern that looks more and more important by the day.
Saturday, it just did not matter. The defense proved yet again that it is good enough to win pretty much any game for the Buckeyes, no matter what mistakes are made. The Hoosiers had no chance, with OSU completely shutting down the Indiana running game and Hoosier quarterback Blake Powers hearing footsteps all day.
Maybe the Buckeyes' sloppiness came from the hangover of driving to Bloomington. Seriously, if you ever have the urge to go to Bloomington for a football game, don't. Sure, half the stadium is filled with Buckeye fans, but it's not worth the trip. The game is always a blowout, the stadium is a dump, Bloomington is boring and the traffic is awful. So bad, in fact, that for some reason - whether it be construction, a 183-car pile-up or a swarm of locusts - the drive back will always take six or seven hours. Just stay home and drink. Trust me.
However, the players do not have such a luxury next week. If the seniors hope to finish with a Big Ten title, the mistakes will have to lessen. The final four weeks of the season will determine whether this year's team ends as a Bowl Championship Series entry or an incredibly talented, mistake-prone disappointment.
Lantern sports editor Jeff Svoboda kind of wishes he had never gone to Bloomington. He can be reached for comment at svoboda.16@osu.edu.
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