Despite Indiana’s strong aerial attack grabbing much of the attention leading up to Saturday’s game, it was Ohio State’s defense that stole the show, limiting the Hoosiers to their lowest point total of the year during the Buckeyes’ 38-10 victory.

Coming into Columbus averaging more than 348 yards per game through the air, OSU’s defense held Indiana to a season-low 141 yards passing and added three interceptions.

OSU defensive coordinator Jim Heacock said it was a collaborative effort by the defense, which maintained a strong push up front and was backed by solid play from the secondary.

“It was a fantastic team effort against a great quarterback,” he said. “Our defensive front got a lot of pressure on (Chappell), and the back end did a great job playing close to receivers and breaking up passes.”

And break up passes is exactly what they did.

Totaling seven pass break-ups, the Buckeye secondary gave the Hoosier receivers fits with no receiver catching more than four balls all afternoon.

“Our plan was to get after the receivers,” cornerback Chimdi Chekwa said. “We knew (Tandon) Doss was an explosive guy, that after he caught the ball he could break tackles and run. (No.) 88 was a guy that they really liked to get the ball to, so we really wanted to get after him.”

Even with the impressive performance by the OSU secondary, defensive tackle Dexter Larimore said the silver bullet defense’s success started with the defensive line’s ability to get after the quarterback.

“We wanted to get pressure on their quarterback to help our backfield,” Larimore said. “We knew they wouldn’t be able to go down field as much if we were able to put heat on them.”

Although the Buckeye defensive line had no sacks to show, Indiana coach Bill Lynch said the Hoosiers felt the defensive pressure.

“The pressure they put on us with their front four gave us no time to throw,” Lynch said. “We knew we were going to have to play catch and throw to be successful. The problem is, they don’t even have to blitz to get heavy pressure.

“They mixed up their coverage and they have a lot of talent.”

And knowing they were facing off against the nation’s fourth-ranked passing offense, cornerback Devon Torrence said the defense’s preparation was key as well.

“We know that we have to take it very personal to understand the offensive schemes and what our defense is vulnerable to,” Torrence said. “We really just worked to figure out what they were doing and just studied them in-depth and we were really on top of all their plays.”