Make no mistake about it, the better team won the Big Ten Title

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There are plenty of things for Ohio State fans to be frustrated with in how Saturday night’s Big Ten Championship Game went. You can be frustrated by the offensive play calling (and I am), you can be disappointed in how the right side of the offensive line played (and I am), you can be surprised by how confused Julian Sayin looked (and I am), you can be annoyed by the missed field goal (and I am), but make no mistake about it, those things didn’t happen on their own (with perhaps the exception of the field goal).

They happened because the Indiana Hoosiers outplayed and outcoached the Buckeyes at every turn. The OSU defense primarily did its job, limiting the country’s second-best scoring offense to just 13 points, but the IU offense regularly schemed up situations to get nickleback Lorenzo Styles Jr. into man coverage on a player streaking down the field, found opportunities to hit chunk plays at the most critical times, and converted on third down 17% more often than Ohio State was allowing opponents to do this season.

So even as effective as the Buckeye D was in Indianapolis on Saturday night in terms of keeping the Hoosiers out of the end zone, there were obvious chinks in the armor, and, more to the point, IU’s defense was the most impressive unit on the field by a significant margin.

The Buckeyes came into the game as the most efficient offense in the country, but were never able to find their footing, aside from the drive that ended in Jayden Fielding’s missed fourth-quarter field goal. Quarterback Julian Sayin’s numbers were not dramatically off a normal day, going 21-for-29 (72%) for 258 yards, 1 touchdown, and 1 interception, but his normal methodic execution was rattled all game by the fact that, for the first time all season, he was under duress from start to finish.

Ohio State had given up just six sacks all season, but the Hoosiers were able to take down Sayin five times on Saturday night, and pressure him on what felt like every dropback. That lack of time in the pocket seemed to throw off his entire approach to the game, as it wasn’t until the second half that anyone other than Jeremiah Smith or Carnell Tate caught a ball. In fact, Sayin didn’t even target anyone other than his top two receivers in the first two quarters; no tight ends over the middle, no running backs in the flat, no Brandon Inniss at all.

Sayin’s first season as a starter has been marked by nearly surgical precision, but on Saturday, he seemed unable to diagnose what Indiana’s defense was doing, especially in the most critical moments. Coming into the conference title game, OSU was converting 57% of its third-down opportunities, but on Saturday, they were only able to manage four pickups on 11 attempts for 36%.

It also didn’t appear that the offensive play calling was doing the Buckeyes many favors either. While the idea of bringing more big-bodied players closer to the line to slow down IU’s pass rush makes sense in theory, running 13 personnel (one running back and three tight ends), Brian Hartline and Ryan Day were seemingly handcuffing Sayin, as Indiana was able to more singularly focus on Smith and Tate downfield.

This philosophy also took Tate off the field on a number of key third downs, including the mind-boggling third-and-1 rollout on Indiana’s 9-yard line that went to Bennett Christian before Fielding pushed what would have been the game-tying field goal.

All season, I have mistakenly been under the assumption that Ohio State was not only the best team in the country, but by a considerable margin. That the Buckeyes were cruising through the season in second gear, just waiting to hit The Game and the postseason to turn on the jets. That obviously is not the case.

What we witnessed on Saturday night proves that, at least as of Saturday, Dec. 6, Curt Cignetti’s Indiana Hoosiers are the best team in college football and are now the prohibitive favorites to win the national title.

The good news for the Buckeyes is that no team since 2007 has beaten a single opponent twice in one college football season. And while return matchups don’t happen often, they have occurred three times in either BCS National Championship or College Football Playoff games, including OSU’s revenge game over Oregon.

Now, the Buckeyes must wait for the CFP committee to unveil their path toward redemption. Regardless of their seed and potential opponent, OSU is practically guaranteed to remain in the top four, meaning that they will not play until either New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, giving Ryan Day and his staff three and a half weeks to regroup and prepare, something that has brought out the best in the team over the years.

So while Saturday night’s loss was painful — as much for the realization that the Buckeyes weren’t the country’s best team as for the loss of a B1G title — there is still more football to play, and if you’re only going to beat Indiana once this season, I would far prefer it to happen in Miami than Indianapolis.

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