Ohio State Football: What did we learn in pull-away win over Indiana?

Ohio State football pushed around Indiana for a 49-26 win. However, it wasn’t as decisive as that score would lead you to believe. What did we learn here?

The Ohio State Buckeyes are riding high after knocking off Penn State. They seem poised to make a run at the College Football Playoff, but I am not so convinced that this team should make that trip at all. Yes, they won by 23 points over Indiana.

However, at points it seemed like the Buckeyes were going to be on upset alert. A week ago, they had quite a few lucky breaks that brought them a win against the Nittany Lions. At this point, they are on great team or really bad day away from being exposed or pushed completely out of the playoff picture.

Sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins finished 33-for-44 with over 450 yards passing and six touchdowns. Not too shabby. However, his defense struggled to shut down Indiana at times and that is not exactly something that the Ohio State coaching staff should feel to great about.

Luckily, they don’t have too great of a strength of schedule for the remaining of the season. The best they face is Michigan and Michigan State, neither of which seem like scary games for the Buckeyes right now. As a result, they will likely finish the season undefeated and make the trip to the College Football Playoff. However, they would likely get crushed by the likes of Alabama and Georgia who are both pretty much shoe-ins for the Playoff at this point in time.

Struggling against Indiana, all in all, isn’t a good look for a team that wants to win it all this season. I’m not saying that Ohio State isn’t talented and doesn’t have the ability to make the run. What I am saying is that this team has too many inconsistencies to be a shoe-in for the College Football Playoff.

If I was a Buckeye fan, I’d start hoping that Urban Meyer really sits this team down and talks to them about playing a full, dominant four quarters. If they can’t do that, the post season may end pretty quick for those guys down in Ohio.