Ohio State 42, Indiana 17: Buckeyes Break Indiana’s Dream, Win Big Ten Title Behind Julian Sayin’s Masterpiece
By Zachary Anderson on December 6, 2025
The Buckeyes ruthless efficiency in the second half helped them claim their first BigTen title since 2020.
For a half, it felt like exactly what everyone hoped the Big Ten Championship Game would be.
Ohio State vs. Indiana. The league’s biggest brand against the league’s best story. The nation’s most talented roster against the nation’s breakout quarterback. A Buckeye team trying to cap a long march back to the top of the conference, and a Hoosier team trying to turn the most magical season in program history into something even bigger.
Then Ohio State did what championship teams do.
The Buckeyes absorbed Indiana’s best punch, identified where the game could be broken open, and then buried the Hoosiers under an avalanche of efficiency, explosive plays and timely takeaways in a 42-17 win Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium. In the process, Ohio State claimed its first Big Ten Championship since 2020, completed its first 13-0 regular season since 2019 and sent a loud reminder to the rest of the country that the road to a national title may still run through Columbus.
If Julian Sayin was going to overtake Fernando Mendoza for the Heisman, it was going to take this type of performance.
And if there was any question who owned the night, Julian Sayin answered it with one of the finest performances of his career.
The Ohio State quarterback was nearly flawless, completing 26 of 27 passes for 310 yards and five touchdowns in what amounted to a primetime statement game against Heisman favorite Fernando Mendoza. Sayin was decisive, accurate and in total command, spreading the ball to Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, Max Klare and Brandon Inniss while letting the Buckeyes dictate terms from the second half on.
“Julian was in complete control,” Ryan Day said afterward. “That’s what championship quarterback play looks like. He prepared all week like a pro, and when the opportunities were there, he made them count. Against a team like Indiana, you have to be efficient, because they make you pay if you’re sloppy. We weren’t sloppy.”
Ohio State wasn’t just clean. It was ruthless.
Jeremiah Smith opened the scoring to give the Buckeyes an earl 7-0 lead.
The Buckeyes took the opening kickoff and immediately signaled what kind of night it wanted. The first three plays of the game ripped through Indiana’s defense on the ground, with Bo Jackson setting the tone with gains of 8, 35 and 24 yards as the Buckeyes surged into the red zone before the Hoosiers could catch their breath. A few plays later, Sayin found Jeremiah Smith for a 7-yard touchdown, and Ohio State had the early 7-0 lead.
That opening drive mattered, not just for the points but for the message. Indiana came in knowing it would have to survive Ohio State’s speed and star power early. Instead, the Buckeyes landed first.
To Indiana’s credit, the Hoosiers didn’t blink.
Mendoza, the Heisman frontrunner for good reason, looked exactly like the quarterback who carried Indiana to an undefeated season. He moved the Hoosiers into Buckeye territory on the next series with his usual blend of rhythm throws and improvisation, though Ohio State’s defense managed to stiffen and force a punt.
Fernando Mendoza showed his quality, matching the Buckeyes in the opening quarter.
The Buckeyes couldn’t fully seize momentum, however, because Indiana’s defense answered right back. Mikail Kamara, a problem all night, got loose for a strip sack on Sayin, and the Hoosiers capitalized when Mendoza finished the ensuing drive himself with a 3-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
For a stretch, it looked like Indiana might be ready to drag Ohio State into the kind of heavyweight fight the Hoosiers had spent all season winning.
After a pair of traded punts, Sayin settled the Buckeyes again and delivered one of the key sequences of the first half.
Ohio State leaned on Carnell Tate on a couple of tough conversions, then Sayin hit Tate again for a 5-yard touchdown with 4:28 left in the half to restore the lead at 14-7. Tate’s stat line, eight catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, doesn’t fully capture how important he was in the flow of the game. He was the chain-mover who kept Ohio State ahead of schedule when Indiana was still within striking distance.
Carnell Tate put the Buckeyes back up by a touchdown in the second quarter.
Still, Mendoza had another answer before halftime. He guided Indiana into range, and Nico Radicic drilled a 42-yard field goal with 51 seconds left to cut the deficit to 14-10. With the Hoosiers set to receive the second-half kickoff, the game remained very much alive. It felt competitive because it was competitive.
Then the Buckeyes came out of the locker room and took it away.
Indiana’s opening second-half possession ended with a punt, and Ohio State immediately made the Hoosiers pay. Sayin found Max Klare for a short gain to get the drive moving, and then the Buckeyes dialed up a beautifully designed catch-and-run that sprung Klare for a 50-yard gain. A few plays later, Sayin hit Klare for an 8-yard touchdown to push the lead to 21-10.
Max Klare's 50-yard catch and run touchdown pushed the momentum in Ohio State's favor in a way Indiana couldn't respond to.
It was the kind of sequence that changes games, and the next one changed the entire night.
If there was a moment when Mendoza could have seized the spotlight and perhaps tightened his grip on the Heisman race, it was there, down 11 with plenty of time left. Instead, his next drive ended in disaster. Mendoza, who had not thrown an interception all season, misfired into traffic and Buckeye safety Malik Hartford came down with the pick, setting Ohio State up at the Indiana 20-yard line.
Three plays later, Sayin found Tate again for a 4-yard touchdown. Suddenly it was 28-10 with 8:37 left in the third quarter, and Lucas Oil felt a lot louder on the Ohio State side than it had all night.
That doesn’t mean Indiana folded. Far from it.
The Hoosiers punched back late in the third quarter to give themselves a chance in the fourth.
Mendoza kept competing, and that deserves to be said plainly. He put together another strong drive, and Indiana cut the deficit to 28-17 on Lee Beebe Jr.’s 4-yard touchdown run. Mendoza finished 24-of-37 for 247 yards, added 47 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, and continued to create in tough spots even as Ohio State’s defense increasingly squeezed the running game.
Roman Hemby, one of Indiana’s most important offensive pieces all year, was held to 34 yards on 12 carries. That was the Buckeye front doing what it has done to almost everyone.
“Ohio State was the better team tonight,” Curt Cignetti said. “We battled, especially in the first half, but against a team that talented, the margin is small. We turned it over, and they turned those mistakes into points. That was the difference. I’m proud of our guys. This isn’t the end for us.”
He’s right. Indiana’s season is still very much alive, and the Hoosiers are still dangerous heading into the playoff. But Saturday night belonged to Ohio State because every time Indiana found life, the Buckeyes had a stronger, cleaner answer waiting.
After Beebe’s touchdown made it 28-17, Ohio State responded with another composed scoring drive, this one ending on a 13-yard touchdown run by Bo Jackson with 12:27 left in the fourth quarter. Jackson was sensational, turning just 12 carries into a career-best 171 yards while giving Ohio State the explosive run element that helped unlock the passing game all night. He wasn’t just productive. He changed the geometry of the game.
Then came the knockout.
Jaylen McClain's fourth quarter interception proved to be the knock out blow for the Hoosiers.
Three plays after Jackson’s score, Mendoza tried to keep Indiana hanging around but was intercepted again, this time by Jaylen McClain. Ohio State took over at the Indiana 27, and Sayin wasted no time turning another takeaway into points, finding Brandon Inniss for a 4-yard touchdown that made it 42-17 with 9:59 remaining.
From there, the game shifted from drama to demonstration.
Indiana still mounted one more impressive drive, with Mendoza marching the Hoosiers to the Ohio State 3-yard line. But even there, the Buckeyes slammed the door, forcing fourth-and-goal and an incomplete pass that effectively ended any remaining suspense. Ohio State ran out the clock, and the celebration began.
The final numbers told the same story the second half did: Ohio State outgained Indiana 462-314, won the turnover battle 2-1 and went an absurd 6-for-7 on third down. It was a brutally efficient offensive performance against a good team on a championship stage, and a defensive showing that bent at times but delivered the game’s biggest stops and takeaways.
Sayin will get the headlines, and he should. His 26-for-27 line with 310 yards and five touchdowns is video-game stuff, and doing it against an undefeated Indiana team in the conference title game only adds to the weight of it.
Kenyatta Jackson Jr. has the best game of his career, racking up 2.5 sacks to help the Buckeyes claim the conference title.
Jeremiah Smith caught eight passes for 105 yards and a touchdown, reminding everyone why he tilts every coverage plan. Klare had five catches for 92 yards and a touchdown. Tate scored twice. Inniss added another score. Ohio State’s passing game looked like a title-caliber machine.
But this was also a Buckeye defensive win in the ways that matter most in championship football. Caleb Downs led with 11 tackles. Kenyatta Jackson Jr. racked up 2.5 sacks. Ohio State held Hemby in check, forced Mendoza into the first two interceptions of his season and turned one of the best offenses in the country into a team playing catch-up for most of the second half.
And that’s the part Ohio State fans should appreciate most. Against a quarterback as sharp as Mendoza and a coaching staff as creative as Indiana’s, you don’t dominate every snap. You survive some stretches. You force the big mistake. You capitalize immediately. The Buckeyes did all of it.
“Indiana is an outstanding football team,” Day said. “Curt’s done an unbelievable job, and Fernando is as good as advertised. We knew we’d have to earn this. I’m proud of the way our guys responded in the second half, especially after a tight first half. They trusted each other, they executed, and they played like champions.”
Ohio State is BigTen Champions for the first time since 2020.
They did.
For Ohio State, this was more than a trophy game. It was a validation game. It was the first Big Ten title in five years. It was 13-0. It was another reminder that this roster can beat you however it wants, with defense, with stars, with depth, with a quarterback playing his best football at exactly the right time.
For Indiana, the scoreboard will sting, and it may unfairly color how some people remember this season. It shouldn’t. The Hoosiers are still one of the best teams in the country, still playoff hosts, and still capable of making noise. Mendoza’s two interceptions, his first of the year, came against maybe the most talented defense in college football. There’s no shame in that.
But on this night, in this building, with a Big Ten championship on the line, Ohio State looked like the team everyone else now has to chase.
Qtr | Time | Team | Result | Play | OHST | IU |
1st | 10:04 |  | TD | Jeremiah Smith, 7 Yd pass from Julian Sayin | 7 | 0 |
1st | 1:13 |  | TD | Fernando Mendoza, 3 Yd run | 7 | 7 |
2nd | 4:22 | | TD | Carnell Tate, 5 Yd pass from Julian Sayin | 14 | 7 |
2nd | 0:47 | | FG | Nico Radicic, 42 Yd FG | 14 | 10 |
3rd | 10:59 | | TD | Max Klare, 50 Yd pass from Julian Sayin | 21 | 10 |
3rd | 8:36 | | TD | Carnell Tate, 4 Yd pass from Julian Sayin | 28 | 10 |
3rd | 2:42 | | TD | Lee Beebe Jr., 4 Yd run | 28 | 17 |
4th | 12:23 | | TD | Bo Jackson, 14 Yd run | 35 | 17 |
4th | 9:55 | | TD | Brandon Inniss, 4 Yd pass from Julian Sayin | 42 | 17 |
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