Buckeye Rosters

Recap

Columbus, OH — Maurice Clarett ran for three touchdowns to lift No. 6 Ohio State to a 45-17 victory over Indiana in front of 104,194 at Ohio Stadium.

The game was the first for Clarett after undergoing knee surgery Sept. 17 to repair a torn meniscus. Clarett carried the ball 21 times for 104 yards as the Buckeyes accumulated 461 yards of total offense, including 244 yards on the ground.

Quarterback Craig Krenzel was 11-of-16 for 152 yards, including one score. Michael Jenkins added 93 yards through the air and a pair of touchdowns as Krenzel and backup Scott McMullen combined for 217 passing yards in the game.

Ohio State scored first on a 2-yard rush by Clarett with 39 seconds to play in the first quarter. The score capped a 12-play, 50-yard drive in which Clarett carried the ball eight times for 34 yards and added an 8-yard catch to account for 42 yards on the drive.

Indiana scored on its next possession capping a 10-play, 48-yard drive with a 49-yard field goal by Brian Robertson to make it a 7-3 score with 12:16 to go in the first half.

Clarett scored his second touchdown of the game with 5:42 to go in the second quarter on a 1-yard run that was set up by a 27-yard pass completion from Krenzel to Jenkins. The drive took six plays and 44 yards.

Indiana marched 81 yards on eight plays for its first touchdown of the day that pulled the Hoosiers within a 14-10 score with 2:09 to play in the first half. Gibran Hamdan hit Tyke Spencer for the 17-yard score. Three plays earlier Hamdan threw to John Pannozzo down the right sideline for a pickup of 41 yards.

Ohio State added a touchdown just before halftime to extend its lead to 21-10. Clarett took the ball around the right side for a 4-yard score with 38 seconds to play capping a five-play, 45-yard drive.

On the first drive of the second half, Chris Gamble scored his first career touchdown taking a reverse 43 yards for the score to put Ohio State on top 28-10 with 12:25 in the third quarter.

A block of Ryan Hamre’s punt by Dustin Fox on Indiana’s next possession led to Ohio State’s next score. Krenzel connected with Jenkins for a 4-yard TD pass to give the Buckeyes a 35-10 advantage. The drive went four plays and 18 yards.

Mike Nugent banged in a 51-yard field goal with 1:20 in the third quarter to put Ohio State on top 38-10. It was the longest field goal of his career.

Indiana was successful on the fourth down of its final drive scoring on a 30-yard pass completion from Eaton, Ohio, native Tommy Jones to Courtney Roby with 3:04 on the clock.

Ohio State led Indiana to 339 yards of total offense, though the Buckeyes gave up 283 passing yards while holding the Hoosiers to 56 yards on the ground. The Buckeye defense had three sacks of Hamdan totaling 16 yards. Hamdan completed 16-of-26 passes for 210 yards. Jones was 3-for-6 for 73 yards and scored one touchdown.