Parris Campbell dropped a wide-open touchdown. K.J. Hill was stuffed on fourth down. Indiana had all the momentum.
No. 2 Ohio State trailed the Hoosiers 14-13 in the third quarter at that point, and the offense didn't look that much different than the one Clemson throttled 31-0 in the Fiesta Bowl last season.
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That dropped touchdown and fourth-down stop, however, served as a turning point for Ohio State's new look under offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, Indiana's former head coach. The Buckeyes went on to score touchdowns on their next three possessions en route to a 49-21 victory.
The pieces fell into place in the second half and offered a sense of relief heading into a Sept. 9 rematch against No. 7 Oklahoma at Ohio Stadium.
J.T. Barrett and freshman revelation J.K. Dobbins, who finished with 180 yards off 29 carries, led a run-heavy drive for the first score. Barrett hit Campbell for a crossing route that resulted in a 74-yard touchdown. Barrett found a wide-open Johnnie Dixon for a 59-yard score next. Binjimen Victor added a fourth score after a turnover two possessions later. The Buckeyes shook off the upset-minded Hoosiers at that point and eased a lot of fears after a rough first half.
There's still work to do in the offensive enhancement, but the seeds are planted for this Urban Meyer offense to get back to that 2014 version that produced the first College Football Playoff championship.
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It didn't look like that early. Barrett finished 10 of 21 for 95 yards in the first half, but the Buckeyes converted just three of 10 on third down. Campbell's drop was the climax of that frustration, but when the kinks worked out, Ohio State looked downright scary.
Campbell finished with six catches for 136 yards. He's the receiver the Buckeyes are counting on most. Barrett improved to 10 of 14 in the second half and finished with 303 yards. He's the player who took the most criticism in the offseason.
Wilson and quarterbacks coach Ryan Day integrated a more creative passing game with more creative crossing routes and clear-outs, and once Barrett found his rhythm, the big plays followed. It has been the same company line since former offensive coordinator Tom Herman left for Houston, but if Campbell, Dixon and Victor can produce more plays like this, the offense will develop into what Meyer envisioned after hiring Wilson and Day in the aftermath of that Clemson loss.
The running game appears to be in good hands with Dobbins and Mike Weber, who missed the opener with a hamstring injury. Dobbins had the best debut ever for an Ohio State freshman running back; better than Maurice Clarett's 175-yard debut in 2002. Dobbins punctuated that with three chunk runs of 20 yards or more. He's thick, runs well after contact and, teamed with Barrett, gives the Buckeyes the same reliable power running game that has always been there under Meyer.
Case in point: Ohio State's best drive of the first half, a nine-play, 75-yard drive, resembled the standard. The last six plays — all runs — accounted for 53 yards. Dobbins' 27-yard run set up a short touchdown run for Antonio Williams.
The same goes for an aggressive front seven, which made Indiana one-dimensional. Sure, the Buckeyes allowed 420 passing yards and Simmie Cobbs Jr. had a monster game with 11 catches for 149 yards. The Hoosiers, however, rushed for 17 yards on 27 attempts. A one-dimensional offense isn't going to beat a Greg Schiano defense.
It shouldn't come as a surprise. The Buckeyes have lost one true road game since Meyer's arrival in 2012, and this is one of the tougher road games on the schedule. Ohio State won't travel to Nebraska until Oct. 14, and they have November dates at Iowa and Michigan. In this case, navigating the struggles in a road opener will pay off later.
There's always something to critique in Columbus. That's just procedure for a program expected to win every game on its schedule. There's a long way to go, but the Sooners are coming to down after the Buckeyes earned a hard-fought victory.
Who knew a drop and a fourth-down stop would be the launching point for that?
