I want to talk about a left foot.
Not mine. Mine is busy. I'm Buck Holloway, former scout-team receiver, and I still run a deep post down the press box hallway every Saturday because the muscle memory never leaves you. My left foot has run that route a thousand times, and it has never, not once, landed on the white paint.
Nick Marsh's left foot did. With 1:02 left in Bloomington. And that, friends, is why the Buckeyes are 6-1.
Let's go to the film. Real receipts, like always.
Part 1: Survival in Bloomington
Ohio State 19, Indiana 15. Saturday, Oct. 17, at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington. The first top-five game ever played there, according to the AP.
Let me give you the stakes. Last December, Indiana beat us in the Big Ten title game, then went on to win the national championship, and we heard about it all offseason. The defending champs came in on a 22-game winning streak overall and 19 straight at home, the two longest active streaks in FBS. And we hadn't beaten a top-10 team in our last three tries.
Connor Hawkins opened the scoring with a 26-yard field goal. Turbo Richard answered with a 7-yard touchdown run, and then, with seven seconds left in the half, Julian Sayin hit Bo Jackson for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Yes, our running back is named Bo Jackson. Yes, I check the roster every week to make sure it's still true. 10-7 at the half. Hawkins added a 29-yarder in the third.
Then early in the fourth, on fourth-and-1, Sayin went deep to Jeremiah Smith for a 38-yard touchdown. Fourth-and-1. Deep shot. That's a Columbus problem for every defense in America. 19-7.
But Indiana's a real team, so here came Josh Hoover, back from his own arm injury, leading a 75-yard drive capped by a 19-yard touchdown pass to Marsh and a two-point conversion. 19-15 with 10:30 left.
And then the drive that took ten years off my life. Hoover got the ball back and moved Indiana into scoring range, and with 1:02 left, Marsh was wide open, sprinting for the front corner of the end zone. He caught it. Fireworks went off. And his left foot was on the white paint.
Out of bounds. We ran out the clock.
The Receipts
Now the honest part, and it's a tough one. Sayin injured his right arm in the fourth quarter, and coach Ryan Day said it looks like he'll miss several weeks. Before he left, Sayin completed 15 of 29 passes for 235 yards with the two touchdowns and two interceptions, the second straight week he threw two. Freshman Luke Fahey finished the game.
Smith caught four passes for 68 yards and that touchdown. Bo Jackson ran 18 times for 56. We only ran for 78 yards as a team, which is not who we are. On defense, Earl Little Jr. led us with eight tackles, and we recovered two Indiana fumbles early in the third quarter. The AP noted Indiana hadn't lost a fumble in 1,487 snaps going back to the 2025 opener. That's a stat I'm framing.
The Season Card
We're 6-1 and 4-0 in the Big Ten. Our only loss was 24-23 at Texas in September. We beat Illinois 42-19, won at Iowa 31-14 and beat Maryland 45-16. We score 39.3 points a game and allow 13.4. The AP poll has us at No. 3.
Part 2: The Bye, Then Hollywood
Ohio State has an open date this Saturday, Oct. 24. That's the honest schedule note. Day called it a bye week to put our heads together and figure things out at quarterback, and I've never been happier to see a blank Saturday on a calendar.
Then on Saturday, Oct. 31, we go to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to play No. 16 USC. Kickoff time hasn't been announced as I write this.
I'll be respectful first, because USC has earned it. The Trojans are 6-1 and 3-1 in the Big Ten. Jayden Maiava has thrown for 2,045 yards with 18 touchdowns and three interceptions. They score 36.4 a game. They won at Penn State 31-23 their last time out, and they're coming off their own bye before playing at Wisconsin this Saturday.
Now the film, because I bring receipts. USC allows 25.1 points a game. We allow 13.4. USC gives up 350 yards a game. We give up 264.3. The Trojans lost 41-27 at home to Oregon, and they've won games against Washington and Rutgers by four and by seven. And they get Wisconsin on the road the week before they see us, while we get a week of rest. I'm not saying that's an advantage. I'm saying I'd take it.
Who to Watch
Jeremiah Smith, receiver: 52 catches, 984 yards and 12 touchdowns in seven games. Whoever's throwing to him, the plan is the same. Throw it up. He'll go get it.
Luke Fahey, freshman quarterback: if Sayin is out, this is his moment. He'll have two weeks of practice and the best receiver in the country. Run your routes, young man.
Bo Jackson: 516 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Best name in the sport.
Earl Little Jr.: our leading tackler, with 38. Kenyatta Jackson Jr.: three sacks, our leader.
Jayden Maiava, USC quarterback: 18 touchdowns, three interceptions. Our secondary has two weeks to prepare for him.
King Miller, USC running back: 595 yards and four touchdowns. Our defense allows 92.9 rushing yards a game.
Series History
Honest receipts: CollegeFootballData.com has USC ahead in the series, 13-10-1. The last meeting was the Cotton Bowl after the 2017 season, which we won 24-7. Somebody tell the Coliseum it's been a while.
Town Report: Cowtown vs. Tinseltown
Columbus. The 2020 census counted 905,748 people here, making Columbus the 14th-most populous city in the country and the second-biggest in the Midwest, behind only Chicago. Our nicknames include "Arch City," for the wooden arches that once spanned High Street, and "The Biggest Small Town in America," which is exactly right. Ohio Stadium opened in 1922, and folks call it the Horseshoe, the Shoe, or the House That Harley Built. Since Oct. 10, 1936, our band has performed Script Ohio, and the moment a fourth- or fifth-year sousaphone player high-steps to the top and dots the "i" is the greatest 15 seconds in college sports. Ohio State claims nine national championships and has had seven Heisman winners, including Archie Griffin, the only two-time winner ever.
Los Angeles. Now, I like Los Angeles. Nice weather. Beaches. But here's a film receipt from Wikipedia: Los Angeles drivers spend an extra 92 hours a year in traffic, according to TomTom, and the area's roads were once ranked the most congested in the country. Friends, 92 hours. That's longer than our bye week. That's longer than a full season of game film. Our team bus will need a GPS, a snack bag and a prayer to make kickoff.
The Coliseum is gorgeous, I'll give them that. It hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympics, and in 2028 it'll be the first stadium to host the Summer Games three times. Three Olympics. Lots of gold medals handed out in that building. On Oct. 31, it's hosting one more event where somebody from Ohio takes home the hardware.
And their mascot, Traveler, a white horse, has been galloping around the Coliseum since 1961. Traveler's a beautiful animal. But friends, I've watched LA traffic numbers, and that horse is the only thing in Los Angeles that gets anywhere on time.
Final Route
Here's the final word. We survived a top-five road game by a toe. We lost our starting quarterback, but we've got two weeks, the best receiver in the country, a defense allowing 13.4 points a game and a backup who just got his first taste of a big stage. Hollywood loves a story about the young understudy who gets the lead role. I've seen that movie. I like the ending.
That's a Columbus problem. O-H!