No. 5 Indiana’s fall to the second best team in the nation wasn’t unexpected. Curt Cignetti may be receiving a lot of hype for leading his team to an undefeated season in his first year. But Saturday’s game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus proved that the Hoosiers are no match for No. 2 Ohio State. They just don’t have the personnel to compete against a powerhouse like Ryan Day‘s Buckeyes, as a Fox Sports CFB analyst observes. 

Joining other voices, former OSU legend Urban Meyer felt that there was a “big discrepancy just in talent” in the matchup between the two Big Ten teams. Making an appearance on The Colin Cowherd Show on YouTube on November 26, he said, “The offensive line got really beaten badly. Jim Knowles did a really good job, and even coach Cignetti said the noise was an issue.”

Apart from the edge that Ohio State had over Indiana in their last game, the Buckeyes fan base contributed to the win. The crowd noise from 105,751 fans inside Ohio Stadium was a major factor in the Hoosiers’ 38-15 loss. It prevented IU’s O-line from hearing their QB Kurtis Rourke‘s calls. Curt Cignetti later said of the situation, “They were just teeing off on us.” RB Ty Son Lawton also revealed, “As soon as the guard did that (signal) they knew it was coming right away.” 

The Hoosiers managed to score on their opening possession. But it was a nightmare after that. For the first time this season, they went scoreless for seven consecutive drives. Rourke was only able to earn 18 yards from 4 of 10 pass attempts from these drives. He couldn’t complete any double-digit passing yards for almost three quarters. He finished the game with 8 of 18 passes for just 64 yards and was also sacked a season-high five times by OSU’s formidable defense. But aside from the noise, what else contributed to their downfall?

Curt Cignetti’s recruiting plan hits a wall

“Our guys didn’t respond very well. Simple. Sometimes we had missed assignments. Sometimes we had communication errors. Sometimes we got physically beat. But it wasn’t very pretty,” said Curt Cignetti after facing his first defeat since transferring from James Madison University. But according to what some analysts feel, Indiana doesn’t have the requirements to compete in top-tier games. Meyer added that “44 of their players were basically unrecruited out of high school,” while the HC brought 13 players with him from James Madison.

Under Cignetti, Indiana opened the season with 27 new transfers and 36 returning scholarship players. But they were able to turn a program around that went 3-9 last season. As Michigan HC Sherrone Moore said after their loss to the Hoosiers in early November, “They just did a really good job of bringing in the right guys.” Still, Meyer argued, “What a job by Cignetti and that coaching staff and those players. But the reality is they’ve never been in an arena like that and facing those kind of players.” With the loss, Indiana is likely out of the playoff mix as they focus on their final in-state rivalry game against Purdue.