Miyan Williams rushed for two touchdowns to help No. 3 Ohio State pull away from pesky Indiana for a 23-3 victory in their season openers in Bloomington, Ind., on Saturday.
Kyle McCord, who won the starting job for Ohio State over Devin Brown, was 20 for 33 for 239 yards and an interception in the Big Ten contest.
Williams’ second score, from 3 yards, gave the Buckeyes a 20-3 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter after they led 10-3 at the half.
Ohio State has won 28 straight against the Hoosiers since a 27-27 tie in 1990. Indiana’s last victory was in 1988.
Brown played one series in the first half and the final drive of the game for the Buckeyes.
Chip Trayanum rushed for 57 yards on eight carries, TreVeyon Henderson had 47 on 12 carries and Williams 25 on seven.
Cade Stover led the Buckeyes with 98 yards on five catches.
All-American receiver candidate Marvin Harrison Jr. had 18 yards on two receptions.
Brendan Sorsby was 8 for 16 for 58 yards and Tayven Jackson went 1 for 5 for 24 yards for the Hoosiers.
The Buckeyes needed a 40-yard field goal by Jayden Fielding with three seconds left to carry the seven-point margin into halftime. Those points came after the Hoosiers were stopped on a fourth-and-4 pass play from the Ohio State 39-yard line with 38 seconds left.
Ohio State took a 7-0 lead on its first series, an 80-yard drive, when Williams ran for a 7-yard score midway through the first quarter.
It remained that way until Chris Freeman hit a 42-yard field goal with 6:15 remaining in the second quarter.
Fielding added a 22-yard field goal to make it 13-3 with 6:42 left in the third quarter.
He later added another from 22 yards with under five minutes to play for a 23-3 lead.
Both teams, as expected, used two quarterbacks in the first half after competitive battles heading into the season.
Sorsby started for the Hoosiers before being replaced by Jackson for the third series. McCord played four of the five series.
— Field Level Media
