The Big Ten Championship did not unfold the way No. 1 Ohio State expected. No. 2 Indiana dragged the Buckeyes into a slow, grinding contest inside a 68,214-packed Lucas Oil Stadium and walked out with a 13-10 win. For HC Ryan Day and his team, the mood inside the locker room afterward circled around one word. Disappointment. And that was the starting point of OSU’s postgame conversation.

“Very disappointed. Just overall with how we played,” Ryan Day said in his post game conference speech on December 6. “Didn’t play very well in the situations. Their downs were not very good. Not very good in the red zone, obviously at the end. So very disappointed. I thought Indiana played really well, did a great job, but just obviously, we’re all disappointed in the locker room that we didn’t finish out this regular season the way we wanted to.”

Ohio State came to Indianapolis expecting to claim another trophy and become the No. 1 seed heading into the playoffs. Instead, it left searching for answers.

Each question that followed put a spotlight on a different layer of what went wrong. It began with one question everyone watching needed to know. How did a unit that surrendered six sacks all season give up five in 2.5 quarters?

“Yeah, they obviously brought different pressures and twists,” Ryan Day said. “We didn’t handle it very well at all… We weren’t consistent enough. And this is a major lesson for this team is that it can come down to one play or two plays or three plays that decide a game like this.”

Indiana’s defense dictated the pace. Five sacks, eight tackles for loss, and constant disruption prevented Ohio State from finding any rhythm. The Hoosiers turned the Buckeyes’ biggest strength into a liability. QB Julian Sayin spent more time avoiding defenders than surveying the field. And it changed everything about the game’s tempo. And then, there’s the most pivotal sequence of the night. The two failed third-and-one opportunities in the red zone.

“Yeah, on the first one, we tried to sprint out to Jeremiah,” Ryan Day said, breaking down each snap. “It didn’t work. And then we tried to sneak there that looked like we had, I guess they said that his knee was down, it was short.

“And then on the next one, we try to roll out on the 3rd one. And it was batted down and then, I felt like at that point, let’s just get the 3 points and get the defense back on the field and see if we can play for another possession, get a stop and get the ball back, kick a field goal to win the game. But we didn’t execute that.”

Ohio State walked away from two scoring chances with zero points. That is how three-point losses happen. And those decisions set up the sequence that will be debated for years in Columbus.

Ohio State tried to fix its mistake by being aggressive. Julian Sayin’s fourth-down sneak at the Indiana 5-yard line was initially ruled a first down before replay overturned it. Later, Jayden Fielding, reliable all year, missed a 27-yard field goal that would have tied the game.

Columbus Dispatch asked Ryan Day whether struggles on sneaks, including one that failed at Michigan, influenced those decisions.

“For the most part, our sneaks have been pretty good this year,” he said. “But we didn’t execute it in this one. So yeah, we’ll have to figure out if that’s the right thing to do moving forward.”

Two key calls. Two failures. Each shaped the final score. And the cracks in routine began to show next. When asked whether the week’s disruptions, including off-field scheduling matters, affected Ohio State’s preparation, Ryan Day dismissed that idea quickly.

“I would just say that it was the same for both teams,” he said. “So at the end of the day, that’s our job to come out here and execute and win games. So, we’re not going to make any excuses about any of this.”

Routine is the currency of championship programs. Ohio State leans heavily on it. But from the Michigan rivalry game to the staff movement, the week clearly wasn’t ordinary. Then came the question everyone was waiting for – the Brian Hartline factor. People wondered whether the pending departure of their DC and WR coach to USF affected game planning.

“I’m not going to get into too many details on it all,” Day said, keeping it tight. “I think Brian is doing everything he possibly can to finish his time here the right way. And I appreciate that. And so, we’re all involved with it.”

The subtext was unavoidable. Ohio State’s offense did not look like a unit operating at full force. Indiana’s defense averaged 10 points allowed per game heading in and held Ohio State to exactly 10. As the questions continued, the focus shifted from tactical failures to individual performances and season-long concerns.

Shadows of regret linger for Ryan Day 

That missed field goal became one of the biggest talks in the Big Ten championship game. Did Ryan Day regret going for it on fourth-and-two in the third quarter?

“I mean when it doesn’t work I always regret it so that’s how it works,” he said. “And when it doesn’t, then certainly, we’ve got to deal with what comes with that. And that’s my responsibility. So at the end of the day, I got to make sure that we’re putting our guys in the right situation to be successful.”

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That accountability was important because the failures were stacking up. Julian Sayin threw an early interception. The red zone execution collapsed. And the offensive line had its worst outing of the season that Ryan Day was asked to identify why the protection fell apart so dramatically.

“I think there was some good play, but not good enough against a good defense,” he said. “They’ve done a nice job all year… I think they were averaging 10 points going into the game and held us to 10 points. So you got to give them credit. But, yeah, we’ll get back to it and figure out what that was and where we’re coming up short.”

The defense, however, played championship football, thanks to LB Caden Curry’s performance (two sacks and three TFLs). Day made sure to give him the credit saying the “defense was gritty” and that “[Caden] was a big part of that.”

When The Athletic shifted the questioning back to play-calling inside the 10-yard line, which is the core of Ohio State’s collapse, Ryan Day explained the issue plainly.

“Well, when you get in the red zone, you got to get positive yards,” he said. “Or else you can find yourself behind the sticks real quick, and that didn’t happen. And then the passes that we threw on those 1st and 2nd downs weren’t successful enough.”

Ohio State failed in the red zone twice. Indiana didn’t need offensive fireworks, just discipline and one Heisman-caliber throw. Hoosiers QB Fernando Mendoza delivered a 33-yard strike to Charlie Becker with two minutes left. Ohio State had 18 seconds to respond. It never reached midfield. 

Indiana entered averaging 44.3 points per game, had a top-five passing attack, and ranked among the nation’s best in rushing efficiency. Against Ohio State, the Hoosiers scored 13 points. That should have been enough for Ohio State to win. Instead, it revealed a harsher truth about the 2025 Buckeyes where the offense cracked under pressure.

Ohio State fell to Indiana for the first time since 1988 and gave the Hoosiers their first outright Big Ten title since 1945. A perfect season was gone in three points. Julian Sayin finished 21 of 29 for 258 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. He played efficiently but was punished behind a line that couldn’t protect him. His stopped fourth-down sneak will be replayed for years. 

“There’s going to be a lot of hard conversation here over the next couple of weeks for sure,” Ryan Day said. “This is not going to sit well with anybody. It’s going to sting. And we can’t let this game beat us twice, but we can use it as an opportunity to get better and grow from… The truth is that with this group, I think that this is going to make us more hungry, because this is a competitive group.”

The loss didn’t end Ohio State’s season, but it reshaped it. The playoff path remains, but the margin for error does not. Ryan Day’s postgame message was simple. The anger in the locker room must fuel what comes next.