Indiana beats Ohio State to win Big Ten title, lock up top playoff seed

INDIANAPOLIS — Fernando Mendoza’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt gave No. 2 Indiana the lead midway through the third quarter and the Hoosiers’ stingy defense shut down No. 1 Ohio State the rest of the way in a 13-10 victory on Saturday night for their first Big Ten championship since 1967.

Indiana likely locked up the top seed in the College Football Playoff while extending the best record in school history to 13-0. The Hoosiers are also now poised to claim the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press Top 25 for the first time.

They did it by snapping a 30-game losing streak against the Buckeyes that stretched to 1988. Indiana also ended major college football’s longest winning streak at 16 games, sealing the win with a 33-yard pass from Mendoza to Charlie Becker on third down, a play that took the clock down to the 2-minute timeout.

Ohio State fell to 12-1 overall though its quest to win back-to-back national championships for the first time will likely begin with the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye.

The Buckeyes had a chance to retake the lead on fourth-and-1 from the Indiana 5-yard line late in the third quarter. But a replay review overturned the call on the field, determining Julian Sayin came up short. They also had a chance to tie the score with 2:48 to play, but Jayden Fielding missed a 29-yard field goal wide left.

The two quarterbacks dueling for the Heisman Trophy essentially played to a draw.

Mendoza was injured on the first offensive play of the game but returned after missing one play and finished 15-of-23 for 222 yards and the one TD and one interception. Sayin was 21-of-29 for 258 yards, one TD and one interception.

But when the big plays needed to be made, Mendoza usually got the job done.

Indiana took a 3-0 lead after Sayin was picked off in the first quarter, but the Buckeyes turned Mendoza’s miscue into a 17-yard TD pass to Carnell Tate for a 7-3 lead late in the first quarter.

The teams traded second quarter field goals as the Buckeyes took a 10-6 lead, but Mendoza neatly tucked a TD pass into Sarratt near the sideline on Indiana’s first possession of the third quarter and that was all they needed.