Ohio State’s hard-fought victory on the road came at a high cost. Now the Buckeyes must try to survive without star quarterback Julian Sayin

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Ryan Day sat at a table under the grandstand at Memorial Stadium, perhaps 130 yards from the end zone, where 3 1/2 hours of tension turned into helplessness and emotional contradictions.

Ohio State had won the game but lost its quarterback. He missed the definitive game of his season but did not pay the price. He had gotten to 6-1 with a dramatic 19-15 win here, ending Indiana’s 22-game unbeaten streak and recording arguably the most important win of the year in college football, but he came away with a much tougher road than anyone could have imagined.

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As Day tried to take it all in — the decisions that led to the victory, the nature of the outcome, the injury that will keep starter Julian Sayin sidelined for “several weeks” most likely — he uttered the word “opportunity.”

Followed by the slightest smile.

“That’s what stories are made of,” he said. “So, you know, we’ll see.”

There are, in fact, already two stories that deserve equal consideration as we evaluate what happened here Saturday and what it means going forward for a team that finally accomplished something worthy of its preseason No. 1 ranking.

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The first is how much Ohio State needed to hold on to this victory, requiring them to defend every inch of the court before the relief and celebration. The second is what it will ultimately cost the Buckeyes, with the possibilities ranging from nothing to missing a College Football Playoff bid and Jeremiah Smith’s chance to win the Heisman Trophy.

“We might have to look a little different,” Day said. “But it doesn’t matter. There are a lot of teams doing it in different ways.”

Immediately afterward, here’s what we know: With 8:05 remaining, Sayin was sacked by Indiana’s Mario Landino, an awkward hit to the side that trapped his right arm and appeared to bend his elbow beyond its natural range of motion. By the time he returned to the sideline in a sling, the game was in the hands of freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, a freshman from Cal who hadn’t played a significant snap all season.

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The exact nature and extent of Sayin’s injury was unclear. But after talking to Ohio State’s coaches, Day didn’t seem to think it would be a quick recovery — which is notable since the Buckeyes play at Southern Cal on Oct. 31, face Oregon on Nov. 7 and a surprisingly good Northwestern team on Nov. 14.

While it’s not fair to judge Fahey on what he did against Indiana — which wasn’t much, to be honest — it’s a complete mystery whether he’ll be ready to keep the Buckeyes afloat despite a demanding part of their schedule.

Fahey is at Ohio State in the first place, of course, because he’s talented. But in this era of college football, where few teams are willing to allocate significant resources to an experienced quarterback, there isn’t really a model for trying to win a title with such a talented team and such an unknown quarterback.

The closest comparison might be Georgia two years ago, which lost starter Carson Beck to injury in the SEC championship game, forcing Gunner Stockton into an unfortunate debut as a starter against Notre Dame in the CFP quarterfinals.

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Will Sayin return before the end of the season? Will Fahey be a capable backup when they travel to USC in two weeks? Suddenly, an Ohio State season whose destination seemed certain is one of sports’ biggest mysteries.

“He’s always in the facility, he always asks why, he always wants to learn,” offensive lineman Luke Montgomery said. “He’s got some vibes as a quarterback. He’s going to be a heck of a player and we’re going to support him. If he’s starting in two weeks in California, what better way to have your first start at home?”

Smith said: “We have two weeks until we play a game, so it’s going to take time to build (chemistry). Lots of practice, lots of reps.”

It certainly helps when the best player in college football is on the receiving end of that connection. With Indiana throwing everything at Smith and limiting him to four catches for 68 yards, he was the main character in Ohio State’s two touchdowns. In the first play, near the goal line late in the first half, he served as a decoy who drew four defenders and threw running back Bo Jackson wide open. On the second, which came on a fourth down with 12:46 to play, Smith said he took the wrong route but displayed sheer physical superiority to recover and catch a ball between two defenders that probably no other player in the country could have gotten.

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“An incredible catch,” Day said. “He’s so big that if you give him a chance, he’s going to make some plays.”

He made the difference between victory and defeat. But so was Ohio State’s defensive pressure and, ultimately, Nick Marsh’s toe.

Marsh, the Indiana receiver, had gotten open on the sideline near the Indiana bench with just a tick with more than a minute remaining. It was essentially the final play of the game: either the Hoosiers were going to take the lead, or the Buckeyes were going to shut it down and run out the clock.

All the while, Day’s message was to stay aggressive and put Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover under duress — especially important against an opponent that has been the best fourth-quarter team in college football for two straight years.

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“We wanted to win the game on defense,” Day said. “We made the decision to be more aggressive in those moments, especially when Julian was falling.”

So the final decision was to press on fourth down, with Indiana still 27 yards from the end zone. It worked in the sense that Hoover had to make the delivery while backtracking, which had just enough impact on his throw. But it also left Marsh without a defender near him.