OSU WR Wilson stays on hot streak
Garrett Wilson's hot streak to start the season continued in Ohio State's 42-35 win over Indiana on Saturday.
Wilson caught seven passes for 169 yards and two touchdowns, marking the fourth consecutive game in which the sophomore finished with 100 or more receiving yards.
The performance put him one shy of a school record set by Cris Carter, who put together five straight games of 100plus receiving yards. The stretch from Carter came in 1986 over a consecutive stretch of games against Purdue, Minnesota, Iowa, Northwestern and Wisconsin.
Through four games, Wilson is more than halfway to 1,000 receiving yards.
He has 31 receptions for 516 yards and four touchdowns.
His fourth straight game of 100 or more receiving yards put him ahead of David Boston and Terry Glenn, former Buckeyes receivers who also had stretches of three games with 100-plus receiving yards.
His teammate Chris Olave also topped 100 yards against Indiana with eight catches for 101 yards. It marked Olave's third 100-yard game of the season.
Highlights and lowlights
On Saturday, Shaun Wade had the shining moment he envisioned when he decided to return for his junior season at Ohio State instead of entering the 2020 NFL draft.
With Indiana in the midst of a second-half comeback, the cornerback diagnosed a Hoosiers pass and pounced. Wade jumped the sideline route, intercepted Michael Penix Jr.'s pass and returned it 36 yards for a touchdown to push the Buckeyes' lead to 42-21 late in the third quarter.
“From watching film, I knew it was coming,” Wade said.
What turned out to be the winning score was offset somewhat by a poor second half for the Ohio State defense. The Buckeyes surrendered four secondhalf touchdowns as Penix threw for 294 of his 491 yards.
“On a couple, we had had blown coverages, and sometimes they just made a play,” Wade said. “That's a part of playing football. Receivers are going to make plays, and DBS are going to make plays.”
Coach Ryan Day said the Buckeyes will evaluate their personnel, scheme and coaching.
“That's what Sundays are for,” he said. “If you look at the first half, it's not like we're not capable of doing it, because we did it. There was some really good football being played for a good chunk of this game. So where are those gaps that we need to fill in?”
Fields finds fault
Quarterback Justin Fields offered a blunt review of his performance against Indiana on Saturday afternoon.
“I didn't play well at all,” he said. While Ohio State remained on track to reach the Big Ten championship game and secure a spot in the College Football Playoff, some uncharacteristic turnovers by its star quarterback raised eyebrows.
Fields was picked off three times by the Hoosiers' defense, matching the number of interceptions he had thrown in 17 previous starts with the Buckeyes.
“I think he tried to force it a little too much,” Day said. “But overall, I thought he played really gutsy. He made some big-time throws, and they were blitzing. Literally every snap. So there were going to be negative plays, there were going to be some big plays. That's how it played out.”
Fields finished 18-of-30 passing for 300 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 78 yards and a 17-yard score. jkaufman@dispatch.com @joeyrkaufman brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch