The battle between college football’s last two national champions did not disappoint, with Ohio State and Indiana going down to the wire in one of the most intense games of the season so far. That was only the start, with UCLA remaining undefeated and a slew of emotional victories in the conference.
Buckeyes Snap Hoosiers' Streak in Slugfest
Ever since Indiana defeated Ohio State in the 2025 Discover Big Ten Football Championship Game, anticipation was building for Saturday’s rematch in Bloomington. The heavyweights went 12 rounds, but it was the No. 4 Buckeyes who got their revenge with a 19–15 victory and snapped the No. 5 Hoosiers' FBS-leading 22-game winning streak.
Ohio State opened the scoring with a 26-yard field goal before Indiana answered with an interception and a 7-yard Turbo Richard touchdown run. The Buckeyes reclaimed a 10–7 lead right before halftime, capping an 80-yard drive with a 2-yard score from Julian Sayin to Bo Jackson.
After going up 13-7, Ohio State’s defining moment arrived in the fourth quarter with wide receiver Jeremiah Smith’s 38-yard touchdown reception on fourth-and-1. With that grab, Smith secured his 39th career touchdown catch, tying the all-time Big Ten record held by Michigan great Braylon Edwards.
However, momentum swung when Sayin (15-of-29, 235 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) exited with an upper-body injury — one that Ryan Day confirmed postgame will keep him sidelined for several weeks. Indiana mounted a comeback behind Josh Hoover (20-of-40, 296 yards, one touchdown) and Charlie Becker (nine receptions, 165 yards), marching 75 yards to pull within 19–15 on a Nick Marsh touchdown catch and two-point conversion.
With a little over a minute remaining, the Hoosiers had one final golden opportunity to pull off the win. On fourth-and-4, Hoover targeted Marsh in the end zone for what could have been a game-winning score, but Marsh stepped out of bounds on the catch, sealing the turnover on downs and the Buckeyes’ win.
“I told the kids after the game that this was a tough one,” Curt Cignetti said. “[But I was] really proud of the effort. We gave ourselves a chance to win.”
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes picked up their second ranked road win of the season.
“It was a hard-fought game, and the guys never gave up,” Ryan Day said. “We wanted to be able to win a game like this in the fourth quarter, and the last couple of weeks, I felt like we were able to do that on offense with the run game. This game came down to the defense."
The Buckeyes now have two weeks to prepare for their next matchup against USC, where backup quarterback Luke Fahey will assumedly get the start.
"We'll regroup," Day said. "We've got a good team. When [Fahey]’s in there, we just may need to do things just a little bit differently, but the bye week gives us a chance to regroup on that and put our heads together."
Read more from the Buckeyes here.
The Big Ten’s Only Undefeated: UCLA
No. 12 UCLA continued its surge under Bob Chesney, grinding out a 17–7 home victory over Wisconsin to improve to 6–0 overall and 4–0 in Big Ten play.
The Bruins' defense — which has now given up 25 total points in three games — set the tone, keeping the Badgers off the scoreboard until the third quarter. In his first career FBS start, quarterback Ty Dieffenbach delivered, completing 22-of-33 passes for 264 yards, while Wayne Knight punched in his 11th rushing touchdown of the season on a 1-yard run.
UCLA stands alone as the only undefeated team in the conference, improving to 6-0 for the first time since 2022. More from the Bruins.
Comebacks Off the Bench, Clashes with Former Schools
Beyond those matchups, emotional victories echoed across the conference:
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No. 25 Northwestern defeated Michigan State and former coach Pat Fitzgerald 24-21 on Jackson Kleather’s last-second field goal. After blocking a kick on the other end, Wildcats quarterback Aidan Chiles — who transferred from MSU — engineered an eight-play, 64-yard drive for the win.
Check out all the results and conference standings after the wild weekend.