I don't think Day was holding anything back last year or last night. I think people expecting a repeat of what we saw against Tennecheat and Oregon in the Rose Bowl is not indicative of what this team is this year - hell it wasn't even really what we saw against Texas or Notre Dame either last year. They have the talent to do it but it's not their comfort zone. I think a lot of things last night were matchup driven as well - whatever IU's game plan was, they executed it almost to perfection, especially in the first half. And it wasn't really exotic either - get pressure on the QB early, take away his quick reads and make a young guy go through the progressions in the biggest game of his life to date. And the hell of it is, Sayin still was pretty damn good (21/29, 258, 1 TD, 1 INT).
Their comfort zone is doing the normal stuff at such an efficient rate that it accumulates -
@Jaxbuck said something like do the right thing 3% and 4% better all game long and it adds up - and that's exactly what these guys are.
Indiana did a hell of a job taking away some of those normal things, and Ohio State - no matter the reason, let downs from TCUN, not the more solid game plan, distractions with the coaching and recruiting stuff, whatever - took too long to adapt and adjust. They DID adjust, but it wasn't fast enough and it wasn't quite to their typical level of efficiency.
But in the end, I don't think they really held anything back. IU deserves the credit. This was a hell of a learning experience for Ohio State and now they have 3 weeks to absorb it, grow from it and get better going forward.