In 1951, first year coach Wayne Woodrow Hayes lost to Indiana 10-32. In an act of hubris seldom seen anywhere but in first-year coaches, he vowed to never lose to Indiana again.
He never did.
Beginning 70 years ago, in 1952, Woody started beating Indiana. He paused once for a scoreless tie in 1959, but every other matchup went in the victory column.
35 years after that streak began, and 35 years ago, in Earle Bruce’s last year, The Darkest Day in Buckeye history occurred. I won’t belabor it, I was there and would rather not relive it. Suffice to say that Indiana fans thought they’d caught Ohio State for good and all and that a new rule had been established. This was reinforced the next year during John Cooper’s inaugural campaign, when the Hoosiers won in Bloomington. Indiana fans were insufferable for a few years, a period that was drawn out a bit by a tie in 1990.
That Dark Day right in the middle of this 70 year run that Woody started would prove to be Indiana’s only victory in Ohio Stadium during that time. And that dark day’s whore of a sister in 1988 would prove to be Indiana’s lone win in Bloomington during this run.
The upshot is that the Buckeyes are 58-2-2 against Indiana in the past 70 years. Starting with Woody, no Ohio State coach has lost more than one game against Indiana; most have lost none.
In honor of the 70th anniversary of the beginning of this streak, I offer my prediction for this game. This comes from my vivid memory of walking out of Ohio Stadium on that Dark Day and the behavior of Indiana fans on that day. DSA had nothing to do with this.
Ohio State 70
Indiana 17