Storming First Half Sees Ohio State Past Indiana

10.17.2026College Men

Indiana in black and Ohio State in red and a very rpetty sunset.

Indiana in black and Ohio State in red and a very pretty sunset. Photo Alex Goff.

Author: Alex Goff

Ohio State rode a 35-point first half to defeat Indiana 42-25 on a chilly Friday night in Columbus, Ohio.

The victory doesn't affect the Big Ten standings but it does set up a nice narrative for what could well be the conference final.

Indiana started the game on the front food and pushed OSU back with No. 8 Garrett Welborn especially difficult to stop. Scrumhalf Axel Reis was also impressive, especially if the Ohio State defense was slack around the rucks, as Reis was often able to sell a dummy and scamper through a gap.

All of that led to Ohio State being penalized and flyhalf Matt Chevalier slotted the kick.

Ohio State responded. They got a penalty and attacked effectively up the middle, with flanker Charlie Steen coming in to finish off the movement and score. Tommy Kilbane added the extras and Ohio State had the lead.
Chevalier added another penalty goal but the Buckeyes answered, running off a scrum and some slick ball handling set up Steen for a nicely-taken run that included a surprising sidestep.
Kilbane slotted the conversion from out wide, and Ohio State led 14-6.

Indiana worked their attack once more and when they maintained possession they were very dangerous. Reis once again burned OSU with a scamper in tight, and that led to a goalline drop for the Buckeyes. That kick went out on the full, and from the ensuing scrum IU was able to work it over.

Now it was a one-point game again at 14-13.

Not Close for Long

But Ohio State took control of the game in the following 25 minutes. Captain and center Seamus Kennedy crashed through for a half-break and the Buckeyes made it down to the tryline where they thought they had scored. They didn't get the call but the ensuing goalline dropout didn't really clear things for Indiana.

On the counter Ohio State got a penalty, and from that lineout they spun it wide and fullback Kilbane zipped over in the corner. Kilbane slotted the conversion from near the sideline to make it 21-13. Getting the ball back on the restart, Ohio State worked it to midfield and got a bit of a break on a grubber as the ball ricocheted off an Indiana leg to go into touch.

That gave Ohio State a lineout in Indiana territory. Alex Wener won the throw and set up a maul, but instead of actually mauling it the Buckeyes sent it quickly to Kennedy bursting onto the ball. It was a set play and it worked brilliantly. Kennedy cut through the first level of defense. He cut left and had several tacklers catch up to him as he dragged them over the line. This was a highly-celebrated try for Ohio State partly because it was a new set move they had just installed and it worked just about perfectly.

"That alley opened up and I looked around for supporters and didn't really have anyone with me so just tried to take it myself and it worked out," said Kennedy.

Now up 28-13 Ohio State would have been forgiven for taking the 15-point lead into halftime. But with time almost up Ohio State got a penalty at midfield. Kilbane hit an excellent kick to touch deep in the Indiana 22. Tom Cummings, along with Werner part of Ohio State's freshman second row duo, took the thrown and the Ohio State maul thundered over. Hooker Paddy McMahon touched it down and, with Kilbane's conversion, it was 35-13.

That was a massive score that put the Buckeyes in a pretty commanding position.

IU Responds

Indiana came into the second half determined to defend better, but really their issues fell more to errors that turned the ball over. When the Hoosiers had the ball and play expansively and wide, they caused problems for Ohio State. This was illustrated fairly early in the second half was the Ohio State defense was lured into overloading on one side and the ball was sent quickly to the other side, where wing Luke Peters raced down the sideline and scored Indiana's second try.

But the Buckeyes defended quite well the rest of the game. They had to as IU had the lion's share of possession in the second half. It was a high-intensity, exciting period even without the scoring. Both teams got into threatening pos itions, and got out of them, and the action was often end-to-end.

In one such sequence flyhalf Oliver Weidner made an impressive over-the-shoulder catch of a kick, looking more like a centerfield than a rugby player. He then dummied around the chaser, took off down the sideline, and thumped a kick into the Indiana 22. The chase was on, Weidner made a solid tackle, and OSU got the ball back and soon were over for their sixth try.

Kilbane, of course, converted, and it was 42-18.

Indiana did eventually score their third try on a nifty planned chip-and-chase play that they had tried a couple of times earlier. But they couldn't get closer and Ohio State held on, forcing a knock-on at their tryline to end the game.

The Upshot

"We needed to play wide more and play faster," said Indiana Head Coach Luke Gross. "We weren't able to get quick ball and ... we didn't do what we wanted to do."

"We game-planned those kicks and those hips; we didn't utilize them until too late," said fullback Joey Reis. "We scored a try of it but it was almost garbage time at that point. We knew what we needed to do but we just couldn't get there."

Even so, Reis at scrumhalf was always a threat to run and his elusiveness led to 10 Indiana points.

For Ohio State, Kilbane's kicking meant that every try got full value, and the fullback ended up with 17 points.

"It definitely helps," said Kennedy about the goalkicking. "You score two tries you only get 10, that's a big difference from having 14, and as we kept scoring tries ... we had five in the first half and that's an extra 10 points Tommy was able tp put on for us, so that was big."

The back row of Steen, Owen Schultz, and Ian Fairfield led that defensive effort, while scrumhalf Mark French was snappy on attack and put in a massive tackle in the second half that stopped an Indiana attack.

The game itself was played before a crowd of alumni, as this weekend is the 60th anniversary of the Ohio State rugby team. OSU played in special commemorative kit that was old-school with a heavier weave and—gasp—collars.

These two teams will almost certainly meet again in the Big Ten final. Will it be the same next time?