Will Howard extinguished No. 5 Indiana's hopes of an undefeated season when his one-yard rushing touchdown sealed a 38-15 win for No. 2 Ohio State. When he got back to the sideline, Howard celebrated by taking a shot at Hoosiers coach Curt Cignetti.
As the Buckeyes were trying to run the clock out with under a minute remaining in the game, TreVeyon Henderson broke free for a 39-yard scamper and went down at the one-yard line. Instead of kneeling out the game, Ohio State went for one more score, and Howard found paydirt with 35 seconds remaining. Cignetti, who was waving the proverbial white flag by not using his final timeouts, was not pleased with the Ohio State touchdown, waving away the Buckeyes on the sideline. A narrative all week was whether Indiana needed to keep the final score within a certain differential to enhance its College Football Playoff argument.
After putting the last nail in Indiana's coffin, Howard pretended to put out a cigarette on Ohio State's sideline, a clear shot at Cignetti. Across the field, Cignetti simply waved off the Buckeyes.
Asked about the decision to go for that last touchdown in his postgame interview, Ohio State coach Ryan Day said he wanted to "leave no doubt."
"We wanted to finish it the right way and make sure everybody knows that this is the Ohio State Buckeyes," Day said.
Once the game went final, the trolling of Cignetti continued. The Ohio Stadium jumbotron flashed the image of a newspaper that read, "Buckeyes win??? Google it!"
During his introductory press conference at Indiana, Cignetti went viral for his blunt message to those questioning his credentials. 'I win," Cignetti said. "Google me."
Even after this defeat, Indiana will be in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth at 10-1. If the Hoosiers do get in, Cignetti might be looking to get revenge on the Buckeyes after the way this one ended.