Just over 10 years from the day of Ohio State’s last punt return touchdown, the Buckeyes’ decade-long return touchdown drought finally came to an end.
Going into Saturday’s game against Indiana, Ohio State had gone 129 games without returning a punt for a touchdown. Ironically enough, Ohio State’s last punt return touchdown before Saturday also came in the penultimate game of a regular season against Indiana when Jalin Marshall had a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown on Nov. 22, 2014.
Exactly 10 years and one day later, Downs made good on Ryan Day’s preseason guarantee that Ohio State would have a return touchdown this year when he picked up a punt off of two bounces, spun away from one defender and weaved his way past several more, following his blocks and using his speed all the way for a 79-yard score.