Lack of running game grounds Hoosier offense

For once, it wasn't the turnovers or missed scoring opportunities that hurt the Hoosiers. Instead it was the running game that went nowhere on Saturday in a 45-17 loss to Ohio State.\nCoach Gerry DiNardo had stressed to the team all week that the team that could run the ball efficiently and stop the run on defense would have the advantage. The Hoosiers weren't able to do either.\nFreshman running back Yamar Washington had averaged 149 yards in his previous two games, but he was held in check by the Ohio State defense and gained only 15 yards on 10 carries. \nSenior running back Brian Lewis returned last week from a shoulder injury to rush for 101 yards against Central Michigan. But Lewis was also contained by the Buckeyes and couldn't find his rhythm. He finished the day with 43 yards on the ground.\n"We just made too many mistakes," Lewis said. "There were too many critical errors. They were pretty big but not to the point where we couldn't move the ball against them. I know I'm not satisfied with my performance."\nDiNardo said he was disappointed by the fact the offense couldn't move the ball in the second half. Washington said the team just didn't come out for the second half.\n"We've got to run the ball better," Washington said. "We had two backs over a hundred (yards rushing) last week so I think they made an emphasis to shut down the run. We just didn't play as well as we should have in the second half period. We can't do that in the Big Ten conference."\nSenior quarterback Gibran Hamdan said the offense lacked precision.\n"We fought hard, and things didn't work as well as they did in the first half," Hamdan said. "Obviously when you slow down the running game it effects the rest of the offense. You have to be balanced, and we weren't as balanced as we needed to be today."\nThe defense had its hands full on Saturday as well. Freshman running back Maurice Clarett made his return from knee surgery to lead the Buckeyes with 104 yards on 21 carries and three touchdowns. On thaday, IU gave up 244 yards with an average of 6.3 per carry.\n"They ran the power play down, after down, after down," DiNardo said. "They ran the play they've been running for a hundred years, and they do it very well."\nFreshman linebacker John Kerr said the defense did a good job of containing Clarett in the first half. Clarett had 51 yards on 14 carries in the first half. The defense just couldn't do the same in the second half.\n"We didn't do our jobs," Kerr said. "Our intensity wasn't as good as it should have been. If we would have done our jobs, it would have been a lot closer"