BLOOMINGTON, Ind — Ohio State head coach Ryan Day knew TreVeyon Henderson was fine.

After one carry for two yards to start the game, the freshman running back left the field and was seen standing on the sideline without a helmet as redshirt freshman running back Miyan Williams took control of leading the Buckeyes run game.

As Day spoke after his team’s 54-7 victory on the road against Indiana Saturday night, he talked about the balance of giving players like Henderson, wide receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson, and redshirt freshman quarterback C.J. Stroud the work they had earned in the practices leading up to the game, while also protecting them when games get out of hand, something the Buckeyes have seen a lot recently.

He spoke about Henderson’s importance in the running game, speaking to his ability to run through contact and bringing physicality as a freshman, something that’s pretty much unheard of.

And then Day let something slip.

“If we’re going to make a run at this thing, we have to take care of the football,” Day said.

This isn’t about taking care of the football.

No matter how many times Day talks about how Ohio State is a team in progress, how it hasn’t proved anything yet, the head coach seems to view this team as a group that can “make a run at this thing.”

It certainly had the momentum heading into the off week, outscoring opponents 218-57 in the four weeks after its Week 2 loss to Oregon, using a defense that had not allowed a rushing touchdown since the loss to the Ducks and an offense that has found its footing with players like Stroud and Henderson.

But Day saw Indiana as a restart, an opportunity to set things back to zero and see where Ohio State could go.

“It’s always been about us and that’s what we have to focus on,” Day said “As we head into this game, we kind of figured we had no record. We’re zero and zero. It’s the first win of the second half of the season. That’s the way we’re looking at it.”

However, in that restart, Ohio State saw continuation of what it had been building against Akron, Rutgers and Maryland. Day saw a group of players that was running around out there looking like “they were having fun.”

“That’s the confidence that we want,” he said.

Coming into the game throwing 10 touchdowns and 736 yards against Maryland and Rutgers combined, Stroud said he came into Indiana with a “clean slate,” but that the team, as a whole, continued to build that rhythm, build that momentum it had through the bye week and into Bloomington.

That momentum carried over into the offense. Stroud finished with 266 yards passing, completing a season-high 75% of his passes with four touchdowns. The offense put together its fourth-straight game of at least 50 points, recording 539 yards of offense against the Hoosiers.

Defensively, the Buckeyes took advantage of what Indiana was giving them, limiting the Hoosiers to seven points and 128 yards of offense, giving the Ohio State offense the ball at their own 30-yard line or better four times, all of which turned into touchdowns.

In those situations, Day feels unbeatable. Ohio State suddenly turns into a freight train with all of the confidence on its side, steamrolling through opponents. It’s the feeling, he said, he felt with his team in 2019. It’s the same feeling he felt against Indiana.

Day knows that feeling may not come back against Penn State, what he called “the biggest challenge of the year.”

But something is changing. Something is different about this group. It’s a confident group that expects success because it’s already done it.

“We do have some confidence,” Day said. “We are playing at a high level, but that’s not going to mean anything unless we do it again next week.”

To Stroud, his numbers against Indiana, Rutgers or Maryland don’t matter. To him it’s already forgotten.

It’s on to Penn State.

“Our team, we have a great mindset of letting stuff go, good or bad,” Stroud said.