Indiana threw at Ohio State cornerback Denzel Ward 18 times Thursday, and on the last throw his way, Ward intercepted it. (Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer)

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Indiana didn't just attack the Ohio State secondary in the season opener, the Hoosiers went after the Buckeyes' No. 1 cornerback and a projected first-round NFL Draft pick.

Denzel Ward was involved in so many of the 68 throws made by the Hoosiers, it was a bit confusing as to whether he played well or got burned. So we went back and looked at all 18 throws aimed at Ward on Thursday as a way to decide how fans should feel about the 5-foot-10 corner against Oklahoma on Saturday night.

Ward had five pass breakups and an interception in the box score. But did he play well or not? Should there be confidence or worry about the corner when it's time to face Oklahoma QB Baker Mayfield?

Here are the quick highlights and explanations of all 18 throws that went Ward's way, two bonus highlights of blown coverages and a final explainer of exactly what Ohio State pass defender gave up what against the Hoosiers.

If you care about defending the Oklahoma pass game, you should care about this.

The quick explanation for each play is listed below the highlight of it. Many of the clips are taken from the high-angle view of the game which includes all 22 players. It's a great way to see plays develop, but the players can look a little small.

To help your rewatch, remember that Ward is No. 12 and he is often matched up alone against a receiver on the short side of the field.

By Doug Lesmerises, cleveland.com

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Ward 1

First and 10: On the second play of the game, Ward provided ideal defense on Donavan Hale, the 6-foot-4 225-pounder he'd defense much of the night. He reached in to knock the ball out of Hale's hands after he leaped and appeared ready to make the catch.

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Ward 2

Third and 12: The Hoosiers didn't test Ward again until their third drive and QB Richard Lagow's 13th throw. Again, ideal coverage against Hale, and this time it forced a punt.

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Ward 3

Second and 5: The Hoosiers completed 9 of 14 passes for 125 yards in the first quarter, but Ward didn't give up any of it. His third play came in the second quarter, and he defended this one easily. The Buckeyes intercepted the next pass, when Jordan Fuller hauled in a ball tipped by Kendall Sheffield.

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Ward 4

Second and 9: A fourth pass to Ward, a fourth incompletion. Covering Hale again, Ward read the receiver's eyes and perfectly timed his jump with his back to the ball to knock it away.

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Ward 5

Second and goal: Ward was out of the game for a stretch with an apparent hand injury on this drive, and the pass defense struggled. He was still out of the game on first and goal, as Sheffield defended a pass to Simmie Cobbs in the end zone. Ward came in on second down, and kept Cobbs from a touchdown himself.

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Ward 6

Third and goal: Ward wasn't going to toss a perfect game. It's another throw to Cobbs in the end zone on the next play, and this one works, as Ward is a split-second late getting his hand up with his back to the ball this time. It's an 8-yard Indiana touchdown and a 14-6 lead.

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Ward 7

Second and 6: This is Ward's worst play of the game. He bites on a stutter step by Hale and is beaten for a 20-yard catch.

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Ward 8

First and 10: Three plays later, Ward sticks with Hale as Lagow overthrows him on the sideline with Ward not giving the QB anywhere to go with it.

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Ward 9

First and 10: Ward had been playing physical and a little handsy, and he got caught on it this time. It's a 15-yard pass interference call against Hale.

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Ward 10

Second and 12: Sometimes you slip. Ward did on this one, allowing Hale to catch it short of the first down, then a missed tackle by Ward allowed him to get the first down.

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Ward 11

First and 10: This is nothing - a 1-yard completion to Hale after Lagow rolled away from pressure.

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Ward 12

First and 10: It's early in the third quarter, with the Buckeyes still trailing 14-13, and Ward gives Hale a nice shot to knock him out of bounds after a 3-yard gain.

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Ward 13

First and 10: Indiana went on nine-play, 62-yard go-ahead touchdown drive in the middle of the third quarter without throwing toward Ward a single time.

Not a coincidence.

The next drive started with this quick incompletion.

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Ward 14

Second and 10: This should have been an interception and maybe a pick-six for Ward. With Sam Hubbard draped on him, Lagow chucks the ball and two OSU defenders are there. Linebacker Jerome Baker basically breaks up the pass to Ward and the result is an incompletion when either of them could have intercepted it.

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Ward 15

First and 10: Down 14 points early in the fourth, Indiana is getting a little desperate. But this sideline throw to Ward isn't going to work. Other OSU corners gave up plays like this, but Ward really didn't.

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Ward 16

First and 10: The Buckeyes switched it up in the second half, throwing in a good bit of zone to their regular press-man defense. Protecting a lead here, Ward makes the tackle after an 11-yard gain in his area.

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Ward 17

Second and 10: Incomplete. The end is near.

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Ward 18

First and 10: But first, one more round of great Ward coverage. He blankets his receiver on this play and comes up with the interception with just over 10 minutes to play, and Ohio State up 21 points, that ended it.

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Bonus problem 1

Before we get to Ward's final tallies, as well as the final tallies for the other OSU corners, take a look at this busted coverage with Ward out of the game with his hand issue. The Buckeyes put freshman Jeffrey Okudah in the game at the top of the screen, and Sheffield is covering the outside receiver at the bottom of the screen. Ohio State is trying to get Damon Arnette to cover the slot receiver, but there's confusion and he's late getting in position.

The result? Two Indiana receivers run almost next to each other uncovered. Lagow completes the throw for a 25-yard gain, and this drive will end in a touchdown. But Ohio State was lucky that the touchdown didn't come here with this blown coverage.

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Bonus problem 2

Another blown coverage that the Buckeyes got lucky on. It has nothing to do with Ward, but you need to see this.

This is the play when 285-poind defensive tackle Robert Landers picked up what he thought was a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown. It turned out it was an incomplete pass and the touchdown was wiped away. Linebacker Chris Worley still made a good play to pressure Lagow, but look at the wide open receiver he had running down the hash at the top of the screen.

Safety Damon Webb and linebacker Dante Booker went with the same underneath receiver and left that Hoosier wide open. If Lagow had seen him, or had time to get it to him, it might have bene a 61-yard touchdown.

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Final tallies

Indiana threw 68 passes, completing 42 of them, and I said after the game it felt like 30 of those throws were directed at Ward.

It was actually 18, and one of those was a pass interference that doesn't count as a pass in the stats.

But on this 18 attempts aimed his way, 10 were incomplete. One was intercepted, his 18th and last play of the night. One was the pass interference. So that left six completions, but for only a total of 58 yards.

You might remember the pass interference, the stop-and-go route that beat him for 20 yards on the 8-yard touchdown to Cobbs. What you might forget is that he played like a No. 1 cornerback and, isolated most of the game, didn't give up any play that really wounded the Buckeyes. But he did knock down several key passes.

You can't say the same for the other corners. And that's where the problem was.

Cobbs was the main issue, catching 11 passes for 149 yards, and only one of those was on Ward. But Sheffield and Arnette had consistent problems.

Sheffield was thrown at 13 times and gave up seven completions for 105 yards.

Annette was thrown at nine times and gave up seven completions for 78 yards.

Urban Meyer said after the game, "Our pass defense was awful. They were just picking on the corners. The corners have got to step up."

He wasn't talking about Ward. There's plenty to be worried about with the pass defense for Oklahoma. Everything, basically, except the No. 1 cornerback.