The No. 4 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes head to Bloomington Saturday for a huge match-up with the No. 5 ranked Indiana Hoosiers. Saturday signifies the start of the gauntlet that the Buckeyes are dealing with in the back-half of the season. To start the stretch, this game has major implications on the running for the Big Ten Championship and will tell a ton about both squads.
Quick Look at the Hoosiers
The Indiana offense is led by senior quarterback Josh Hoover, who has thrown for 1,364 yards, 17 touchdowns, and no interceptions this year. His QBR is 88.1 and completion percentage is 68.2%. He’s tied for third in the nation in touchdowns and ranked 6th in QBR. In the backfield, IU has one of the most efficient run games in the country. The running back duo of junior Turbo Richards and senior Lee Beebe Jr. headlines that group. Richard is ranked 14th in the nation in yards (597), while Beebe is 19th with 551 yards. Richards averages 8.4 yards per carry, which is good enough for 6th in the country. The junior wide receiver duo of Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker are a dangerous duo, finding themselves ranked tied for 13th and 15th in the nation in receiving yards. Becker has 529, while Marsh has 528. Becker is ranked fourth in the country in 8 touchdowns, while Marsh is tied for 7th with 6 touchdowns.
Defensively, Indiana is led by the linebacker duo of senior Isaiah Jones and Junior Rolijah Hardy. Jones leads the Hoosiers with 46 tackles, Hardy is close behind with 41 on the year. Both linebackers have an interception, Hardy took his back for a touchdown. On the defensive line, senior defensive tackles Tobi Osunsanmi and Stephen Daley both have 5 sacks so far this year. Daley has two forced fumbles and Osunsami has one of his own. These two will look to wreak havoc on the Buckeye offensive line. In the secondary, the Hoosiers plan to contain the Buckeyes with a collaborative scheme.
Keys to the Game
Give Jeremiah Smith the Ball: Junior wide receiver Jeremiah Smith is the Heisman favorite this season. Simply throwing the ball his way will produce positive results for the Buckeyes. Get him involved early, and he should be rolling all game long.
Avoid Simple Mistakes: Last season in the Buckeyes’ loss to the Hoosiers, they had an early interception and a missed field goal late, costing them the game. Mistakes like these are what separates really good teams and great teams, as shown by what happened in the playoffs shortly after that meeting. This year, OSU needs to stop those miscues.
Protect Julian Sayin: Indiana leads the Big Ten in sacks this season with 20. Ohio State will have to bring extra protection to give Julian Sayin time to find his weapons. As shown by the second half against Texas, Sayin can struggle under heavy pressure.
Wrap-up and Prediction
This is going to be an extremely tight game that could go either way. However, I’m gonna take the Buckeyes to head into Bloomington and pick up a massive statement win.
Ohio State wins 34-31
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