The Buckeyes and Hoosiers battle for a spot in the Big Ten title game.
The top-five matchup that we all saw coming before the season began has arrived: the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes hosting the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers with massive Big Ten and College Football Playoff implications. Ohio State has dominated the all-time series between these two schools, but a changing of the guard in Bloomington has turned Indiana into a real challenge.
Still, a talent advantage in favor of the Buckeyes has the home team as two-score favorites in Columbus in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Betting Odds: Ohio State -10.5 | O/U 54.5 (per FanDuel Sportsbook)
Ohio State moved to 9-1 on Saturday with a 31-7 win over Northwestern. The Buckeyes have won four-straight games after their lone loss of the season against now-No. 1 Oregon, and all of their goals they came into the year looking to achieve remain in front of them despite that one blemish. Ryan Day’s group will now have to win a top-five matchup in order to meet with the Ducks for a rematch in the Big Ten title game, as No. 5 Indiana comes to town next weekend with a trip to Indianapolis on the line.
Chip Kelly has Ohio State producing with balance, as both the run game and the passing attack have taken turns as the stars of this high-powered offense. It was a bit of a quiet game for Will Howard against Northwestern, completing 15-of-24 passes for 247 yards and two touchdowns with no rushing yards to speak of, but TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins made up for it with 150 yards on 26 combined carries. The star of the game, however, was Carnell Tate, who hauled in two touchdowns back in his hometown.
Defensively, the Buckeyes again got the job done with a bend-don’t-break mentality, allowing an early touchdown but nothing else while holding the Wildcats to just 1-of-4 inside the red zone, including a takeaway on a forced fumble. The Silver Bullets racked up four sacks in the game and held Northwestern to 50 yards rushing as a team. The defense was especially dominant in the second half, allowing only 84 total yards and zero points over the game’s final two quarters.
Indiana had this weekend off, getting some extra time to prepare for the Buckeyes in what is by far their biggest game of the season. It has been a magical year one for head coach Curt Cignetti, who has the Hoosiers at 10-0 — the first 10-win season in program history, and the school’s first season with at least nine wins since 1967. Indiana has gotten disrespected by some of the major media outlets for its strength of schedule, but the Hoosiers are no frauds, posting the nation’s No. 2 scoring offense (43.9 points per game) and No. 7 scoring defense (13.8 points allowed per game).
That resurgent Hoosiers offense has been led by Ohio transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke. After passing for over 7,650 yards over four playing seasons with the Bobcats, Rourke has thrown for over 2,400 yards with 21 touchdowns and just four picks over nine games this year, missing one game with an injury. Indiana has also run the ball well, with its own two-headed running back tandem of Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton combining for nearly 1,200 yards and 18 touchdowns. Elijah Sarratt, who followed Cignetti from James Madison to IU, leads the way through the air with 38 catches for 685 yards and six TDs.
Even when the record has not reflected it, Indiana has generally had a strong defense, and that is again the case this season. The Hoosiers rank at or near the top of the Big Ten in several statistical categories, including sacks (No. 1), tackles for loss (No. 1), and interceptions (No. 3) while also ranking third in the country in total defense, allowing a little over 255 yards per game. That group has been led by defensive lineman Mikail Kamara, who leads the conference with 9.5 sacks to go along with 15 tackles for loss and two forced fumbles.
Ohio State’s offensive line is going to have its hands full with Kamara and the rest of that Indiana defensive front. Howard will also have to keep an eye out for Amare Ferrell, who has four interceptions this year, as well as defensive backs D’Angelo Ponds and Jamari Sharpe, who have each broken up six passes. While most would expect this matchup to be more of an offensive shootout, both of these defenses will have a chance to make some game-changing plays.
It will be interesting to see how this one plays out. Ohio State came up short in its last matchup against a top team, and while the Buckeyes have won 28-straight meetings with Indiana, this is not your typical IU team. On the flip side, the Hoosiers have not played anyone of quite this caliber so far, avoiding Oregon and Penn State on the schedule and playing close with a bad Michigan team a week ago.
Will this be the true coming out party for Cignetti’s Indiana, or will Ohio State flex its muscles against a conference foe on the come up but not yet ready to challenge for B1G supremacy?