The Buckeyes take part in their third game this year between top five teams when they host Indiana on Saturday.
For the third time this season, Ohio State will be part of a Top 5 clash. This week the Buckeyes will be hosting the Indiana Hoosiers, who are 10-0 for the first time in school history.
Ohio State is coming off a 31-7 win over Northwestern last week at iconic Wrigley Field. Saturday’s showdown with the Hoosiers will essentially be an elimination game when it comes to earning a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Even though Ohio State can’t secure a rematch with Oregon with a victory, they’ll continue to control their own destiny if they are able to beat Indiana.
A win last week before a huge loss in practice
Like many of their games this season, the Buckeyes were able to shake off a slow start, cruising to a victory against Northwestern last week. The Wildcats actually scored first in the game, with Jack Lausch’s touchdown early in the second quarter gave Northwestern a 7-0 lead. Those would be the only points Ohio State would allow in the game, reeling off 31 unanswered points to close out the victory.
Just as important as the victory is the Buckeyes were able to get through last week’s game without any major injuries. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case in practice this week. Center Seth McLaughlin suffered an achilles injury that will sideline him the rest of the season. The Ohio State offensive line is already taxed after dealing with the loss of left tackle Josh Simmons, and now they will be without the quarterback of their offensive line.
The injury to McLaughlin comes at the worst possible time, since the Buckeyes have two of their tougher games of the regular season on deck, with a possible rematch against Oregon looming next month before the College Football Playoff.
History with the Hoosiers
The Buckeyes will be looking to continue their dominance over the Hoosiers. Ohio State leads the all-time series 79-12-5. A win on Saturday will extend their winning streak over Indiana to 29 games. The last time the Hoosiers were able to earn a win over Ohio State was back in 1988.
Last year the teams met in Bloomington in the season opener, with the Buckeyes earning a 23-3 victory. This game will be especially important to offensive line coach Justin Frye, who started a school record 45 games for the Hoosiers during his time in college. Along with Frye, safeties coach Matt Guerrieri spent time with Indiana as their co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach on Tom Allen’s coaching staff last year.
Consistency is key
Jeremiah Smith continued his memorable freshman season with four catches for 100 yards last week, securing his third game with at least 100 yards receiving this year. Smith’s totals last week would have been even bigger, but instant replay overturned a beautiful diving touchdown catch in the first quarter.
While Smith continues to impress in his first year of college football, the most notable performance from a Buckeye wide receiver last week came from Carnell Tate, who returned to his hometown of Chicago and hauled in two touchdowns for the first time in his career. The sophomore has now hit at least 50 yards receiving in three of the last four games.
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Tate’s recent uptick in production has come at the perfect time since Emeka Egbuka has been quiet lately. After starting the season with six consecutive games with at least 50 yards receiving, Egbuka has cracked 30 yards just once in the last four games. Even with his recent struggles, Egbuka’s 49 catches this year are tied with Smith for the team lead.
For his career, Egbuka has 173 catches as a Buckeyes, putting him four receptions shy of passing Chris Olave for third-most in school history. By catching a pass last week, Egbuka has now caught at least one pass in 34 consecutive games.
Carnell Tate wasn’t the only Buckeye to find the end zone twice last week. Running back Quinshon Judkins scored the first two touchdowns of the game for Ohio State, with both scores being one-yard touchdown runs. After starting the season with five rushing touchdowns over the first three games, this was the first rushing touchdown since the Oregon game for Judkins.
The Ole Miss transfer finished with 76 yards rushing against the Wildcats, two more yards than TreVeyon Henderson. The dynamic running back duo has rushed for 1,385 yards and 13 touchdowns this year.
Will Howard continues to be a great leader of the Ohio State offense. Howard threw for 247 yards and two touchdowns against Northwestern, running his season total to 24 touchdowns and almost 2,500 yards passing. The Kansas State transfer has also added six rushing touchdowns. With big games against Indiana and Michigan, Howard could put himself in the conversation to be a Heisman Trophy finalist.
The buck stops here
The Ohio State defense continues to be a tough nut for opponents to crack. By allowing just seven points last week, the Buckeyes have now given up a touchdown or less in eight games this season. The 10.3 points per game Ohio State is allowing is the best mark in the country entering this week, and the 250.8 yards per game they are giving up is second-best in the FBS.
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Linebacker Sonny Styles had one of the best games of his college career last week, recording six tackles and two sacks against Northwestern. Not only is Styles currently the team’s leader in tackles with 63 stops, his four sacks put him just one behind J.T. Tuimoloau, who leads the team with five sacks this year.
Fellow linebacker Cody Simon also had six tackles against the Wildcats, but saw his four game streak of leading the team in tackles snapped, as Jack Sawyer and Arvell Reese each had seven tackles. Along with impressive games from Styles, Simon, and Reese, C.J. Hicks had one of the best games of his college career, generating pressure off the edge.
After scoring a touchdown on a fumble recovery against Purdue, the defensive end had a second straight solid game last week. As mentioned before, Sawyer tied for the team lead in tackles. The senior also forced a fumble early in the game that was recovered by Davison Igbinosun as Northwestern was driving in Buckeye territory. Sawyer now has two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries this season. The 38 tackles by Sawyer through 10 games are the most this season by an Ohio State defensive lineman.
With talented quarterback Kurtis Rourke and a plethora of capable receivers, Caleb Downs and the rest of the Ohio State secondary are going to have their hands full on Saturday. Downs made a stop behind the line of scrimmage last week, raising his total this year to 6.5 TFLs, which is currently second on the team behind Tuimoloau.
The fumble recovery by Igbinosun was his third turnover of the season, as he also has two interceptions. Rounding out the secondary are Lathan Ransom, Denzel Burke, Jordan Hancock, and Jermaine Matthews Jr., who all should see plenty of action on Saturday afternoon against the high-scoring offense of the Hoosiers.
A dream season for Indiana so far
Indiana has been the most surprising team in the country this year. Curt Cignetti has changed the culture in Bloomington in a short amount of time. The first year head coach of the Hoosiers is the first coach to lead two different schools to 10-0 starts in consecutive seasons after he also reached that mark last year at James Madison. Cignetti is in his 14th year as head coach, compiling a 129-35 record with stops at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Elon, James Madison, and now Indiana.
The Hoosiers enter this game coming off a bye week following their 20-15 win against Michigan. Indiana jumped out to a 17-3 lead but the Wolverines hung around, giving the Hoosiers their toughest test of the season. Prior to the game against Michigan, Indiana had won their previous nine games this season by at least 10 points. The Hoosiers are ranked fifth in this week’s College Football Playoff rankings, and even if they lose on Saturday to the Buckeyes they’ll likely still receive a spot in the 12-team playoff when the matchups are announced next month.
High-powered Hoosiers
Leading the Indiana offense is quarterback Kurtis Rourke. The Ohio transfer has 21 touchdown passes despite missing the Washington game due to a thumb injury he suffered against Nebraska. Rourke is the first Big Ten quarterback to throw for at least 250 yards and three touchdowns in each of his first three road starts. With his experience from his time in Athens, Rourke has been able to immediately step in behind center and make an instant impact.
Catching passes from Rourke are a talented group of wide receivers, with many of them coming to Bloomington in the transfer portal. Elijah Sarratt followed Cignetti from James Madison, where he was first team All-Sun Belt last year. Sarratt has caught at least one pass in 35 straight games, and enters this week’s contest with 38 catches for 685 yards and six touchdowns.
Another impactful transfer receiver is Myles Price, who has nearly 3,000 career all-purpose yards. Price started his career at Texas Tech before deciding Indiana was a better fit for him. Rounding out the rebuilt receiving corps are Wake Forest transfer Ke’Shawn Williams and Miles Cross from Ohio. The four transfers all have at least 25 catches, while Omar Cooper Jr. has 24 grabs and former James Madison tight end Zach Horton is trusted by Cignetti after starting 23 straight games under the head coach.
Along with some dangerous receivers, the Hoosiers have an effective running game they can lean on. Indiana has already rushed for 32 touchdowns this year, their most since 2001 when they ran for 33 scores. So far this season nine different Hoosiers have rushed for touchdowns. Justice Ellison and Ty Son Lawton do most of the heavy lifting on the ground, with each back having rushed for at least 500 yards and scored nine rushing touchdowns.
Ellison is a transfer from Wake Forest, while Lawton is a seventh-year senior who has made stops at Stony Brook and James Madison before becoming a Hoosier. Ellison became the first Indiana running back to rush for 100 yards in back-to-back games since Stevie Scott III in 2019.
A huge reason for Indiana’s success this year has been because of their offensive line. Former Wisconsin offensive line coach Bob Bostad is the only holdover from Tom Allen’s staff last year. Consistency with their starting lineup has been massive for the Hoosiers, as the same five linemen started the first nine games of the season. The only change came last game when Tyler Stephens stepped in at left guard after Drew Evans was lost for the rest of the season because of injury. Center Mike Katic is the elder statesman of the line, entering this week’s game with 47 career starts.
Indiana’s key players on defense
In the middle of the Indiana defense are linebackers Aiden Fisher and Jailin Walker. Both linebackers played at James Madison under Cignetti, combining for 169 tackles and 11.5 TFLs in 2023. The duo is ahead of that pace this year, with Fisher leading the team with 98 tackles, while Walker’s 59 stops are second on the team.
Fisher is coming off the game against Michigan where he had 14 tackles, his eighth career game with at least 10 tackles. With Fisher and Walker in the middle of the defense, the Hoosiers have allowed less than 100 yards rushing in seven games this year, their most in school history since 1950.
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The wounded Ohio State offensive line is going to have their hands full with Mikail Kamara, who is a semifinalist for three national Defensive Player of the Year awards. Kamara leads the country with 57 pressures so far this year, and has 9.5 sacks. The Buckeyes will have to be careful when Kamara is around, as the defensive end has three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles.
Along with Kamara, James Carpenter has made noise on the defensive line, entering this week’s game with four sacks this season. Carpenter is a fifth-year senior who was named All-Sun Belt in 2022 and 2023. Defensive tackle CJ West, who started his career at Kent State where he started 35 games, is coming off the Michigan game, where he had career-high nine tackles.
The most dynamic players in the Indiana secondary are D’Angelo Ponds and Amare Ferrell. Both defensive backs have had two interception games this season. Ponds was the first to accomplish the feat, earning Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week honors after his two picks against Washington. Ferrell matched Ponds with two interceptions the next game against Michigan State.
Ferrell leads the team with four interceptions this season. Rolijah Hardy is the third Hoosier with at least two interceptions this season. Shawn Asbury II, Terry Jones Jr., and Jamier Johnson will also see plenty of action in the Indiana secondary on Saturday.
Prediction
The difference in this game is going to come down to which team can handle the moment better. For Ohio State, the pressure of this contest is something they have already seen twice this year, having been involved in Top 5 battles at Oregon and Penn State. On the other side, this will be the biggest game in the history of Indiana football. Even this season, the Hoosiers haven’t played anybody close to the level of what they’ll see from the Buckeyes.
One thing Indiana has going for them is head coach Curt Cignetti won’t be scared in this game. At this point Cignetti and the Hoosiers are playing with house money since nobody expected them to be undefeated at this point of the season. Expectations for Indiana entering the year is they would be lucky to even be .500. Now the Hoosiers are challenging for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
In the end, Ohio State is just too strong on both sides of the football. Will Howard makes smart decisions running the offense, the Buckeyes have two of the best running backs in the country, and the defense has been tough to score on in every game except the 32-31 thriller at Oregon. No disrespect to Kurtis Rourke and Indiana, but they don’t have quite the firepower that the Ducks possess. The Hoosiers can put up some points but they have done most of their work against lesser defenses. If the Buckeyes can hold Indiana in check like Michigan did in the second half they should be in good shape.
Every game is essentially a playoff game for Ohio State the rest of the way, since they can’t afford a loss if they want to play in the Big Ten Championship Game in two weeks. While the loss of Seth McLaughlin hurts, the Buckeyes have an experienced center in Carson Hinzman to take over, and they’ll likely use the injury as a rallying point, much like the 2014 team did with the injuries to their quarterbacks. Indiana hangs around in the first half before the Buckeyes create a little separation after halftime.
LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 37, Indiana 21