Hoosiers Now

Indiana Defense Approaches Daunting Matchup Against Ohio State Passing Attack

Indiana football has its most challenging matchup of the season, specifically as a defense, on Saturday against Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud and a dynamic Buckeyes offense. Chad Wilt, Brandon Shelby and Jaylin Williams commented on their approach to the game.

Jack Ankony

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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana football has lost six consecutive games, but its most daunting matchup lies ahead on Saturday. 

The Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio for a Noon ET kickoff against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, a 40-point favorite, according to the SI Sportsbook. Ohio State is coming off a 21-7 win at Northwestern and has won nine games this season by an average margin of 28.8 points.

The Buckeyes struggled to a 7-7 tie at halftime against Northwestern, battling windy conditions, but Indiana coach Tom Allen thought this revealed a new dimension to quarterback CJ Stroud's game. Stroud completed just 10-of-26 passes for 76 yards against Northwestern, but rushed six times for 79 yards. 

"Last week with all the weather issues, he used his legs more than he has in the past," Allen said. "He showed the ability to do that, which creates another issue for you as a defense having a new dimension for him. You see the escapability at times, without question he's shown that, but they had some designed quarterback runs that were very effective. "

For Indiana cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby, tackling and takeaways are the keys to slowing down Ohio State's potent offense. Led by Heisman-favorite Stroud at quarterback, the Buckeyes boast the highest-scoring offense in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) with 45.8 points per game.

"The one thing you don't want to do with these guys is make yourself hesitant and sit and be on your heels," Indiana defensive coordinator Chad Wilt said. "If you do that, they're really going to give you problems. You got to be aggressive, you've got to attack and like I said, go shoot your shots, leave no bullets in the chamber."

Stroud leads all FBS quarterbacks with a 185.8 passer rating, he's second with 29 passing touchdowns and third in the nation with 9.9 yards per completion. While his completion percentage has dipped from 71.9 percent in 2021 to 67.9 this year, he's only thrown four interceptions. And through nine games, Stroud has a Big Ten-high 2,453 passing yards.

"[Stroud] keeps getting better every year," Shelby said. "You take a look at when he started a year ago and how he's just progressed with his reads and how calm he is, where he can place the ball when he goes through his looks. That's a credit to his o-line that gives him time to do it. He's done a great job in a great system and they have a lot of really good players."

Like Stroud, Ohio State wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba entered the 2022 season as a Heisman candidate after exploding for 347 receiving yards and three touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 48-45 win over Utah in the Rose Bowl. But due to injury, Smith-Njigba has been limited to three games and five catches for 43 yards in 2022. 

Ohio State hasn't skipped a beat with Smith-Njigba on the sideline, though, as Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have stepped up to become one of the top receiving duos in the county. Harrison, a 6-foot-4 sophomore, leads the Buckeyes with 53 receptions for 834 yards and 10 touchdowns. Egbuka, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, is close behind, hauling in 49 passes for 794 yards and seven touchdowns. Julian Fleming has shown big-play ability, too, scoring touchdowns of 50-plus yards in wins over Iowa and Michigan State.

Shelby has noticed great timing between Stroud and his receivers, so he's stressing the need for Indiana's cornerback room to attack the ball. The Indiana defense ranks last in the Big Ten in both points allowed at 32.2 and passing yards allowed at 264.4 per game.

Allen has highlighted tackling as a constant issue for the Indiana defense this season, and both Shelby and Williams said that has been a major emphasis in practice this week.

"Just being physical and bringing the fight to them, really, not cowering down," Indiana cornerback Jaylin Williams said. "It's still a respect thing, but as far as me and Tiawan [Mullen] and the cornerback room is concerned, we're not going to back down. Just got to bring the fight to them, good on good."

Related stories on Indiana football:

  • INJURY UPDATE: Indiana football coach Tom Allen provided an injury update on Jack Tuttle, Josh Sales, Cam Jones and Connor Bazelak on Thursday before the Hoosiers' trip to Ohio State. CLICK HERE
  • INDIANA QUARTERBACK SITUATION: Indiana coach Tom Allen gave an update on the health of Connor Bazelak and Jack Tuttle and the status of the quarterback room on Monday. CLICK HERE
  • BIG TEN ROUNDUP: Illinois' surprising home loss to Michigan State has opened up the Big Ten West race again, and unbeatens Ohio State and Michigan bounce back from slow starts to continue on their collision course. Here's our Week 10 Big Ten roundup, with summaries from all seven games, and the Week 11 schedule with gametimes and TV information. CLICK HERE
  • INDIANA-PENN STATE GAME STORY: Indiana lost its sixth consecutive game and played three quarterbacks in a 45-14 defeat to Penn State. CLICK HERE
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Jack Ankony
JACK ANKONY

Jack Ankony is a Sports Illustrated/FanNation writer for HoosiersNow.com. He graduated from Indiana University's Media School with a degree in journalism. Follow on Twitter @ankony_jack.

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