Meet The Opponent: No. 5 Indiana Faces Its Best Team Yet In No. 2 Ohio State

The most important game of the season? Definitely. The most important game of any Indiana season? Possibly.

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end JT Tuimoloau (44) celebrates a sack during the NCAA football game against the Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pa. on Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. Ohio State won 20-13. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana has been in the crosshairs of the College Football Playoff debate this week. The fifth-ranked Hoosiers have been accused of gaming the system by a U.S. senator, been on the receiving end of ire from fans of two-loss Southeastern Conference schools who believe their teams are more deserving – and have been called out by even some of their defenders for a weak schedule.

One place you won’t hear criticism of the Hoosiers is from their next opponent – No. 2 Ohio State.

“I think there’s a lot of things they’ve done, but you can see that they’ve been very successful in everything they’ve been looking to do in terms of installing a culture in all three phases, and so it’s going to be a great challenge for our team. We’re looking forward to it,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said during his Tuesday press conference.

Ohio State was one of the teams Indiana coach Curt Cignetti mentioned that “sucks” in his now-famous words to fans at a 2023 basketball game shortly after he was hired. Day was asked by the Ohio State media about Cignetti’s brash approach in his first season as Indiana’s coach.

“Everybody has to motivate their team, and certainly when you feel like you have good players, it certainly gives you confidence. I think he’s done a great job of instilling that,” Day said.

One match-up that is a key in this game and came into sharper relief this week is Ohio State’s offensive line against Indiana’s defensive line.

Ohio State lost starting center Seth McLaughlin to an achilles injury on Tuesday. The Buckeyes had already lost starting left tackle Josh Simmons with a knee injury. Ohio State will have to scramble to piece together their line while dealing with an Indiana defensive line that has been a big strength for the Hoosiers in Big Ten play.

Before McLaughlin’s injury was publicly known, Day commented on the matchup.

“This is going to be a great challenge for the offensive line. I know they’re excited about it,” Day said. “(Indiana’s defensive line) is very good and productive, and they’ve put up a lot of numbers and done a great job. They’re moving every snap. They’re penetrating, and they do a nice job with it, so I think our guys are excited about the challenge, and the game’s going to be won up front.”

Here's what to know about the Buckeyes:

Key Offensive Players

Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard (18) makes a shovel pass during the second half of the NCAA football game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024. Ohio State won 31-7. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

• Ohio State quarterback Will Howard hasn’t been quite as efficient as Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke, but the Kansas State transfer has been pretty close.

Howard has completed 72.9% of his passes for 2,484 yards, 24 touchdowns and five interceptions. His quarterback rating is 181.9, less than a percentage point off Rourke’s Big Ten leading rating of 182.7.

With Ohio State’s offensive line injuries, pressure on Howard becomes an important part of what the Buckeyes need to address. Indiana’s defensive line has averaged 17.6 quarterback pressures in the last three games according to Pro Football Focus. Howard has taken note of Indiana’s pass rush prowess on film.

“They do a lot of really good things,” Howard said on Tuesday. “They move around a lot. They’ve shown some different fronts. There’s some good guys with talent up there. A lot of guys know the system and do it well.”

Howard also cited linebacker Aiden Fisher as being a big key in Indiana’s defensive scheme.

• Ohio State freshman wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has re-written the Ohio State freshman record book.

Smith has already set the Ohio State freshman record for receiving yards (865) and touchdown catches (9). He bested marks set by Cris Carter (648 yards, 8 TD) in 1984.

Smith has had four of the top 10 receiving games by a Buckeye freshman in school history. He had 119 yards in a win against Western Michigan, and he has gone over 100 yards three different times.

• Names to key an eye on in the trenches for Ohio State are Carson Hinzman and Joshua Padilla. One of those two is the likely replacement for McLaughlin at the center spot.

Hinzman was the starting center for Ohio State in 2013, but he had been a reserve until he was pressed into service to play left guard after the injury suffered by Simmons shuffled the offensive line personnel.

Padilla is a redshirt sophomore and he has played 29 snaps as a backup, but has not played a full game for the Buckeyes.

According to 247Sports, since the line injuries occurred, Ohio State has averaged 4.8 yards per carry in its running game and have allowed 6.7 pressures per game, up from over two when the line was healthy in its first seven games.

Key Defensive Players

Ohio State Buckeyes safety Lathan Ransom (8) celebrates with cornerback Jordan Hancock (7) after Ransom intercepted a pass against the Purdue Boilermakers in the second half at Ohio Stadium. / Samantha Madar-Imagn Images

• Pro Football Focus does its quarterback hurries statistics differently from the way official scorers score them at games. By PFF standards, edge rusher Jack Sawyer has been a menace for the Buckeyes, even if he’s not the leading the Buckeyes in sacks.

Sawyer has been credited with 21 hurries by PFF.com. That’s nine more than anyone else on the Buckeyes. He’s hit enemy quarterbacks 11 times, also a team high.

A defensive captain, Sawyer has been a mainstay for the Buckeyes since 2022. He has 1.5 career sacks against Indiana.

• Sawyer’s fellow edge rusher, J.T. Tuimoloau, is the sack leader. He has five to lead the Buckeyes and also has a team-high 10 tackles for loss. Tuimoloau is the career leader among current Buckeyes with 32 tackles for loss.

He and Sawyer have been a reliable tandem for a long time with the Buckeyes. Each has played 48 career games. Tuimoloau has 37 career starts to Sawyer’s 22.

• The player deemed the best Buckeye defender overall by PFF.com is safety Lathan Ransom. In nine games, the graduate student has an overall score of 90.2. Anything over 90 is considered elite by their scoring system.

Ransom has been equally adept at run defense and coverage, according to PFF.com. They score him at 88.6 in run defense and 85.9 in coverage.

In traditional statistics, Ransom has two forced fumbles, one interception and one fumble recovery. Ransom was named a midseason All-American by the Associated Press.

Ransom has played even longer with the Buckeyes than Tuimoloau and Sawyer have. Ransom began his career at Ohio State in 2000.

Ohio State Notes

Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day yells from the sideline during the NCAA football game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Monday, Nov. 18, 2024. Ohio State won 31-7. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

• Rare ranked clash with Buckeyes: Saturday’s game will be just the fourth matchup between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes where both teams were ranked.

No. 3 Ohio State met No. 15 Indiana in 1944 in Columbus and the Buckeyes earned a 21-7 victory. In 1993, No. 5 Ohio State edged No. 19 Indiana 23-17 at Ohio Stadium. In 2020, No. 3 Ohio State held off a late rally by the No. 9 Hoosiers to earn a 42-35 triumph.

• More games in Columbus than Bloomington: While Indiana and Ohio State have met 94 times since their first game in 1901, it’s not an even split in terms of home and away contests between the two.

The Hoosiers and Buckeyes have played 63 games in Columbus since the series began, but only 32 in Bloomington.

From 1936-47, nine games in a row were played at Ohio Stadium. Another nine-game streak of games took place at the Horseshoe from 1951-59.

Why was this? The notion of competitive balance within a conference was not as much of a consideration in those years, but what it really had to do with was the stadium capacities at the time.

In the mid-century period, Ohio Stadium had a capacity of over 80,000. Indiana’s original Memorial Stadium, located on 10th Street, had a capacity of 20,000, though crowds were announced higher than that at times.

Neither team wanted to give up the far-higher ticket revenue available at Ohio Stadium at the time, so Indiana was often a road team until today’s Memorial Stadium opened in 1960. Only twice since Memorial Stadium opened has Ohio State hosted more than two games in a row – 1964-66 and 1979-81.

Indiana’s series with several Big Ten teams have this imbalance. Michigan did not play in Bloomington from 1932-58 – and only played once in Bloomington at all from the start of the series in 1900 to 1958. Minnesota didn’t play in Bloomington from 1928-57. Many Big Ten schools have long gaps in their series with Indiana partly due to not wanting to play in Bloomington with such a small stadium capacity at old Memorial Stadium.

• Ohio State and noon kickoffs: The noon kickoff on Saturday will be Ohio State’s fifth in a row and the second-last in a streak of six consecutive 12 p.m. kickoffs as the Ohio State-Michigan game on Nov. 30 will also be at noon.

Eight of Ohio State’s 12 games began at noon. That’s led to some complaints as far as high school recruiting visits are concerned. Noon games can be problematic for recruits to visit if they’re coming from far away.

“For those who are done with their high school year, it’s a lot easier for them to come in for a noon game. For those who are a little bit further away who are still in the playoffs, it’s a little bit more difficult to get here. We manage it the best we can,” Day said.

Day did note that the game is on national TV, and the recruits that are able to attend will be exposed to a motivated crowd of over 100,000.

Ohio State can’t complain too much about playing at noon. According to its game notes, the Buckeyes have a .833 winning percentage in FOX Big Noon Saturday games since 2019.