Game Preview: Ohio State Focused On Indiana But Keeping An Eye On Michigan

"I know everybody wants to talk about what’s coming next, but that can’t be what happens. We just have to focus on winning the game on Saturday."

There are still 16 days and two opponents between now and the regular-season finale against Michigan, yet Ohio State head coach Ryan Day acknowledged this week that the Buckeyes will ultimately be judged by the result of the rivalry game on Nov. 26.

“We live it every day,” Day said when asked if they’ve started preparing for the Wolverines. “We have to focus on beating Indiana this week, but the way that we approach it is we’re working on that game every day of the year … It’s such a fine line (because) we also have the goal of winning the game that’s ahead of us.

“We always keep a focus and make sure know that our No. 1 goal is to beat them. We always keep an eye on it, but we can’t be looking ahead at that game right now. We have to go beat Indiana or else everything’s at risk … It’s always right in the back of our mind, but we’ve got to make sure we take care of business Saturday.”

Ohio State and Michigan appear on a collision course for Nov. 26, when an undefeated regular season, berth in the Big Ten Championship Game and, likely, a spot in the College Football Playoff will be on the line for both teams, assuming the Wolverines take care of Nebraska and Illinois, as well.

But the Buckeyes also understand they cannot overlook the Hoosiers – or Maryland next weekend, for that matter – especially after a tougher-than-expected win at Northwestern, when the Buckeyes were favored by 38 points but left rainy and windy Evanston with just a 14-point victory.

“You’ve got to bring it every week,” Day said. “It’s not like you can show up and just throw your helmets out there. It doesn’t work that way … You want to be playing your best football in November, so you’ve got to keep growing, keep upgrading and keep getting better.

“All of our goals – beat The Team Up North, win the Big Ten championship and national championship – you can’t do any of those things until the end of the year. That’s when we have to be playing our best football. That being said, we’re in position to reach our goals.

“Now we’ve have to continue to push through because, listen, we’ve got a good team right here in Indiana that we’ve got to play well. I know everybody wants to talk about what’s coming next, but that can’t be what happens. We just have to focus on winning the game on Saturday.”

General Info

Date: Nov. 12, 2022
Where: Ohio Stadium (Columbus, OH)
Expected Weather: 42 degrees, couldy
Kickoff: 12 p.m. ET

Current Betting Numbers

Spread: Ohio State (-40)
O/U Total: 58.5
Betting: Check out the new SISportsbook!

How to Watch/Listen

Television: FOX
Streaming: fuboTV (get a 7-day free trial)
Announcers: Gus Johnson (play-by-play), Joel Klatt (analyst) and Jenny Taft (sideline)

Local Radio: Ohio State Sports Network from Learfield IMG College
Flagship: WBNS 97.1 The Fan
Announcers: Paul Keels (play-by-play), Jim Lachey (analyst), Matt Andrews (sideline reporter)

Series History

Ohio State leads Indiana, 77-12-5
* OSU record at home: 48-10-4

LAST TIME THEY MET
2021: Ohio State 54, Indiana 7

Coaching Matchup

* Ryan Day
* At Ohio State: 4th Season, Record: 43-4
* Overall: Same
* Record vs. Indiana: 3-0

* Tom Allen
* At Indiana: 6th Season, Record: 29-38
* Overall: Same
* Record vs. Ohio State: 0-5

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Ohio State Capsule

After averaging 228.0 yards per game and 6.0 yards per carry through the first six games of the season, Ohio State is averaging just 123.7 yards and 4.1 yards per carry in the three games since the open week.

“I think we all need to do better, absolutely,” Day said. “Going back and watching the film, we’ve got to block better, we’ve got to run better, we’ve got to do a better job equating numbers. All of the above. Certainly in games where they know you’re going to run it, you have to come up with answers, but just moving forward in general, we know we can do a better job. We’ll get back to work this week and get after it.”

The 66-yard output against Iowa was somewhat understandable given the Hawkeyes are among the nation’s best at stopping the run. So, too, was the 98-yard performance against Penn State, when redshirt sophomore Miyan Williams went down with an injury in the first quarter.

But last week’s game against Northwestern made it a trend, as the Buckeyes struggled to convert in short-yardage situations despite rushing for 207 yards – a number that was aided by the sudden emergence of quarterback C.J. Stroud as a running threat, as he finished with a career-high 79 rushing yards.

“Of all the things I was disappointed with on Saturday, running the football short yardage was the one that was high on the list,” Day said. “We’ve got to convert in those situations ... We didn’t quite get the movement we wanted to and didn’t quite enter blocks the right way and there was one scheme that we could have done a better job with.”

Of course, with Ohio State’s passing game neutralized by heavy rain and wind gusts of more than 55 miles per hour at times, the Wildcats were able to stack the box against the run. But the Buckeyes finished the game just 4-of-15 on third down and 2-of-4 on fourth down, and good teams impose their will regardless of the conditions.

“You’ve got to get the first down,” Day said. “There’s no excuse for not getting the first down. There can be 50 guys in the box, you’ve to to go get. You’ve got to get extra movement and the extra guy, you’ve got to run him over or you’ve got to crack block him, get him to the corner and convert. That’s the bottom line. If we’re not converting, then we’re coming up short.”

Asked if the Buckeyes have considered making any changes along the offensive line, Day acknowledged that fifth-year senior right guard Matthew Jones is dealing with some bumps and bruises like the rest of his teammates, but he believes they’re playing with the “best five” up front.

“Our expectation is to score every time we have the ball, so if you’re looking at it like that, no, it’s not good enough. We need to be better,” Day said. “It’s something we’ll keep looking at and making sure we have the right stuff in, and then holding everybody accountable to do their job.

“That’s coaches, players, everybody … The bottom line is we’ve got to go out there and run the football. There’s going to be conditions, there’s going to be injuries, bumps and bruises, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and produce. That’s the bottom line.”

Indiana Capsule

Two years ago, Indiana quarterback Michael Penix threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns in a 42-35 loss at Ohio State. It was the fourth-most yards the Buckeyes had given up in a single game in school history, and there’s no doubt he would challenge the defense again this season.

The only problem is that he’s now the starting quarterback at Washington, where he’s thrown for a nation-leading 3,232 yards and 23 touchdowns after transferring this offseason, leaving the Hoosiers to play four different quarterbacks through the first nine games this fall.

That includes Missouri transfer Connor Bazelak, who had completed just 54.9 percent of his passes for 2,099 yards and 12 touchdowns with nine interceptions in eight games before sitting out last weekend’s 45-14 loss to Penn State with an undisclosed injury.

His backup, Utah transfer Jack Tuttle, then suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in the loss to the Nittany Lions, leaving sophomore Dexter Williams and freshman Brendan Sorsby to finish out the game. But regardless of who plays Saturday, and it's expected to be Bazelak, the Buckeyes shouldn't have any issues.

"They're pretty similar,” Knowles said when asked how they prepare for multiple quarterbacks. “One guy may run around a little bit more, but I think your preparation is the same. Unless there’s a really drastic change in what they do from one quarterback to the next, you try to keep it as similar as possible between the two different guys.”

Defensively, Indiana gives up 422.3 yards and 32.2 points per game, which rank 104th and 115th in the country, respectively. But there is still talent on that side of the ball, though, headlined by former Ohio State linebacker commit Dasan McCullough.

McCullough notably flipped from the Buckeyes to the Hoosiers in April 2021 after his father, Deland McCullough, became Indiana’s associate head coach/running backs coach. Indiana also had his older brother, Deland McCullough II, on the roster.

He never got the chance to play under his father, who took the same position at Notre Dame this offseason, or with his brother, who retired due to injury. But McCullough is having a phenomenal freshman season nonetheless, as he’s recorded 38 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, four sacks and three pass break ups.

“We’re looking forward to a good battle on Saturday,” Ohio State offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. “They’ll give us a great test, they always do, and we need to play a lot better than we did last week … They’ve always done great on third-down defense, they’ve always been very difficult to get the ball in the end zone (against).”

Major Storylines

• Ohio State’s 10-game winning streak is the second-longest in the country, trailing only defending national champion Georgia (11 games). Clemson was the previous leader, but had its 14-game winning streak snapped at Notre Dame last weekend.
• The Buckeyes have won 26 straight game against the Hoosiers, not including the vacated 2010 season, but three of the last 10 wins have come by one score or less, including 52-49 in 2012, 34-27 in 2015 and 42-35 in 2020.
• The 26-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the country for one school over another opponent, with Texas A&M’s 24-game winning steak over TCU being the second-longest, though they haven’t played since 2001.
• Indiana’s last win over Ohio State came in 1988. The 41-7 victory was the Hoosiers’ second straight in the series, as they won 31-10 in Columbus the year prior to snap a 23-game losing streak against the Buckeyes.
• Ohio State has won a Big Ten-record 28 consecutive conference games in Ohio Stadium dating back to a 17-14 loss to Michigan State in the final home game of the 2015 season.
• Wilson was Indiana’s head coach from 2011-16, leading the program to a 26-47 record and a pair of bowl appearances (Pinstripe Bowl and Foster Farms Bowl).
• The Buckeyes have four players on their roster from Indiana, including offensive linemen Dawand Jones (Indianapolis), Josh Fryar (Beech Grove) and Zen Michalski (Floyds Knobs) and defensive end Caden Curry (Greenwood).
• Offensive line coach Justin Frye is also from Ellwood and set a school record with 45 consecutive starts from the Hoosiers from 2002-06. He was a team captain as a senior, then began his coaching career as an offensive graduate assistant from 2007-08.
• Indiana has nine players on its roster from Ohio, including Bazelak (Dayton); tight ends A.J. Barner (Aurora), Sam Daugstrup (Cleveland), Brody Foley (Cincinnati) and Ryan Miller (Chagrin Falls); offensive lineman Zach Carpenter (Cincinnati) and Carter Smith (Powell); linebacker Isaiah Jones (London); and long snapper Sean Wracher (Akron).
• Ohio State is one of four remaining unbeaten teams, joining Georgia, Michigan and TCU. The Buckeyes are the only program to win each games this season by double digits, however.
• In last weekend’s 21-7 win at Northwestern, Ohio State scored 20 or more points for a new Football Bowl Subdivision-record 70th consecutive game. The streak dates back to a 31-16 loss at Oklahoma in 2017, which was coincidentally part of the Sooners’ 69 game streak from 2016-21.

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