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Vo. 1, No. 15
This week in Ohio State football, a championship is on the line.
Is that sweet or what?
The Buckeyes’ return to Indianapolis is long overdue, and this is the meatiest matchup they will have had to prepare for as well.
Indiana being No. 2 in the country and 12-0 is, quite frankly, surreal, but it’s also reality.
The Hoosiers have earned everything they’ve gotten so far, but of course this is the week the rubber really meets the road.
More after the ad break (please click the ad and I will get some compensation, but you won’t be charged anything).
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Indiana definitely passes the look test
The Hoosiers are big and strong on the lines, athletic on the outside and really just bring an attacking mindset to every game.
Like most people, I figured they would take a step back after the great first season under Curt Cignetti (of course that was also what conventional wisdom told us would happen to Ohio State), but it looks like they got better instead.
Quarterback Fernando Mendoza beat out Julian Sayin for Big Ten Quarterback of the Year, but the winner this week might just end upping the Heisman Trophy winner.
Mendoza, a transfer from Cal, is a good athlete who can sling it all over the place. He has a live arm, but he will give teams chances to take the ball away, too.
Indiana really announced itself in September by slaughtering Illinois 63-10 then survived at Iowa 20-15 before shocking the college football world by winning 30-20 at Oregon.
Since then, they haven’t really been challenged aside from a near-death experience at Penn State, where Mendoza led a stunning fourth quarter rally to pull out a 27-24 victory.
The Hoosiers are playing for their first Big Ten title since 1967, a year they shared it with Minnesota. One of my favorite fun facts is those two schools are the only members of the original Big Ten who have not won a conference title since then.
More prepared mentally for Ohio State this time?
In a candid moment early in the week, Cignetti admitted the Hoosiers might not have been ready for the big stage when they faced Ohio State in Columbus last season.
A couple of his players agreed, but they all believe they are better for getting that butt-whipping.
“While that was not a very enjoyable experience, it was an experience that was necessary for our growth and development. We were able to add some key pieces to this year’s team, some veterans that have played a lot of football and been in those environments.”
Of course it is also fair to wonder where Ohio State’s heads are this week.
They just won an emotional game at Michigan. Will they have a hard time cranking it back up? I don’t think so because they do want a Big Ten title after not winning one since 2020.
Things to know about the Hoosiers
Indiana is 17th or better in nearly every major stat and top 10 in most.
That includes fifth in the nation in total offense and second in scoring while the defense is fourth in total yards and second in scoring defense (behind Ohio State).
To save time, here are their only stats that aren’t awesome:
Tied for 39th in passing yards on offense
Tied for 60th in red zone defense
77th in net punting
Do the advanced stats from CollegeFootballData.com tell us any more about the Hoosiers?
Yes.
The Hoosiers are No. 1 in the nation in offensive success rate (54%) but near the bottom in explosiveness.
Since they still put up lots of points and yards, that tells us they are very efficient and don’t rely on taking the top off the defense to find the end zone.
The Hoosiers are 16th nationally in offensive line yards, which average out the first four yards of a run (and negative yardage) to try to measure just the blocking, but they are near the bottom of the country in Power rating (short yardage) and Stuff Rate (plays stopped for no gain or a loss).
Their RPO-based offense is designed to make you defend the whole field and stay disciplined, but it also works because Mendoza is a great quarterback and they have a pair of good receivers in Omar Cooper Jr. and Elijah Sarratt while seniors Kaelon Black and Roman Hemby have combined for over 1,600 yards rushing.
Oh yeah, the offensive line is good, too.
The more interesting numbers are on the other side of the ball, however.
Overall, the counting stats are good (No. 2 against the run, 14th in passing yards allowed and 10th in passing efficiency defense).
Indiana is third nationally and leads the Big Ten with 8.6 tackles-for-loss per game.
Again, the personnel is good, but they really attack the line of scrimmage.
That is reflected in some of their advanced stats (seventh in success rate allowed and 118th in explosiveness allowed), but you also can’t miss it if you just turn on one for their games. They really get after it.
“Excellent, excellent defense. They’re fast. They’re quick. They use their hands really well. They’re opportunistic. They’re quick. They force a lot of turnovers. They’re as good as anybody in the country. Really impressed with how they play, how physical they are so it’s a good challenge for our offense. It’s not just one phase. It’s all three phases. There’s a reason they’re No. 2 in the country. It’s gonna be a battle on Saturday.”
In a day and age where most teams prefer to keep the ball in front of them and make offenses execute, this will be a unique style for Ohio State to see.
Ohio State-Indiana series notes
Ohio State is 82-10-5 against Indiana in a series that started in 1901 with Indiana winning five of the first six and tying the other.
The Buckeyes got their first win in the series 13-3 in 1914 and never looked back.
They have won 30 in a row since a 27-27 tie in 1990 and last lost to the Hoosiers in 1988, the second defeat at the hands of Indiana in as many seasons.
Ohio State is vying for its 41st Big Ten championship while Indiana is seeking its third (1945 and ’67).
Ohio State has won 28 Big Ten titles since Indiana’s last one.
What else is going on?
Well, a little thing called National Signing Day happened Wednesday, but that was upstaged by Brian Hartline accepting an offer to become the head coach at the University of South Florida.
This seems like a good fit for Hartline, who I believe was only going to leave for just the right opportunity.
He has ties to South Florida from playing for the Dolphins and has developed deep recruiting connections down there, so that should help him hit the ground running.
The program was in good shape under fellow Ohioan Alex Golesh, who left to become the head coach at Auburn, but of course that could change quickly with the transfer portal opening next month.
(I wrote for Press Pros Magazine this week about how Hartline leaving doesn’t spell the end of OSU being WR U, so be sure to check that out.)
As for recruiting, well, Hartline’s exit may end up costing the Buckeyes the services of Chris Henry Jr. (who might have already officially jumped ship for Oregon before you read this), but that is the cost of doing business these days.
I still think OSU offers the best opportunity for any young receiver with Sayin returning to run Day’s offense and the opportunity to line up opposite Jeremiah Smith, but I am not a teenager fielding multiple lucrative offers for my services.
This is still another top 10 class even without Henry, and it has more Ohio natives than any of the ones Day has signed before.
I like the approach they are taking now with the way talent acquisition and retention has changed over the last five years, but we’ll get into that more deeply at a later date.
There’s business to tend to this weekend first!
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