This Week in Ohio State Football: Indiana

Josh Hoover leads the Big Ten and is second in the nation in passing efficiency.

Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh are top five in the conference in receiving yards, and running back Turbo Richard leads the nation in yards per carry at 8.4.

Richard and backup Lee Beebie Jr. are both in the top five in the Big Ten in rushing if you want an idea of how deep the backfield is and how balanced the offense has been so far.

On the other side of the ball, Stephen Daley and Tobi Osunsunami are No. 1 and 3 in the Big Ten in sacks and No. 2 and 5 in tackles for loss.

The offense is ranked 20th overall, including 19th in rushing and 60th in passing yardage.

The Hoosiers are second in the nation in passing efficiency and 14th in scoring.

The defense is fifth in scoring, 12th in yards allowed, seventh against the run, 41st against the pass and No. 33 in pass efficiency defense.

They rank in the 30s on third down both offensively and defensively, 33rd in red zone offense but just 56th in red zone defense.

Perhaps worth noting: Indiana is 120th in the nation in net punting.

Indiana is No. 6 in the nation in F+, which combines play-by-play efficiency with drive efficiency. (Ohio State is No. 3.)

Via data from CollegeFootballData.com, the offense is third in the nation in explosiveness and 23rd in success rate, which measures percentage of yards gained toward a first down on each play.

The Hoosiers are 28th in offensive line yards, which isolate the first four yards of a run to measure how well the front is blocking independent of what the running backs might do after they get past the line of scrimmage, and they are 36th in second-level yards and fourth in open-field yards.

On passing downs, the success rate drops to 46th, but they are still fifth in explosiveness.

The defense is 19th in success rate but No. 123 in explosiveness so they have been susceptible to the big play.

They’re 12th in defensive line yards, so the front is stout, and they have not allowed backs to go far if they break the line of scrimmage, either.

They’re good against the run but a potential red flag for the Hoosiers lies in passing downs with a success rate that ranks 87th and explosiveness of 111.

I had a good time chatting about Ohio State football with Doug Lesmerisis, Bill Landis and Patrick Murphy on the Bill and Doug Show. Check it out (including Bruno the newfypoo trying to bull his way onto the air).

The injury report is notable this week because Ja’Kobi Jackson and Austin Siereveld are both listed as out. Jackson’s absence could be large because he has been Ohio State’s most efficient runner, especially in short yardage, but of course Bo Jackson is still a returning 1,000-yard rusher. Perhaps Isaiah West can step up in Ja’Kobi’s absence, but hotshot freshman Legend Bey is also someone to watch after he seemed to get back into the good graces of the coaches last week.

Without Siereveld, it stands to reason Gabe VanSickle will start at right guard and Phillip Daniels is expected to be back at right tackle after missing the last four games with an injury he suffered at Texas.

I also wrote more about the offensive line for the Associated Press this week.

BI is also the home of multiple scheme insiders. This week, Ross Fulton provided an interesting examination of whether or not Julian Sayin is actually missing open receivers (like people seem to believe on the internet) or mostly just going through the progressions and executing the play as its called.

Michael Pettit provided a look at how Indiana uses RPOs extensively in an offense Ryan Day said helps the QB avoid turnovers.

Pettit also broke down the Indiana defense, which is coordinated by Piqua native Bryant Haines and regarded as one of the trickiest in the country to deal with. Pettit points out they have not run as many sim pressures and blitzes that bothered Ohio State last year, but he thinks that might change against the Buckeyes this week. I’d say that’s a good bet, but the biggest thing to know about Indiana is they have a talented and active front six/seven. Haines likes to mix up and disguise what he’s doing in the secondary, but the guys back there might not be as good as the ones he had last season.

At PressProsMagazine.com, I wrote about how the quarterbacks are in focus this week with Sayin looking to redeem himself for a sub-par 2025 possession and Josh Hoover trying to prove he is the man to lead IU to another title.

Also at PPM, Jeff Gilbert asks if these Buckeyes are ready for another top five matchup after the loss to Texas this season and IU last year.

Back here, I had my weekly update on Jim Tressel’s first season as Ohio State head coach. It involved a visit from San Diego State and an offense still trying to find itself while the defense forced five turnovers.