Indiana football has concluded fall camp and the attention of the program has turned entirely towards Saturday’s week one matchup against number 3 ranked Ohio State.
Similar to Indiana football, Ohio State’s quarterback battle has been one of the main storylines of their fall camp. While Indiana has internally decided on a definitive starter, Ohio State has decided to go a different direction with both Kyle McCord and Devin Brown expected to play in Saturday’s game.
Also: Indiana football makes decision on starting quarterback, won’t announce publicly
Head coach Tom Allen and co-defensive coordinator Matt Guerrieri have been forced to game plan for both guys but with both lacking playing experience at the college level, Indiana has been forced to go back to their high school film to prepare for Saturday’s matchup.
“But the unknown to me, when you think about quarterback-wise, we’ve had — I think it’s not very many times that we’ve had a quarterback that we don’t really know a lot about,” Allen said during his press conference Monday. “… You have to go back to high school film for a lot of these guys, for both of these guys. So I think that makes it unique.”
The challenge for Indiana’s defense is the difference in skillsets between McCord and Brown.
“They’re also different quarterbacks as well. They have different skill sets,” Allen said Monday. “Both can throw the ball extremely well, and one’s more athletic than the other one is. From a running perspective, both can elude things.”
Between the two, McCord is considered more of a pocket passer, while Brown is more athletic and able to make plays with his feet. Both are talented players, with McCord and Brown both ranked inside the top 50 in their class according to 247sports.
“We’ve been through this before where they have a new quarterback and it’s — whoever it’s going to be is going to be a very, very talented player,” Allen said about the two. “They’re going to have new guys at other positions, but they’re going to be very talented new guys even though we haven’t seen them play a lot for Ohio State.”
While the focus has been on the quarterback battle in Columbus, it is important to remember, no matter who is starting for Ohio State, they will have Marvin Harrison Jr. on the outside. The son of Indianapolis Colts legend Marvin Harrison is going into his third season at Ohio State with high expectations.
In 2022 Harrison Jr. was the number one receiver for Ohio State after Smith-Njigba went down and he had 77 catches for 1263 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns. He is projected to be the first wide receiver taken in the 2024 NFL draft. Indiana will have to focus on stopping him if they want to shut down the Buckeyes’ high power offense.
“We have to play extremely well within our system. We have to do what we do well, and they’re going to have some catches and get some yards. You’ve got to be able to do a great job of preventing the explosive plays,” Allen said of the Indiana secondary. “… Some of these guys have played football quite a bit. They may be new to us, but not new to the game and not new to college football. But we do have some young guys who are going to play more than they have played in the past in the secondary.
“Yeah, they’ll be tested without question. They’ll be put in a situation where they’re going to have to play really, really well, and they’re going to have to have a really bad memory. If something happens, you’ve got to flush, and you’ve got to go.”
Matt Guerrieri joined Indiana football after one season at Ohio State this offseason. Guerrieri emphasized the strengths of this offense during his Monday presser.
Watch: Coach Q&A: Indiana football coordinators Matt Guerrieri, Walt Bell preview week one against Ohio State
“This is an elite offense. Ryan Day has had some of the best offenses in college football his entire time in Ohio State,” Guerrieri said about his former school. “While there is some familiarity from what the people look like and how they function from that standpoint. You still gotta stop them.”
Guerrieri has a difficult job ahead of him. His familiarity with the program and Day will only help him so much, but he expects Day to do new things in week one against Indiana.
“Those are really the biggest things as far as execution on our part compared to saying I know exactly what’s going to happen,” Guerrieri said. “They’re going to have things that he’s never shown before, different than when I was there, things like that. It’s about us.”
No matter what Ohio State does, Indiana’s defense has to be ready. If they don’t show up ready to go on Saturday, they could be in for a long day. In 2022, the Hoosiers struggled to stop the Buckeyes and suffered a 56-14 loss in Columbus as a result.
The fire power of Ohio State’s offense means Indiana will likely need to score a lot of points to stay in the game. That will be a tall task with Indiana starting a new quarterback against the Buckeyes’ stellar defense. Offensive coordinator Walt Bell spoke about the strength of the Buckeyes defense during his Monday presser.
“If you take those eleven starters, name one of them who doesn’t have a chance to play in the NFL,” Bell said about their defense. “There probably isn’t one. Every one of those guys is going to have a chance to play in the NFL someday. ”
With over 50 current OSU alums in the NFL, Bell is probably right. Ohio State consistently replaces the talent on defense each year and it’s a big reason why they compete for a spot in the College Football Playoff each year.
Bell highlighted Tommy Eichenberg as someone to look out for on the Buckeye defense.
“[Eichenberg] may be the best backer we will see all year,” Bell said about the linebacker. “He may be the best one in the country. He’s a really good football player.”
Eichenberg led Ohio State in tackles (120) and tackles for loss (12.0) in 2022. He also added 2.5 sacks and a pick six as one of the leaders of the defense. No matter who starts between Brendan Sorsby and Tayven Jackson, they will have to know where Eichenberg is on the field at all times. If the Hoosiers lose track of him, he has the potential to wreck the game.
Between now and Saturday, Tom Allen and co. have their hands full preparing for the talent of Ohio State. Indiana football opened as 30 point underdogs against the Buckeyes and if they are going to pull off the upset they will need a lot to go right on Saturday.
“Yeah, to me it’s just a matter of preparation. That’s the best answer I can give, and it’s going to be key,” Allen said. “It’s going to reveal itself, and we’ve got to do a great job as coaches of putting them in the best position as possible.”
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