It’s officially game week for the Indiana football program as it welcomes No. 3 Ohio State into Bloomington on Saturday afternoon.
The Hoosiers are looking to bounce back from a 4-8 campaign in 2022. Meanwhile, Ohio State went 11-2 last season and had a one-point loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff Semifinals.
Here are five early thoughts on Ohio State and the matchup.
Read: Indiana football makes decision on starting quarterback, won’t announce publicly
Who will Ohio State go with at quarterback? That seems to be the biggest question mark heading into the season. The Buckeyes have had a stiff quarterback competition in fall camp between Devin Brown and Kyle McCord and last week, there was still no update. Head coach Ryan Day said it was ‘split down the middle’ with the coaching staff on who should be the game-one starter.
Devin Brown is a redshirt freshman, while McCord is a redshirt junior. He started one game in his career, back in 2021 against Akron. He threw for 319 yards and had two touchdowns to one interception.
“You would like to have somebody who’s the quarterback to play the whole game,” Day said. “But for me to say, ‘Hey, this guy should just play the whole game and the other one shouldn’t,’ that’s not the right thing to do right now, because they both deserve to play at this point.”
On Saturday, ESPN’s Pete Thamel said on College GameDay that the expectation is for both players to play substantial snaps against Indiana. So for now, it’s a wait-and-see period for the Hoosiers and preparation for both.
“When I look at their situation it creates challenges. They are two different quarterbacks so we have to go through and have a plan for both … their core concepts will be consistent but the skillsets of each player is where the differences come,” Tom Allen said. “Both do some different things in a different way … definitely some situation things will be different without question.”
Will Indiana’s youth in its secondary be ready for the challenge against OSU’s wideouts? Ohio State has one of the most talented wide receiver rooms every single season and that’s the case again this year. Marvin Harrison Jr headlines that room that also includes Emeka Egbuka — both 1,100 yard + receivers in 2022. Julian Fleming had over 500 yards and six touchdowns as well. Toss in freshman five-star Carnell Tate and the Buckeyes once again have numerous playmakers all over the field.
For Indiana, the cornerbacks come into this season looking vastly different than a season ago. It’s a young group, headlined by many redshirt freshmen and sophomores. In addition, there are a few additional transfers that are looking to play significant roles that have also had to deal with the adjustments of a new school and program.
“It’s kind of crazy. This is the first time in a long time that we haven’t had anyone come back with Indiana experience. You start all over,” IU cornerbacks coach Brandon Shelby said. “Although you have some guys that have transferred in from other universities, who played a fair amount, they are leaving our terminology, how we do things, how we communicate, so you start from the very beginning: this is a football, this is where you line up. Then, you get into not only knowing the schemes and checks.”
Ohio State’s defensive line is deep and extremely talented. How will the Indiana football offensive line play in week one under new offensive line coach Bob Bostad? The Buckeyes have the potential for three first-round picks in next year’s NFL draft on their defensive line. That’s a very tall task for an Indiana offensive line that has obviously struggled consistently in the past few seasons. Having Matthew Bedford back will be critical for skill and leadership on the line, but having to go up against Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau and Michael Hall who combined for 12.5 sacks last season will be difficult.
Indiana pass rush could cause fits for an inexperienced offensive line of Ohio State. The Buckeyes lost three starters from its offensive line in 2022, including their starting center. Right tackle and left tackle have also been position battles that still have question marks around them. For Indiana, its defensive line comes in as a much more athletic and deeper group than past seasons. That and the addition of Andre Carter give the Hoosiers a much better pass rush on paper. Lanell Carr, Phillip Blidi, LeDarrius Cox and Marcus Burris are all very capable and proven players as well.
“This is the best d-line I’ve ever been a part of, to be honest” Carter said this fall. “Collectively, as from down to size and just the ability to play hard and be able to execute and have the discipline … [opponents] won’t just be able to key me, they’ll have to key everybody on this d-line because they’re playmakers.”
Ohio State’s secondary has ben receiving a lot of praise from the coaching staff this fall. This is one of the key position battles when Indiana takes on Ohio State. The Hoosiers lacked explosive plays a year ago and that was one of the downfalls of Ohio State’s defense under first-year defensive coordinate Jim Knowles in 2022. The Buckeyes also recorded recorded zero interceptions at cornerback last year.
“Explosive plays certainly is what really was our Achilles heel,” Ryan Day said at Big Ten Football Media Days. “We know that. We’ve talked about it.
Indiana has Cam Camper back and healthy and transfers EJ Williams and DeQuece Carter who look to make immediate impacts for the offense. If those battles are consistently won by the Buckeyes, look for Walt Bell and the rest of the Indiana offense to revolve around the running backs — both on the ground and in the passing game.
