Indiana

Sigh.   How can we get excited about a game against a school whose fight song says:

“Indiana, oh Indiana

Indiana, we’re not Purdue,

Indiana, oh Indiana

We suck so bad we’ll lose to you.”

Don’t believe me?   Click here. (And pay close attention to the directions on how to make the “I” then “U” symbols with your arms).  Side note – I got accepted to IU’s law school and gave very serious consideration to going there.   God, I’m glad I didn’t.  Double sided note – I dislike Tom Crean.  Immensely. But I digress.

Remember when IU went into Columbia and upset No. 18 Missouri?   Yeah, neither do I.  But apparently they did and it was good for the B1G.   Well, apparently they had Nate Sudfeld at QB then, but he went down with an injury in the Iowa game and they’ve lost 5 straight and been outscored 193-86.   During that time they’ve lost to offensive juggernauts like Rutgers, Penn State, and that team up North.  Please re-read that last sentence again.

And our history against Indiana – well I’ve put together a video of highlights from past games for you.   We are 69-12-5 against the Hoosiers.   We’ve won 19 consecutive matchups.  Aside from that nightmare stretch in 1987-1988, you have to go back to 1951 to find another Indiana victory.  And Indiana comes into this matchup with some astounding statistics – 116^th in passing offense, 101^st in passing defense, 88^th in scoring offense, 104^th in scoring defense, 107^th in turnover margin, 120^th in 3^rd down offense, 125^th in red zone defense, 104^th in fewest penalty yards – I could go on. . . there are more bad stats.    After giving it some serious thought, I cannot come up with a key play from any Indiana game, let alone a key game in the series.   I did find this though (go to 54:00 exactly).

Last year, the Buckeyes won 42-14 in the cold and snow.   Both our offense and defense are better than last year.  Unfortunately, tomorrow is supposed to be mid-40s and showers, which may slow down our passing game, and Indiana does have a decent RB.  The line is Ohio State -34.5 with an over/under of 64.5.  Since Sudfeld went down, Indiana only covered once (barely against Penn State) and the rest of the games have not been close.  The Hoosiers inability to score also means the under isn’t a bad play.

The Buckeyes will not lose focus – not sitting at No. 6 in the latest poll and not with style points being critical.   That being said, look for most starters to be pulled early in the 3^rd quarter to save them for scUM and the B1G Championship.  I think I’ll take Indiana and the points and the under, just because the Hoosiers will get a late score against our 4^th team defense.   I also think we will rush for nearly 400 yards and the game will be a quicker one. 

Schaef says:  Ohio State 42, Indiana 13.