Indiana

With all due respect to the late Heath Ledger and R Dean Taylor, we start 2017.  It's. About. Time.

I think this could arguably be the lowest point in all of Ohio State football.  But hey, it was only 30 years ago, it's not like any of us remember that, do we?  We lost the following year in Columbus too.  Even though the Buckeyes have now won 22 consecutive meetings in the series since 1988, the games in Bloomington can get tense - even with Urban as head coach.

2015 - Ohio State was No. 1 but trailed most of the game.  We had to have a 4th down pass go incomplete in our end zone at the end to escape 34-27.

2012 - Ohio State was favored by 18 but had to withstand a furious 4th quarter rally by the Hoosiers to win 52-49.

Add to that the fact that Indiana returns 9 starters on defense which is arguably stronger than Michigan's defense this year.  But we now have Indiana's former coach on our side and in our booth.  He should know how to best exploit that defensive talent - assuming his play calling and our execution are operating satisfactorily.  For how do we know?   Not only are we dealing with 18-21 year olds, there is no pre-season to judge what we will do or how we will do it?

But if you pay attention to Ohio State football, especially under Urban Meyer, you know that he has the Buckeyes primed and ready for the first game.  5-0 S/U and 4-1 ATS, including road/neutral wins v. Navy and Virginia Tech.  Meyer had won his first 20 true road games until PSU last October.  His new streak is at 2 and the Hoosiers won't threaten that.

No, what we are concerned about is the spread.  Vegas has us as a 21 point favorite with the O/U at 57.5.  Despite their good D and rumors of our D being very, very good, I'm laying the points and taking the over.  It will be a perfect night in Bloomington:  75 degrees, no rain, light winds.  Our offense is going to be explosive.   And despite Kevin Wilson on our side instead of theirs, Indiana will get its points.  They have a Senior QB and good receivers, so our "new" DBs will get tested.  Most of the time our DL should help them out but there will be some big plays from the Hoosiers.

I think we will be fine.  I think we will look pretty good when all is said and done.  And I think the hype for Oklahoma will start at about 12:30 a.m. Friday morning.  

Schaef says:  Ohio State 49, Indiana 21.