5 reasons Ohio State football keeps perfect season in tact over Indiana

3. Hoosiers’ defense can’t slow OSU

The greatest part of last week’s game is everyone contributed and did their part. Though some players stood out more than others, everyone was able to pick up after each other’s mistakes. This was great considering the play calling issues, Haskins’ bouts with inaccuracy, and critical dropped passes.

Haskins had a rough start to the game and struggled most of the way through. The rest of the team seemed to catch onto that and rallied behind him to give more. This was most apparent in the receiving corps.

Dwayne Haskins had a pretty hefty stat line to end the game but that definitely doesn’t tell the whole story. As noted earlier, Haskins was not at all asked to throw the ball any further than about 20 yards down the field. Yet, the Buckeyes were still able to manufacture huge plays to get big chunk yardage.

The reason this was possible was because of the active receiving corps. It was the yards after the catch that seriously hurt the Nittany Lions. The receivers would catch the ball and immediately look for a lane to run in open space. The play wasn’t over until it was over for the receivers as the others would immediately jump in to block downfield for the ball carrier after the catch was made.

It makes sense that the coaches wouldn’t call many plays for down the field passing as they didn’t want to open up the possibility of turning the ball over. That would have easily been the difference between a win and a loss in a game as close as this. It also helps that the Buckeyes have some of the most athletic receivers in the country who can operate in the open field while carrying the ball better than most running backs.

Yes, Haskins struggled with accuracy all night but it didn’t cause enough turnovers to put the game in jeopardy.

The Buckeyes had four different receivers have over 50 yards. Three of those receivers scored touchdowns. The best part about most of the receivers the Buckeyes have is that they don’t require volume to be successful. They can catch the ball just once or twice and end up with over sixty receiving yards and a touchdown. That was the case with Binjimen Victor and J.K. Dobbins.

The Buckeyes have a very strong core group of players. Their depth on offense especially is unmatched due to the amount of play makers they have. Any player can come out and have a fantastic game on any given night. Expect the Buckeyes to only have trouble deciding which one of their great offensive weapons will go off on Saturday.