3 reasons why Ohio State will squash Indiana on Saturday
By Alec Hartman
The Ohio State Buckeyes look to remain perfect as they host the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday for a big noon conference showdown.
The Buckeyes have been looking forward to competing again as they were idle last weekend. The pseudo bye week is probably the last thing the Buckeyes were hoping for in the first half of this delayed season. The Buckeyes came out firing on all cylinders to begin this season as they’ve defeated opponents by an average of 23 points.
Idle time can be beneficial in some cases but not as much in the case of the Buckeyes as their positive momentum could be diminished. An idle weekend of competition for a team can be related to a team calling a timeout during a game that has gone out of their favor. This idle weekend could not have come at a worse time for the Buckeyes as an unexpected strong competitor is on the horizon and will be arriving this weekend in full stride.
The Hoosiers are undefeated after four weeks of play for the first time since 2015. This feat has been far more impressive now than that of five years ago considering the Hoosiers’ current schedule. The Hoosiers have been victorious over some of the Big Ten East’s top dogs including Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan.
Sure, all of those teams have been extremely underwhelming thus far but the Hoosiers’ consistency and sizable margin of victory in their last few games have been impressive. Considering the blunders of the other traditional Big Ten East powers, this game could very well be the Buckeyes’ surefire ticket to the Big Ten Championship. However, the Hoosiers realize that this game could also be their ticket to the big game.
The Hoosiers are looking to continue their first breakout season since recent head coach hire Tom Allen entered the scene in 2016. The team finished on the positive side of a .500 record last season but concluded it in a lackluster manner after dropping three of their last four games including a close loss to Tennessee in the Gator Bowl. The Hoosiers will not earn respect as a true contender in the Big Ten East until they put together a complete season from start to finish.
In other news, Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson enters his fourth matchup against his former team whom he coached for five seasons. The Buckeyes have won the last three matchups by no less than 23 points.
A victory over the Buckeyes this weekend will certainly help the Hoosiers’ case as the next team up in place of the currently waning top half of the division. However, the Hoosiers have not been competitive with the Buckeyes through four quarters of football since 2015 in Bloomington. It will certainly be a tall task for the Hoosiers to overcome recent blunders against the Buckeyes especially considering the 41 point differential in Bloomington last year.
The Hoosiers will be facing that same Justin Fields and Ryan Day combo this season but it will flip to Ohio Stadium where the Buckeyes were undefeated and had a win differential of fewer than 24 points just once last season. The Hoosiers have looked the part thus far and made that clear last weekend by easily putting down division foe Michigan State 24-0 in a shutout. Expect the Buckeyes to once again put the Hoosiers in their place.