Ohio State and Indiana square off in Bloomington on Saturday in a top-5 battle between unbeaten teams. The showdown will also be a rematch of the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game, where the Hoosiers squeaked out a 13-10 win over the Buckeyes. Curt Cignetti’s team would go on to win the national championship while Ohio State would lose at the Cotton Bowl in the quarterfinals to Miami.
Some of the cast from last year’s game have moved on to the NFL, while stars like Jeremiah Smith, Julian Sayin, Charlie
Becker, and Stephen Daley return. Both programs have also brought in new faces both in recruiting and in the transfer portal. One thing is for sure, Saturday’s game has the feeling like a contest that is going to come down to the wire, much like it did in early December in Indianapolis.
Ohio State is going to have to be at the top of their game if they are going to be the team to halt Indiana’s 21-game winning streak. Last week Nebraska nearly did it, but the Hoosiers gutted out a comeback win. There is a lot to be worried about when it comes to Curt Cignetti’s team. Today we want to know what is most concerning about Indiana from a Buckeye fan perspective.
Today’s question: What should concern Ohio State most about Indiana?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Brett’s answer: Indiana’s wide receivers
Had it not been for Charlie Becker, the Hoosiers likely wouldn’t have beaten Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship Game. Becker finished with six catches for 126 yards in Indianapolis. Since then, Becker has only gotten better, as he enters this week’s game with 30 catches for 529 yards and eight touchdowns this season.
At 6-foot-4, Becker gives Josh Hoover a massive target. Becker has already shown he is a huge weapon when it comes to making catches along the sideline. As evidenced by averaging over 17 yards per reception, Becker also has some speed. It’s not crazy to say Becker might just be the best wide receiver the Buckeye defense will see this season, aside from when they have to line up against Jeremiah Smith in practice.
As if Becker wasn’t enough to have to deal with, Indiana brought in Nick Marsh from Michigan State in the transfer portal. It looks like Marsh is finding comfort in the Hoosier offense, going for over 100 yards in each of the last two games. Marsh saved Indiana’s winning streak last week, recording a 44-yard and 75-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
Ohio State has had issues at times defending the pass this year. In the fourth quarter against Texas, along with against Illinois, there were notable lapses in the secondary. Devin Sanchez has been dealing with a bit of a sophomore slump, while the status of Jay Timmons is unknown due to the injury he is dealing with.
Jaylen McClain is establishing himself as the leader of the secondary, but there’s a difference between McClain and Caleb Downs. If Hoover can complete some early passes to Becker and Marsh, doubt could start to creep into the minds of the defensive backs, and if that happens, it could be a long afternoon.
Matt’s answer: Indiana’s defensive front
If there is one thing that should concern Ohio State fans heading into Saturday’s showdown with Indiana, it is the possibility that the Hoosiers’ defensive front could disrupt virtually everything that has made the Buckeyes’ offense so dangerous this season. Because while Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith are obviously capable of doing some ridiculous things together, it becomes considerably more difficult when Sayin doesn’t have enough time to find the best player in the sport downfield.
Through six games, the Hoosiers are averaging 3.3 sacks and 8.2 tackles for loss per outing. They registered five sacks against Nebraska last weekend, led by fifth-year senior (and former Kent State Golden Flash) Stephen Daley. The defensive lineman has recorded six tackles for loss this season, including four in his past two games. Not great timing for the Buckeyes.
Indiana isn’t just getting pressure; it is regularly putting opponents behind the chains, which is particularly concerning for an Ohio State offensive line that has struggled with consistency and continuity. Starting right tackle Phillip Daniels hasn’t played since suffering an injury against Texas, while Austin Siereveld missed the Maryland game with an illness. That forced Gabe VanSickle to move from guard to tackle and Jake Cook into his first career start. Ryan Day expects most starters back this week, but even with reinforcements, the Buckeyes haven’t had much opportunity to build cohesion up front.
According to Pro Football Focus, Sayin has completed 75.6% of his passes from a clean pocket this season, compared to just 55.6% under pressure. That’s a 20-percentage-point difference, although his 11 yards per attempt under pressure demonstrate that he is still capable of making explosive plays when things break down. More concerning might be his performance against Maryland’s blitz, when he completed just one of five passes for one yard and threw a pick-six.
One of the concerns that many people have had regarding Sayin throughout his time as Ohio State’s starter is how rattled he seems to get under pressure. Obviously, every quarterback is less effective when he doesn’t have time to go through his reads or step into a throw, but accuracy is arguably Sayin’s greatest strength. When pressure takes 20 percentage points off his completion rate, it makes the entire offense considerably less dependable.
And perhaps the most concerning part is that Indiana might not even need to blitz to make Sayin uncomfortable. If the Hoosiers can generate consistent pressure with just four rushers — as many of OSU’s opponents have been able to do this season — that would allow them to drop seven defenders into coverage, making it considerably more difficult for Sayin to find Smith or any of his other receivers downfield. It’s one thing to deal with pressure when the defense has to sacrifice coverage to create it; it’s another entirely when the defense can have its cake and eat it too.
Unfortunately for Buckeye fans, Indiana’s front could also create problems for Ohio State’s developing rushing attack as well. The Hoosiers are allowing just 75 rushing yards per game and 2.3 yards per carry, both pretty darn impressive numbers.
I realize that the Buckeyes’ ground game isn’t the type of explosive attack we are used to seeing from championship-caliber teams, but its consistency does give me some confidence. Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson have combined for 814 yards at 5.5 per carry, but 32% of Ohio State’s rushing attempts have gained two yards or fewer. Against Indiana, those unproductive plays could become an even bigger problem than they have been thus far.
And since a competent rushing game helps give the passing attack a bit more breathing room, if IU can keep the Jacksons behind the chains, that’s just another way for them to make things difficult for the otherworldly Sayin-and-Smith connection.
The bottom line is that, while I expect Curt Cignetti and his staff to come up with a plan to cover Jeremiah Smith, Indiana doesn’t necessarily have to triple-team him to minimize his impact. If the Hoosiers can consistently disrupt the running game, put Ohio State behind the chains, and force Sayin to operate under pressure, they can effectively keep the ball out of the best player’s hands without ever having to dedicate three defenders to him.
