What everybody is calling the game of the season will be played at Buckeyes Field this Saturday afternoon between #3 Ohio State , and #9 Indiana. NUMBER 9!!!! After Saturday, Ohio State will either have the same number of wins as Indiana, or 2 less wins than Indiana.
Lines (via my shady California bookie)
OSU -20.5 O/U 66.5 OSU -1010/Indiana +705
Ohio State will not be allowing fans to attend this game for COVID reasons. Even family members will not be allowed. There will only be cardboard cut outs that people paid money to have put in the stands so nobody can see them. Not only do they charge money for those cardboard cutouts, but they have the audacity to charge extra money for cutouts that are placed at the 50 yard line.
What an unbelievable racket that is… Nonetheless, it’s a heady move by Ohio State to not allow fans to this game. The less witnesses to what is about to unfold the better. I’m talkin about an Indiana victory.
What To Watch For:
Quarterbacks
Indiana’s Michael Penix – Great quarterback. Strong arm. Mobile in the pocket. Last name makes me LOL every time. He’s got to limit the mistakes if Indiana is going to stay in this game. I love the fact that he’s aggressive, and he’s got a couple awesome wide receivers that he can rely on, but sometimes he gets a little too confident. It’s hard to blame him considering Whop Philyor and Ty Fryfogle catch any pass thrown within a 10 foot radius of them, but he’s got over his skis and thrown some bad picks too. IU’s defense has been so strong that it hasn’t came back to bite him yet, but he’s not going to have room for error against Ohio State. Penix is a pass first Quarterback, but he is more than capable of making plays with his feet when things break down. I expect Penix to rely more heavily on his ability to scramble against Ohio State than he has against significantly weaker opponents (Michigan Wolverines, Penn State Nittany Lions, etc.)
Ohio State’s Justin Fields – I mean he’s just really fucking good. He has the highest QB rating in all of college football. He’s won me a lot of money betting Ohio State 1st Half’s over the last couple of years. Honestly, I’m probably going to bet it again this week to hedge against the unlikely scenario in which the Indiana Money Line does not hit. I keep telling myself that he’s going to be rusty after a week off, but that’s simply not going to be the case. If he can avoid turnovers and take advantage of an aggressive Indiana defense, it could be a long day for the Hoosiers secondary.
Illegal Tattoo’s on Ohio State Athletes
Ohio State has a well documented history of being big fat cheaters (i.e. landing recruits that they would never in a million years be able to land if they didn’t offer them free tattoos). Be sure to look closely at any ink on Ohio State player’s, arms, legs, necks, and faces. If any of it looks a little too well done it’s a safe bet that they got them as an illegal recruiting gift. Please report any illegal tattoo sightings to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office at 614-525-3310, and ask for Head Sheriff Dallas Baldwin (pictured below)
Wide Receivers
In my extremely biased opinion, this is one area where I truly think Indiana has an advantage. Ohio State is always going to have quality receivers, but it’s a fairly young group. They have great speed and they’re improving week in and week out, but that’s Ohio State every year. Garret Wilson and Chris Olave lead the team in receptions with 24 and 18 respectively. They’re going to get open and they’re going to make plays. They’re undoubtedly going to have their moments on Saturday.
Indiana on the other hand has 2 experienced Senior wideouts who are both certified studs. One handed catches, deep balls, tough catches over the middle, they do it all. Any deep ball thrown their way you feel like they have a chance to come down with no matter how tight the coverage is. Mister Elias De’Angelo Philyor aka Whop Philyor came into the season as Indiana’s #1 receiver. I would argue he is their most talented, but more importantly than his performance on the field – check out how he got his nickname, Whop.
Whop is electric on and off the field. His Senior counterpart Ty Fryfogle, however, has been the best performer on the Hoosier’s offense this season with 24 receptions, 17.7 YPC and 4 TD’s. He has not been credited with a dropped pass yet this year. Fryfogle is a perfect mixture of grit and finesse. Fryfogle DOMINATED Michigan State’s secondary last weekend to the tune of 11 receptions, 2 TD’s and 200 yards receiving.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Indiana’s Junior Tight End Peyton Hendershot. He’s been plagued slightly by drops this year, but he’s another big target and he’s going to need to be a reliable possession receiver for Penix as well.
Big Ten Referees favoring Ohio State
A sad reality of playing in the Big Ten East is that you must always overcome 2 opponents, Ohio State, and the referees. The Big Ten needs Ohio State to win. They need Ohio State to make the College Football Playoff. They will do whatever it takes to make that happen. I will not complain about this, but it is something that is true.
Running Backs
If there’s 2 college football teams I’ve legitimately paid attention to this year, it’s Indiana and Ohio State. Imho (in my humble opinion), I’m not impressed with either teams premier running backs.
Indiana’s Stevie Scott is a big back who runs hard, but he’s had a tough time finding room to run between the tackles this year. Indiana has the 120th ranked rushing offense in the country. There are only 125 division 1 football teams, so that’s extremely not great. Indiana’s offensive line needs to do a better job getting that initial push up front, but that’s a tall task against any Ohio State defense. Sampson James will backup Stevie Scott, but with Stevie Scott receiving over 75% of carries by Indiana running backs, the success of their run game will fall on Scott’s shoulders.
Ohio State on the other hand has the 20th ranked rushing attack, which is to be expected year in and year out for them. I’ve given their starting running back Master Teague III the eye test, and despite an extremely cool name, he doesn’t scare me. He runs similar to Stevie Scott. He’s a big guy, and he goes north and south. I haven’t seen him make a ton of players miss. JK Dobbins is a bigger loss for Ohio State than people have given him credit for. To be honest, the backup Trey Sermon looks more dangerous to me. Both are fully capable of running circles around the Hoosiers, but if Indiana can play good gap defense they should be able to limit big plays.
Dan Dakich being a prick on Twitter
I wouldn’t know because he’s had me blocked since 2016. I do have a burner account that I am able to check in on him with, however I primarily use that account to troll my friend Jake Price. Dakich will most likely try his best to trigger Hoosiers fans with some anti-Indiana bullshit at some point during the game.
Defense
Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. Turnovers have been the name of the game for Indiana’s defense this year with 10 interceptions, and 2 fumble recoveries for a +8 turnover margin. Unfortunately for the Hoosiers it’s going to be a little tougher picking off Justin Fields than Rocky Lombardi.
Just like in every other area of the game, Ohio State’s defense has some great athletes, and they’re for sure going to make big plays. That being said, they are not at all what they were in 2019. They’re yet to have a real test yet this year, but giving up 25 points to Penn State (0-4), and 27 points to Rutgers is nothing to write home about. Penix and his receivers are going to be their biggest challenge yet.
Indiana Head Coach Tom Allen injuring himself while celebrating
Tom Allen has hurt himself on multiple occasions against much lesser teams than Ohio State. I’m genuinely worried about his health when Indiana’s defense comes up with a #ScoopNScore on the first drive of the game.
Conclusion
This is without question the biggest game the Indiana Hoosiers have played in my lifetime, and I couldn’t be more excited for Saturday. Thoughts and prayers to my friends who are all Ohio State fans if the Hoosiers somehow pull this one off because I am going to be insufferable about it for a full calendar year.
Indiana 42, Ohio State 6
John Rich TV 