COLUMBUS – The Buckeyes are big favorites to win Saturday’s home game against Indiana, but the Hoosiers on the field are not always the pushovers they appear on paper.
(2) Ohio State (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten East) vs Indiana (3-1, 1-0) at Ohio Stadium, Sat. Oct.8 (3:30 p.m./ESPN)
Indiana’s upset of Michigan State in overtime Saturday raised some eyebrows among college football pundits around the country, but it wasn’t a huge stunner for Ohio State players who know the Hoosiers as a tough out the past few years.
For four years in a row, I mean, it’s been swing as hard as you can,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said Monday. “This is by far their best team” in the five years that Meyer has coached the Buckeyes.
Last year the Buckeyes just snuck by Indiana 34-27, fumbling the ball four times and racking up 109 penalty yards. In 2014, the Buckeyes didn’t manage to pull away until the third quarter in a 42-27 win.
The Hoosiers overcame a 14-point Spartans lead in the final 16 minutes Saturday night, and won on a 20-yard field goal in overtime, its first overtime game in six years and its second win in 26 tries over a ranked foe.
Ohio State has won 20 consecutive games over Indiana after seemingly unthinkable back-to-back losses to the Hoosiers in 1987 and 1988.
Then-coach Earle Bruce described the 31-10 1987 loss as the “darkest day in Ohio State football history.”
GAME NOTES:
OSU defense #1 in FBS in points allowed (9.3 ppg)
Buckeyes are the only FBS not to allow a rushing touchdown so far this season
OSU is #2 in turnover margin (+8) and #1 in defensive TDs (4), all interceptions
Ohio St. offense #1 in Big Ten and #3 in FBS in points scored (57.0 ppg)
Freshman RB Mike Weber leads the Big Ten with 123.8 yards/game (495 yds)