Indiana Hoosiers (2-2) at #6 Ohio State Buckeyes (4-0)
12:10 PM EST ESPN Plus
IU
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Forgetting the game against Cincinnati is easier said than done; it will likely
be talked about for years to come. However, the Buckeyes need to regroup
and focus on getting the job done this week in the Big Ten opener against
Indiana.
No disrespect to Indiana, but this year's version of the Hoosiers could be
referred to as the Hoo-aretheseguys? Chances are you have never heard of
many of them. Gone are standouts Antwaan Randle-El and Levron Williams, and
in are Gibran Hamdan and Yamar Washington (more on them in a bit). Also in
is new head coach Gerry Dinardo, who comes back to college after a stint with
the Birmingham Thunderbolts of the
XFL where he was faced with trying to stop the ruthless rushing attack of He Hate Me.
The days of He Hate Me have come and gone, but stopping the opponent remains
a big concern, especially given Indiana's situation of having key players banged
up on a defense that wasn't strong to begin with. News recently surfaced
of Hoosier safety Joe Gonzalez and defensive tackle Derek Barnett being out for
the season. Combine this with the fact that Indiana has just 65
scholarship players, and the conclusion can be drawn that this team could have
trouble in the Big Ten. They've managed to go 2-2 to this point (with wins
over Central Michigan and William & Mary), but it gets pretty tough from
here on out.
Indiana runs a spread offense that had some success in their recent game
against Central Michigan. Tommy Jones began the season as the starter, but
he has since been replaced by Gibran Hamdan (pronounced Ja-Brawn Ham-din), a big
guy (6-6, 231) who is 44 of 95 for 736 yards and 3 TDs in three games. IU
features a one-two punch at tailback in redshirt freshman Yamar Washington (5-9,
198), who has rushed for 338 yards on 63 carries in three games (and went for
100+ in the last two, including 163 against Kentucky) and three touchdowns, and
junior Brian Lewis (5-8, 205), who has rushed for 186 yards on 41 carries so far
this year. At WR, Glenn Johnson (Jr, 5-11, 193) and Courtney Roby (Soph,
6-0, 182) are the leaders, with over 350 yards receiving each. On the
offensive line is where you will find IU's top overall player in LT Enoch DeMar
(Sr, 6-4, 310) as well as another returning starter in LG A.C. Myler (Sr, 6-5,
324). Starting at right guard for the Hoosiers is an Ohioan in true freshman Adam Hines
(Vandalia, OH, 6-2, 283). The other starters are Bobby Brandt (Sr,
6-7, 295) and C Chris Jahnke (So, 6-5, 304). At TE is Aaron Halterman (Soph,
6-5, 267). The offense overall is averaging 387 yards per game (247.8
through the air, 139.3 on the ground) and 23.5 points per game.
Defensively, the Hoosiers are led by senior DT Kris Dielman (6-4, 283 from
Troy, OH) and LB sophomore Herana-Daze Jones (5-10, 208, pronounced Hernandez
according to the IU press release, leads the team with 50 tackles). The
Hoosiers are pretty young on defense, as right now, five freshmen are slated as
starters (DE Victor Adeyanju (6-4, 254), DT Russ Richardson (6-0, 259), MLB John
Kerr (5-11, 224) from Cleveland St. Ignatius, CB Damien Jones (5-11, 179), and
SS Will Lumpkin (5-11, 193), another Ohio native). In addition to those
five and Jones, two other starters are sophomores (LB Kevin Smith (6-1, 231, from Canton McKinley) and
DE Jodie Clemons (6-2, 261)), which totals eight players who are either freshmen
or sophomores who will be starting for IU against Ohio State. The other
two starters are seniors in CB Antonio Watson (6-1, 198) and FS A.C. Carter
(5-8, 193). Out of this group, only Dielman, Herana-Daze Jones and Carter
are returning starters. On special teams, Glenn Johnson will return punts
while A.C. Carter and Courtney Roby are the kick returners, while junior Ryan
Hamre (36.9 yard average) and sophomore Bryan Robertson (3-6 FGs) are punter and
kicker respectively.
Gerry Dinardo and the Hoosiers have their work cut out for them both long and
short-term, and the game against OSU is no exception. On paper, there is a
big gap in talent.
Let's stop right there though, because we've talked several times before
about the big gap in talent between OSU and other teams, and then the other
teams keep the game closer than they were supposed to (Saturday's game against
Cincinnati is the most extreme example). This week, we should see another
supposedly overmatched team coming to play the Buckeyes, and this overmatched
team will, like the overmatched teams in the past, be coming in fired up with
nothing to lose and will want to give the Buckeyes their best shot. OSU
needs to bring it every week, and if the Buckeyes did not get a wake-up call in
that regard from last week's game, they never will.
We will likely see Indiana try and put up yards through the air against Ohio
State while mixing in the run as effectively as they can. The big gap
comes on defense though as lining up against the OSU talent will be a big
challenge for this IU squad. Whether Maurice Clarett returns this week at
100% or not, the Buckeyes should be able to have success moving the ball on this
Hoosier defense.
The guess here is that last week served as a slap in the face for Ohio State,
and they will come out and be ready to put up a better performance. OSU
should win regardless of if they come ready to dominate or just play average,
but after the Cincinnati game, everyone wants to see them win more impressively,
so the thinking is that they'll want to beat up on the Hoosiers. The
prediction here is that Indiana will not be able to hold up defensively, and OSU
will score early and often, leading to a lopsided win.