Ohio State opponent Preview: Week 1 vs. Indiana
COLUMBUS — Head coach Tom Allen reloaded Indiana with more than 20 scholarship transfer additions this offseason. The pressure is on for Allen to get his defense back on track.
If he accomplishes that this season, it will almost certainly be after Week 1.
Ohio State has enjoyed significant success offensively against the Hoosiers. While the Buckeyes are replacing their highest-drafted quarterback in program history and three NFL draftees up front, they still have a slew of playmakers and, as a whole, the makings of another national title contender.
Nevertheless, Saturday’s season opener will be a good barometer for Ohio State. Here’s what the Buckeyes will be up against.
When is Ohio State playing Indiana?
Saturday, Sept. 2, 3:30 p.m.
Where is Ohio State playing Indiana?
Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana
Series history
Ohio State leads the all-time series 78-12-5. Since Ryan Day became full-time head coach, the Buckeyes have averaged 50.8 points per game against the Hoosiers. That includes explosions of 54 and 56 points in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Indiana did give Ohio State a scare in Day’s tenure, though. That was during 2020, the highlight of Allen’s now-seven-year run at the Hoosiers’ helm. Led by quarterback Michael Penix Jr., now a Heisman Trophy candidate at Washington, Indiana rallied back from a 42-21 deficit to make it a one-score game with more than 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Even though Penix finished with 491 passing yards and five touchdowns — but also a costly pick-six — Ohio State prevented him and the Hoosiers from knotting things up in the final frame.
Last year, the Buckeyes got back to their traditional scoring ways with a 56-14 victory over Indiana, a week removed from a windy and rainy slugfest at Northwestern. Josh Fryar made his first career start at right tackle, replacing an injured Dawand Jones, and shined against his home state team as the play-side tackle for a fair share of Miyan Williams explosive runs. Williams piled up 147 rushing yards and a score in the first half before being sidelined. Ohio State had more than enough firepower to go around. Quarterback C.J. Stroud resumed his Heisman campaign with five touchdown throws, one of which went to battle-tested wide receiver Kamryn Babb, making for an iconic moment in Ohio Stadium.
Breaking down the Hoosiers
Indiana’s 2022 Record: 4-8 (2-7 Big Ten)
Offense: Indiana was tied for eighth nationally with 40.3 pass attempts per game last year under offensive coordinator, and former UMass head coach, Walt Bell. The Hoosiers’ passing attack was hardly efficient, though. They were 87th in yards per game through the air (217.4), and that’s partly because they were handicapped by a struggling offensive line that finished the year 118th in Pro Football Focus pass blocking grade (45.3) and 122nd in PFF run blocking grade (47.0). Connor Bazelak — who attempted the lion’s share of the Hoosiers’ passes in 2022 — posted the second-fastest average time to throw on all dropbacks (2.52 seconds) among Big Ten quarterbacks with at least 100 dropbacks last season. Bell opted for a lot of quick game stuff to prevent his quarterbacks, namely Bazelak, from getting even more of a beating than they already did — Indiana was tied for 114th nationally with 3.17 sacks allowed per game. Short passes also served as an extension of a defunct run game. After all, Indiana was 112th in rushing offense last year with 110.83 yards per game on the ground.
Allen fired O-Line coach Darren Hiller last season. Former Northern Illinois and Temple head coach Rod Carey took over that job the rest of the season but is now a defensive quality control coach for the Hoosiers. Allen brought aboard former Wisconsin assistant Bob Bostad to coach the Indiana offense line. It’s a tall task for Bostad. He’s dealing with a projected starting lineup of left tackle Carter Smith, left guard Mike Katic, center Zach Carpenter, right guard Kahlil Benson and right tackle Matthew Bedford. On the bright side, they’re all returners. On the not-so-bright side, none of them registered a PFF run blocking grade higher than 57.8 last season. Bedford, however, missed practically all of last season with a torn ACL. The redshirt senior, who was an All-Big Ten honorable mention in 2021, is now back.
Indiana’s offensive line has a lot to prove in 2023. They’ll be tasked with protecting Tennessee transfer Tayven Jackson and/or Brendan Sorsby at quarterback Saturday against Ohio State. Those two redshirt freshmen have combined for 10 pass attempts in their young careers. Jackson is the higher-rated recruit of the duo — he was the On3 Industry Ranking’s No. 11 quarterback in the 2022 class — but the competition was reportedly close between him and Sorsby this offseason. One of them will have to hold things over while Dexter Williams II is sidelined. If they can get the ball out, and put it where it needs to be, Indiana does have some playmakers at the offensive skill positions. Wide receiver Cam Camper piled up 46 catches and 569 receiving yards in just seven games last year. The Hoosiers got Clemson transfer E.J. Williams. He hasn’t done much the past two seasons yet was the Tigers’ fifth-leading receiver (24 receptions, 306 yards, two touchdowns) in 2020 when Trevor Lawrence was still slinging the rock down there. If they have space to run, the the tailback trio of Josh Henderson, Jaylin Lucas and Wake Forest transfer Christian Turner is an intriguing one. Redshirt sophomore Aaron Steinfeldt, who started two games last season, is in line to take over as the Hoosiers’ lead tight end.
Indiana wide receiver Cam Camper catches a touchdown against Western Kentucky during the 2022 season. (Rich Janzaruk/Herald-Times / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Defense: Allen has a familiar face calling plays for his defense: co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Matt Guerrieri, who spent last season as a senior advisor and analyst at Ohio State. Guerrieri overlapped with Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles at Duke from 2012-17. He not only knows what Knowles wants to do defensively, but he also understands a thing or two about how the Ohio State offensive system ticks. Allen, Guerrieri and co-DC/linebackers coach Chad Wilt will need every advantage they can get this week. Indiana has allowed north of 33 points per game each of the last two years, a tough pill to swallow for a defensive-minded head coach like Allen.
The Hoosiers’ portal plunge is especially apparent on the defensive side of the ball. When Allen’s 4-2-5 defenses are at their best, they’re disrupting backfields and producing takeaways with different fronts and creative stunts and blitzes. Turn back the clock to 2020, and the Hoosiers forced 20 turnovers in only eight games, not to mention their 3.13 sacks per game, which were good for 14th nationally. Well, Indiana’s transfer additions should help in that department. Let’s start with its new edge rushers: Andre Carter from Western Michigan and Lanell Carr Jr. from West Virginia. Carter is coming off a seven-sack, 54-pressure season. Along with redshirt junior Myles Jackson, Carr is slotted to play the “BULL,” Indiana’s hybrid defensive end/outside linebacker position. Move inside, and you’ll find more transfers. Perhaps most notably, Texas Tech’s Philip Blidi, who turned in 218 defensive snaps, a career-high 18 total tackles and two sacks last season for the Red Raiders, is expected to start at defensive tackle. That group will be called upon to help the Hoosiers improve up on a run defense that ranked 99th last year.
Compared to its 2022 iteration, Indiana also looks unrecognizable in the back end, where, recently, the Hoosiers enjoyed decent continuity. Cornerbacks Tiawan Mullen and Christopher Keys left, and Jamier Johnson, Nicolas Toomer and Kobee Minor — from Texas, Stanford and Texas Tech, respectively — arrived. In addition to Johnson, Toomer and Minor, redshirt freshman Jamari Sharpe is in the mix at corner. Then at safety, there’s Louis Moore from Navarro College in Texas and fellow veteran Josh Sanguinetti, the latter of whom played 255 defensive snaps last year, allowed seven receptions on 11 targets, per PFF, but no touchdowns while recording one interception. Noah Pierre, playing the “HUSKY” (Indiana’s version of the nickel position), is back, too. Keep in mind, Pierre can get to the quarterback — he logged eight pressures and four TFLs, including three sacks, last year. Pierre is almost an extension of the Indiana linebacker room, which is once again the strong suit of this Hoosiers defense. The second level is spearheaded by Indiana’s 2022 tackling leader Aaron Casey, who was tied for 11th in the Big Ten with 86 total tackles.
Former Western Michigan D-Lineman Andre Carter transferred to Indiana this offseason. He’s coming off a seven-sack season. (Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK)
Special Teams: Allen not revealing his starting kicker Monday made for a somewhat viral moment. Later in the week, he shared that both Nico Radicic and Chris Freeman will kick Saturday against Ohio State. They’re competing to replace Charles Campbell, who was 14-of-20 on field goals and 27-of-27 on extra points last season. James Evans, from Auckland, New Zealand, was fifth in the Big Ten last season with a punt average of 44.3 yards. He’s returned, and so has Lucas, an electric 5-foot-9 back who doubles as the Hoosiers’ return specialist. Lucas housed a pair of kickoffs in 2022 and averaged 28.1 yards per kickoff return, making him fourth in the FBS in that category last year.
Numbers to know
86 — tackles notched by Indiana linebacker Aaron Casey last year. He also led the Hoosiers with 10.5 TFLs in 2022.
10 — combined career pass attempts registered by Indiana quarterbacks Tayven Jackson and Brendan Sorsby.
46 — catches snagged by Indiana wide receiver Cam Camper last season. And that was in only seven games, meaning he averaged 6.6 receptions per contest.
ESPN FPI
The database gives Ohio State a 97% chance of beating Indiana in Week 1.
Outlook
Ohio State has a chance to make a statement this week. The Buckeyes are trying to collect game data on quarterbacks Kyle McCord and Devin Brown. But they also will get their first measure of their defense in the second year under Knowles. The odds are stacked against Indiana, which — despite some intriguing skill talent and a potentially revamped D-Line — could be in for another long year.
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