My Thoughts.....Indiana

 

The Ohio State Buckeyes came out of the bye week with a vengeance, demolishing the Indiana Hoosiers 54-7. Ohio State’s offense is now leading the FBS with 49.2 points per game. It was another complete game from a young team that appears to be getting better every single week, and although the same caveat about the level of competition clearly applies as it has every week since Oregon came to Columbus in early September, there seems little question that the Buckeyes are among the best teams in college football this season. Ohio State recorded more than 500 yards of total offense for a sixth-consecutive game, only the second time in school history they have done so in the regular season. C.J. Stroud was nearly flawless, throwing for 266 yards and four touchdowns in a driving rainstorm. TreVeyon Henderson was banged up on the first play of the game but would come back in the second drive. He was the team's leading rusher, gaining 81 yards and two touchdowns on 9 carries. Miyan Williams. would finish with 60 yards on 8 carries, which works out to 7.5 yards a carry. Evan Pryor looked sharp late in the game, and the team averaged just shy of 6 yards per carry for the game.

The wide receivers looked stellar in the weather conditions. Jaxson Smith-Njigba led the team with 99 yards on six catches. Garrett Wilson hauled in five catches for 59 yards, and Jeremy Ruckert hauled in two touchdown catches. Ohio State's offensive line made another strong showing, as Stroud had all night to throw the ball. The unit gave up just a single sack on the day and were equally effective in run blocking as they were in pass protection.

            Even though Indiana contributed to their own offensive woes (with Michael Penix out, Coach Tom Allen played three different quarterbacks in the game). Even so, five sacks and 14 tackles for loss is a good day playing against anybody. The defense also held Indiana to 128 total yards, which is the lowest total by an opponent since the Buckeyes held Illinois to 105 yards in 2017. The last touchdown on the ground the Ohio State defense has given up this year was in the third quarter of the loss to Oregon. Since the first two games of the season, the opposition has run the ball 186 times without a touchdown.

Next week, the Buckeyes are home against Penn State in another prime-time matchup. Even though the Lions just lost to Illinois in the longest game in FBS history, they should prove to be the stiffest competition since Oregon. They’ll need to continue the level of play we’ve seen over the last five games to come out on top.