Nick Saban thinks Indiana’s path against Ohio State starts one step before Jeremiah Smith ever gets involved.
On ESPN’s College GameDay, the former Alabama coach pointed the spotlight at quarterback Julian Sayin and made the case that the Hoosiers’ best shot at slowing the Buckeyes’ star receiver is to get after the passer.
“I think the best way to slow down Jeremiah Smith is to affect the quarterback, and that’s the one thing Ohio State’s going to have to do today: They’re going to have to handle Indiana’s pressure,” Saban said Saturday.
He expanded on that point by tying Sayin’s performance to pressure and leaning on Indiana’s defensive numbers. “Julian Sayin has been affected by pressure.
His completion percentage goes down to 56%. Indiana has 49 tackles for loss, so they’re good at getting you behind the sticks, and they have 20 sacks, which is among the top in the country,” Saban added.
The matchup comes hours before No. 4 Ohio State visits No. 5 Indiana for a noon ET kickoff on FOX.
Saban’s warning centers on a real issue for the Buckeyes. Pro Football Focus charting has Sayin 20 of 36 under pressure this season.
When he has a clean pocket, the Carlsbad, Calif., native has completed more than 82% of his passes in 2025. Once defenses have gotten to him, that number has dropped to just under 59%.
Ohio State’s lone loss showed how much that matters. Texas pressured Sayin on 15 of 36 dropbacks, and he went 4 of 12 in those situations as the Buckeyes finished with a career-low 53.1% completion rate.
But pressure hasn’t been a total answer by itself. Sayin still averages 11 yards per attempt with four touchdowns when pressured, which means Indiana has to do more than force discomfort. It has to finish.
That job falls to a defensive front that has piled up production all season. Indiana ranks third nationally in both tackles for loss and sacks. Tobi Osunsanmi leads the Big Ten with 9.5 tackles for loss, while Stephen Daley has recorded a sack in three straight games and has five overall.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day called Indiana’s defensive line “one of the biggest challenges” his team will face this season. The Hoosiers also had success against the Buckeyes in last year’s Big Ten title game, sacking Sayin five times in a 13-10 win. Ohio State’s offensive line has also been dealing with a month of shuffling because of injuries.
The Hoosiers need that pressure because their coverage numbers point to a softer spot. Indiana is 77th nationally in expected points added per dropback allowed, while Ohio State’s passing offense ranks second.
And then there’s Smith, who enters the game with 48 catches for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has accounted for about 37% of Ohio State’s targets, which is exactly why Saban’s focus stayed on the quarterback instead of the receiver.
“There’s no one like him right now, playing at this level,” Indiana coach Curt Cignetti said Monday.
Indiana has already shown it can survive Smith’s production. In last year’s title game, he caught eight passes for 144 yards, but the Hoosiers kept him out of the end zone for the second straight meeting.
ESPN analyst Greg McElroy picked Indiana to extend its 22-game winning streak, and Saban’s breakdown puts that streak in the hands of Osunsanmi, Daley and the Indiana pass rush rather than the secondary tasked with tracking Smith.
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