Ohio State’s latest win came with a familiar look: a lopsided final score, a defense that kept the opponent from finding much rhythm, and just enough from the offense to cruise past Maryland 45-16 in the annual Homecoming game at Ohio Stadium.
Now the Buckeyes are headed into something different. At 5-1 overall and 3-0 in Big Ten play, Ohio State goes back on the road for the third time this season, this time to face No. 5 Indiana in a top-five matchup that feels a lot bigger than a typical early-season conference game.
The Buckeyes were short-handed against the Terrapins, but they still produced 449 total yards. Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith had relatively quiet days, yet Ohio State still controlled the action from start to finish. On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes held Maryland to just 146 total yards.
That setup gets more interesting this week because Indiana is not just another ranked opponent. Ohio State has won 14 straight games at Memorial Stadium, but this Hoosiers team has already rewritten the conversation around the program. Curt Cignetti has pulled Indiana out of the place it once occupied and into the national spotlight, leading the Hoosiers to a 6-0 start and extending the nation’s longest winning streak to 22 games.
The Buckeyes already know what this version of Indiana can do. Cignetti’s team ended Ohio State’s 30-game winning streak in the series at the Big Ten Championship Game, beating the Scarlet and Gray 13-10 in Indianapolis.
Indiana has also shown it can win different kinds of games this season. The Hoosiers survived Northwestern 29-23 at home in late September, then rallied from behind to beat Nebraska 20-17 on the road last week.
For Ohio State, Saturday opens the hardest part of the schedule. After Bloomington, the Buckeyes are off next weekend before a trip to Southern California to meet No.
19 USC. Then comes Oregon at Ohio Stadium the following week.
If the Scarlet and Gray come through those three games without a loss, they’ll be in strong shape for another run at the Big Ten Championship Game and the College Football Playoff.
Ryan Day gets his third shot at Cignetti on Saturday, and both teams arrive in the top five of the AP Poll.
Day will talk through the Maryland win, the challenge of facing Indiana and what Cignetti has done for the Hoosiers when he joins Jim Lachey and Paul Keels on 97.1 The Fan for his weekly radio show on Thursday.
In Other News...
Ohio State Gets Pulled Into A High-Stakes Fight Over Eligibility
The eligibility fight surrounding fifth-year athletes in Ohio has now spilled into federal court, with the NCAA suing Gov. Mike DeWine over the executive order that lets state universities challenge the associations ruling. For Ohio State and the rest of the states Division I programs, the issue is more than paperwork. It goes straight to how coaches build rosters, manage scholarship spots and weigh whether a veteran player can give them one more season.
The NCAA argues the order violates the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment by giving Ohio schools an unfair edge and allowing them to sidestep NCAA rules. Ohios Division I programs reportedly support the directive, and coaches have said they will make decisions based on what helps the team most. For a Buckeyes program always balancing immediate ambitions against long-term roster planning, the legal standoff adds another layer of uncertainty to an already delicate eligibility question. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Faces Two Pressing Questions In Huge Indiana Test
Jeremiah Smith has become one of the most important pieces in Ohio States offense, and his involvement figures to be a major storyline in Bloomington. The Buckeyes have been looking for ways to keep their passing game balanced and dangerous, and getting Smith the ball is part of that equation as they head into a matchup that carries real weight after last seasons Big Ten title game loss to Indiana.
Julian Sayins protection will matter just as much, because Indiana can make life uncomfortable if Ohio State lets pressure reach the quarterback too often. On the other side of the ball, the Buckeyes also need to close quickly on Indiana quarterback Josh Hoover and create enough disruption to tilt the game their way, with this trip offering both a chance at revenge and a test of whether Ohio State can handle the kind of pressure that usually decides big conference games. [Read more 🡒]
Indiana Has A Chance To Shake Up The Big Ten Race
The Big Ten race is tightening at exactly the moment Ohio State would prefer some breathing room, and Indiana suddenly has a chance to make the leagues path a lot more complicated. The weekend slate comes with plenty of moving parts, from quarterback uncertainty elsewhere in the national picture to Ohio States own offensive line questions, but the Hoosiers are now positioned as one of the teams that could force the conversation to shift in a hurry.
For Buckeyes fans, that makes this a scoreboard-watching weekend as much as anything else. Alongside the predictions for the games themselves, the broadcasts are also expected to stir up talk about a possible 24-team College Football Playoff expansion, adding another layer to a week already loaded with speculation. If Indiana does its part, Ohio State may find the margin for error in the conference race getting thinner than it already is. [Read more 🡒]