Ohio State’s trip to Indiana this week comes with a little extra hardware traffic around Ryan Day.
Day landed on the Dodd Trophy midseason watch list Tuesday, a nod that goes to the coach whose team performs best on and off the field. The timing lines up with another major test for the Buckeyes: fourth-ranked Ohio State visits No. 5 Indiana on Saturday in a rematch of last year’s Big Ten Championship Game.
Day just reached his 100th game as Ohio State’s head coach, and the numbers behind that run are hard to miss. He is 87-13 in Columbus, owns the fourth-most wins in school history and ranks second in winning percentage, trailing only Urban Meyer’s .902. Jim Tressel remains the only Ohio State coach to win the Dodd Trophy, taking it in 2002.
The midseason watch list includes 18 coaches, among them Indiana’s Curt Cignetti, who will be on the opposite sideline this weekend.
The Buckeyes also have a key award update on the way for their offensive line. The Joe Moore Award will release its midseason honor roll Wednesday, and Ohio State is still chasing a distinction it has never claimed. The award goes to the nation’s top offensive line each year.
That pursuit has come with constant shuffling up front. Ohio State opened the season with Ian Moore, Luke Montgomery, Carson Hinzman, Austin Siereveld and Phillip Daniels from left to right. Daniels was hurt in Week 2, which pushed Siereveld to right tackle and Gabe VanSickle into the lineup at right guard.
The group changed again in last week’s win against Maryland after Siereveld was sidelined. VanSickle slid out to right tackle, and Jake Cook took over at right guard.
Ohio State expects Daniels to return against Indiana. Siereveld’s status is not clear, which keeps VanSickle in play at right guard.
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 🡒]