Midway through the 2026 season, Ohio State looks like one of the best teams in the country. But the Buckeyes are not walking through this thing without problems, and if they’re going to win their second national title in three seasons, the next stretch is going to demand real answers.
That process can start Saturday against Indiana, because there are three issues that could shape the second half of Ohio State’s season.
The first is obvious every time Jeremiah Smith touches the ball. He has been outrageous, the kind of player who makes double- and triple-teams look irrelevant.
Through six games, Smith has piled up 916 receiving yards, which is nearly 700 more than the next Ohio State wideout. Devin McCuin is next on the list at 245, and that gap is too wide to ignore.
Smith can carry a lot, but he can’t carry everything forever. Julian Sayin needs someone else to become a real threat, whether that’s McCuin, freshman Chris Henry Jr., or somebody else entirely.
The second question is about the defense getting after the quarterback. This Ohio State unit is still good, but it doesn’t have the same edge as last year’s group, which dominated almost every statistical category.
The biggest problem is the pass rush. Midseason, the Buckeyes have only nine sacks, which ranks 101st nationally.
That’s not the kind of pressure that scares top opponents. If Ohio State wants to beat the best teams on its schedule, it needs opposing quarterbacks to feel like a sack is coming at any moment.
Then there’s the kicking game, and that’s where things get uncomfortable. Connor Hawkins was brought in to solve a problem that has haunted Ohio State in the Ryan Day era.
Noah Ruggles missed against Georgia in 2022, and Jayden Fielding had misses in the Big Ten Championship and the Cotton Bowl last season. Hawkins has not made the issue disappear.
He missed a potential game-winning field goal against Texas and another kick against Iowa, and those were the only two ranked opponents Ohio State has faced so far.
That makes Saturday more than a routine conference test. If Hawkins has another miss against Indiana, Day is left with a bigger decision about how much faith he can place in him against elite competition. And if that trust isn’t there, Ohio State is right back where it started in the kicking game.
In Other News...
Ohio State Gets Pulled Into A High-Stakes Fight Over Eligibility
The eligibility fight that has pulled Ohio State and the rest of the states Division I programs into the middle of a much bigger legal clash is no longer just about football or basketball rosters. The NCAA has sued Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine over his executive order that lets state universities challenge the organizations ruling on fifth-year athletes, turning a routine-sounding eligibility dispute into a test of how far a state can go in carving out its own path.
At the heart of the lawsuit is the NCAAs argument that the order violates the Commerce Clause and the First Amendment by giving Ohio schools an unfair edge and letting them sidestep national rules. Ohios Division I programs are said to support the move, and coaches have already made clear they will handle roster choices with team interests in mind, which leaves Ohio State waiting on a legal process that could reshape how fifth-year eligibility is handled across the state. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Faces Two Pressing Questions In Huge Indiana Test
Ohio State heads to Bloomington with a clear sense of what will matter most against Indiana, and the matchup starts with making sure Jeremiah Smith is a bigger part of the offense. The Buckeyes know they need to keep freshman quarterback Julian Sayin comfortable, which means a cleaner pocket and better answers when Indiana brings pressure.
Indiana can make life difficult by getting after the quarterback and forcing Ohio State to operate under stress, while the Buckeyes also need to make sure they can do the same in return against Josh Hoover. With last seasons Big Ten title game loss still part of the backdrop, this is the kind of test that can reveal whether Ohio State is ready to handle a physical road environment and finish drives when the game tightens up. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio States Indiana Rematch Comes With More Doubt Than Buckeye Fans Expected
The rematch with Indiana arrives with more uncertainty than Ohio State fans likely expected after the teams crossed paths in the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game. Since then, the matchup has taken on a different feel, with the conversation shifting from revenge to a broader question of where the Buckeyes stack up against a program that has already shown it can win this stage.
Advanced metrics and preseason-style projections only sharpen the debate, offering competing views of how strong both teams are and where the edge might lie. For Ohio State, the intrigue is not just whether it can answer the last meeting, but whether the numbers that surround this rematch are pointing toward a clean reset or a continuation of the doubts Indiana helped create. [Read more 🡒]