Indiana's Receivers Against Ohio State's Secondary is the Match-up to Watch Thursday

Simmie Cobbs (1) is back healthy after missing all but one play in 2016. Image: Sammy Jacobs HoosierHuddle.com

Written By Alex Compton (@Alexncompton)

Well, game week is finally here, and Thursday night is fast approaching. Lots has been said about this Indiana team not being able to stand up against Ohio State at all, and I just simply don’t think that’s true. Indiana has one of their best teams in a long time, and the Buckeyes come to Bloomington with some inexperience at glaring positions that could be a huge factor in week one on the road. One of those positions is defensive back, and luckily for IU, the wide receiver group is the strongest group on the team. Let’s take a look at the first matchup to watch of the year- IU’s wide receivers vs. OSU’s defensive backs. 

INDIANA’S RECEIVERS VS. OHIO STATE’S DEFENSIVE BACKS

It has been pretty clear so far this offseason that Indiana could very well go as far as the wide receivers can take them on the offensive side of the ball. They have a ridiculous amount of talent coming back, and fifth year senior quarterback Richard Lagow should be licking his lips from week to week surveying the options he has to throw to. Nick Westbrook is a #2 on the depth chart. Just think about that. Add in Simmie Cobbs, Donavan Hale, Luke Timian, J-Shun Harris III, Taysir Mack, Jonah Morris…okay you get the point. IU’s receivers are talented, deep, and experienced- three words that will have any secondary up the night before week in and week out. 

On the other side of the field, Ohio State is pretty inexperienced. Malik Hooker, Gareon Conley, and Marshon Latimore are off to the NFL by way of the first round, and that leaves some guys without big usages ready to have huge roles for a Buckeye defense that most recently gave up 31 points to Clemson in the College Football Playoff. Junior Denzel Ward will line up at one corner spot, while sophomores Damon Arnette and Kendall Sheffield are listed as co-starters at the other spot. Sheffield is a JUCO corner that has never played a D1 snap, and Arnette was a reserve last year that played mostly on special teams and had one pick on the year. Ward has never started for the Buckeyes, but put up solid numbers last year with 9 PBU’s and 23 tackles. He will be the anchor on the outside, but can probably be exposed with Simmie Cobbs running at him all game. Sheffield and Arnette are extremely inexperienced, and a combination of Donavan Hale and Nick Westbrook rotating in and out should give those two fits during the game as well. IU’s receivers also have a clear size advantage on the Buckeyes, which will bode well for Richard Lagow. He struggled mightily throwing deep balls to shorter receivers last year (Mitchell Paige), and having Cobbs, Hale and Westbrook fresh all game should help alleviate some of those issues this year. 

A lot of this hinges on the availability of Simmie Cobbs for Thursday night, but all signs seem to point towards him playing. He was listed as a starter on the depth chart, has been running with the 1’s and has not been commented on by Coach Allen recently other than by saying that no decision has been made still. If he plays, that means IU has an insane amount of talent running at the Buckeyes with fresh legs, which should help expose some pretty inexperienced guys at corner. A lot of this also has to do with Indiana’s offensive line as well, because in order for Richard Lagow to get the ball to these guys, our front 5 will have to keep their best unit (D-Line) out of the backfield all night long. 

Other Notes On This Matchup:

Ohio State finished with the 8th best pass defense in the country last year according to the S&P+ while IU finished with the 23rd best passing offense according to the same metric. (Mike DeBord’s Tennessee offense finished #9 in the country). 

Indiana’s projected starters are Simmie Cobbs, Donavan Hale, and Luke Timian. 

Lagow's 2016 Stats (Thirteen Games):

253/438 (57.8%), 3362 yards, 19 touchdowns, 17 interceptions (ran for 2 scores, caught 1, lost 1 fumble)

Averages of:

7.68 yards per pass

13.29 yards per completion

258.7 yards per game