Keys to A Hoosier Win Over the Buckeyes in Columbus

Devine Redding will try and lead the Hoosiers rushing attack against a stingy Ohio State rush defense. Image: Chris Howell, HeraldTImesOnline

Written By Sammy Jacobs  (@Hoosier_Huddle)

When Indiana takes the field at Ohio Stadium on Saturday afternoon it will likely be a four-touchdown underdog. However games are played on the field and not on a board in a Las Vegas sports book. Here is what the Hoosiers will have to do to beat the Buckeyes for the first time since 1988.

1. Contain the Buckeyes Speed and Tackle

Speed kills. There is a reason as to why players who run sub-4.4 40-yard dashes are highly coveted and that is because you cannot teach speed. Ohio State has a lot of team speed and Indiana will have to keep players like Noah Brown and Curtis Samuel in check. Brown and Samuel will get theirs, but If IU allows these players get into the second level of the defense it will be a long day. 

There is no doubt that Tom Allen is turning around this defense, the attitude is better, the tackling is better, and the stats point to that turn around. Indiana is giving up 21.8 points per game, 373 yards per game, but will be tested by the nation’s top offense.

2. Establish the Run on Offense and Stop The Run on Defense

In order win big games in the Big Ten teams have to establish the run on offense and limit the run on defense. Ohio State has the third best rushing attack in the country averaging 332 yards on the ground per game. Stopping the run will not be easy, but the Hoosiers have done an extremely good job at stuffing opponents’ run games allowing just 139.5 yards per game. The Buckeyes will be the Hoosiers biggest test as they have two terrific backs in Mike Weber and Curtis Samuel who combined to run for 823 yards on 109 carries with four touchdowns between the two of them. Junior quarterback J.T. Barrett is also a threat on the ground on designed runs and scrambles. He has run for 205 yards and three touchdowns on 44 carries. If the Hoosiers can limit the Buckeye run game and force them to throw the ball, which is not necessarily their strength.

On offense the Hoosiers need to establish a good running game in order to be avoid becoming one-dimensional. In last week’s win over Michigan State, the Hoosiers found their power running game in the second half with the emergence of Tyler Natee. Ohio State is giving up under 100 yards of rushing per game (97.5), so big runs may be few and far between, but a decent running game will make Ohio State respect the rush and help the Hoosiers passing game. Don’t be surprised to see the Hoosiers really open the playbook and even use Diamont in some packages.

3. Be Aggressive, but Be Smart

Indiana is not going to beat Ohio State by playing an ultra-conservative game and trying to control the clock. The Buckeyes are too good and IU would have to be perfect in their execution. The good news is that head coach Kevin Wilson and coordinator Kevin Johns usually has something up their sleeves for the Buckeyes. Last season it was a fake punt (that was poorly executed) and a pass from Mitchell Paige to Zander Diamont that went for a huge first down. The Hoosiers have become a chunk play offense in the passing game again, averaging 10.06 yards per attempt when quarterback Richard Lagow is throwing the ball.

The danger, as we have seen, is the tendency for some of those long passes to be picked off. Lagow cannot be, nor should he be, scared off from throwing the ball down field. But he needs to pick his spots. If nobody is open, he cannot force the throw into coverage. Instead, Lagow should either scramble and get all the yards he can or just throw the ball away and live to play the next down. The last thing the Indiana needs to do is go into a shell on offense and try to play ball control with a team who is averaging 36:47 of possession per game.

4. Hoosiers Need to Play A Clean Game

As great of a win last Saturday was for IU, it was far from being a clean game. Indiana missed two (three if you count the miss nullified by a flag) field goals, left too many points on the field, and continuously shot themselves in the foot on offense in the first half. While is it silly to think the Hoosiers will get through an entire game without a flag, it is not unreasonable to hope that they can cut out the drive killing holding penalties they committed in the first half against MSU. The Hoosiers need to stay under five infractions for the game and keep the critical ones to a minimum.

It would also help the Hoosiers to have Griffin Oakes snap out of whatever funk he is in and grab points when the opportunity arises. Having a weapon like a kicker who can get extend the scoring range to basically across the opponents 40-yard line makes the game that much easier. Asking Oakes to consistently hit 50-plus yard field goals is unfair, but if he can be remotely consistent from 45 on in, that will help a ton.

Turnovers and takeaways will play a huge role in this contest as well. The Indiana defense only has one takeaway in the last two weeks, however the opportunity for more has been there. Indiana should have had a fumble recovery on Wake Forest’s first drive and an interception on Michigan State’s first drive. A referee’s flag wiped both out. IU needs to keep making competitive plays on defense and not get discouraged by the flags, while the offense needs to hang on to the ball.

Last weekend Lagow overthrew a wide-open Mitchell Paige, a play that would go for six, instead the Spartans were taking over at the 20-yard line because of an interception. Devine Redding dodged a bullet as he fumbled while hurdling a defender for extra yards and IU receiver Nick Westbrook recovered. Ohio State thrives at taking the ball away. IU will need to be extra careful holding onto the ball.

5. Take Advantage of OSU Early

I have re-watched two of OSU’s first four games (BGSU and Rutgers) and in both games the Buckeyes’ opponent had a chance to put the screws to OSU. Yet, both teams failed to do that and the Buckeyes ended up running away with the games beating BGSU 77-10 and Rutgers 58-0. Indiana’s offense is better than both of these teams and their defense is better than BGSU and probably better than Rutgers, so the idea of the Hoosiers taking advantage of a slow OSU start isn’t improbable. Indiana has held early leads before against Ohio State under Wilson. They led 10-0 in 2011, and 2015 and 10-7 in 2012. A fast start is a must, the longer the Hoosiers can stay with the Buckeyes the more the belief that they can beat them grows.