You're listening back Home Network presented by Home Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson Cast, Galen Clavio joining you. We're recording this on the night of the 20th. You're probably listening to it on the night of the 21st or maybe even the morning of the 22nd as you're making your way to Columbus, either physically or in spirit as Indiana with a huge game this weekend, taking on the Ohio State Buckeyes. A top five match up, a rarity in
IU football history. This does not happen very often. And a week that's been really fascinating to be an IU fan. I think for a variety of reasons, as we've been trying to do more on the show, we feel like we got to get a, a, a bona fide preview podcast in. And who better to do that with us then our good friend from Bite size Bison, Taylor, Layman. Taylor, good to see you. How are you doing? I know you just got done doing a whole podcast. You're, you're double dipping tonight.
Hopefully your voice holds out. How are things going? Yeah, no, I'm good, I'm good. I'm kind of getting sick of myself at. This point, well, I meant all all broadcasters have. After a while you're like, I'm really tired of hearing my own damn voice. Like seriously. Yes, tired to hear my thoughts, tired to hear my voice. Yeah, just I I I'm ready to go to bed. Like I I need to recharge take
take a day off or something. That was what the bye week was supposed to be for Taylor. I mean, come on. But I no, you're right. But it's, you know, it's one of those things everything kind of comes crashing together at this time in November. You got Thanksgiving week coming up. You got all these other things going on. And then college football, you know, this is the dance that IU is never not. I'm not gonna say they've never been invited cause the
invitation's been there. They've never bothered to leave like mom's basement to go like get to the dance. And yet here we are. And it succeeded most everybody's wildest expectations as the Hoosiers 10 and O, the chance to to make history here again after after the win against Michigan that got into 10 and O, which was historic.
Every win from here on just adds to the myth that the 2024 season will have forever in the history of the IU football program and a huge challenge coming up for Indiana in this game. We're going to break it down statistically for you here on this podcast. This is ironic because Taylor has probably the best knowledge of Ohio State of of any team because he covered them for several years covered the program understands that group kind of inside and out.
And so we're going to talk about that as well and then what they're feeling. But first real quick before we get started, just a reminder that we are brought to you here at the back home network by home field apparel, your place to go with the finest in college fashions, the softest fabrics,
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Indiana versus Ohio State. This is a game that, you know, Indiana's they've they've teased us at times over the course of the last 15 years or so, 13 years, whatever, with weirdly close games at times against Ohio State. None really recently, you know, but especially during the Kevin Wilson era and the very beginning of of the Tom Allen era, There were there were games there where Indiana just kind of
hung around. You know, probably most famously encapsulated by that 2015 game where, you know, Xander Diamont scores that surprise like 70 yard touchdown run and then Indiana has shots in the end zone at the end to try to tie the game. You know, there was the game a couple years earlier where I think it was like 5249 or some some ridiculous score like that. Haven't had a lot of those lately. Ohio State has been the dominant
partner in this. And you know, they've looked like like they're on a different planet from Indiana. I mean, the last time I can remember Indiana being competitive in an Ohio State game was that game that Indiana played against Ohio State at the beginning of the 2017 season when they were tied or maybe had a small, small lead going into the fourth quarter and then Ohio State just smushed them there at
the end. This is not that year, at least we don't think that it is Like this is a game that if you look at the statistics between these two teams and how they performed, these are relatively even teams. And Taylor, you know that. I know that. I think the thing I've enjoyed the most about this week is watching all of these national pundits who haven't really watched Indiana that closely in most cases, looking at these numbers and suddenly being like, gosh, this might not be a blow
out after all. This wasn't what we were expecting. Yeah, yeah. I think we need more of those folks. But yes, yeah, yeah. No, it's, it's, it is, it's gonna be, it's going to, it's going to be interesting. I, I, I think it's going to be closer than than a lot of people expect. I, I do have concerns, but I, I, you know, The thing is I've had concerns all year and they've, you know, they've, they've overcame them in, in pretty much
every capacity. So, yeah, I, I, I think, you know, I just on the podcast, I was just on, he said that his his friends were his friends are all predicting in Ohio State blowout. And I'm like, I don't know, I think you guys are going to be surprised. What? OK. What I've been telling folks on the Ohio State side is that this coaching staff is different than the than, you know, if you think back to like those games, you were just talking about the games when Indiana played them closely.
This, this staff is very different than those Staffs were. And and so and I think back to 2020 as well as the same way, you know, I mean, obviously they had Kane Wommack, but they had Nick Sheridan as their offensive coordinator. And it it's just a different team. It's a different program entirely than what it was when it was actually when when it was when these teams were plucky Indiana teams. But that's this team is not plucky. This team is legitimate. And I think that's that's the
difference here. And I think that's kind of what Ohio State based fans and media don't maybe don't see through is that this this brand of Indiana is it's it's a different brand of college football at Indiana. Yeah. And that's, and I think that's a key thing because if you try to talk about what makes potentially this game different, it's really not the talent on the field.
Inasmuch as, you know, I think you could make a comparison from a recruiting rankings perspective with some of those Kevin Wilson teams and what Indiana's fielding right now and say that maybe those teams were actually slightly more talented. There was more N more NFL talent on the roster. There were better athletic specimens. This group is playing much better as a cohesive unit.
And and they're they're so much more engaged and I think focused on their jobs and so much more detail oriented. But it's largely because of the coaching staff. And that's the thing I think is most fascinating about this particular match up and this whole idea of what exactly to
expect out of this game. Because you know, Kurt Zignetti and Mike Shanahan and Brian Haynes and like this entire brain trust that came over from James Madison, plus Bob Bostad, who stuck around from Allen's staff, Like what they've been able to forge mentally and execution wise with this roster
is the it's the secret sauce. Like, you know, you can look at all the the players that are making individual plays and they certainly deserve a ton of credit, But they're operating in a system that's putting them in positions to succeed and with a confidence that has been provided to them by the coaching staff and and that they have eventually been able to feed
into. And I think it's a really fascinating change of pace because, you know, when you think about what Ohio State often times deals with in the Big 10, they don't often deal with teams that are really cohesive and are really well coached. You know, you normally will have one or the other. You know, because Big 10, we, you and I were talking about this with the SEC earlier a little bit.
And it's actually applies a lot to the Big 10 where you can kind of afford, if you're at a big enough school in the Big 10 to get by without being the best game planner or the best motivator or the best strategist because you've got a talent level that will beat most other teams but not beat Ohio State in this case. Indiana's already demonstrated this year that they can beat teams with superior talent, teams that maybe we're even playing better going into games.
And we saw that with Maryland. I think we saw that with Nebraska earlier because they are so well drilled, they're so well coached and fundamentals, and they're so good at picking apart the opposition on both sides of the ball. And that's just not something we see a lot from Ohio State or having Ohio State to deal with in the conference.
You see it outside, you know, you see it when they lose to Oklahoma. You saw it when they lost to Oregon before Oregon was in, you know, the Big 10 when they lost in the horseshoe to them. You saw it again this year with Oregon, 'cause that Oregon team is clearly cut from a different cloth. You saw it with Harbaugh and Michigan over the course of the last few seasons where that became an impenetrable thing for Ohio State.
And it's the thing that I guess I look at the most as we go into this contest is like, this is where Indiana's advantage is. You know, yes, their players are playing really well, but the coaching staff is an advantage for Indiana in a way that it normally is not, particularly in a game like this. Yeah, I mean, think about why they're here. It's not because of the talent, it's because of the coaching.
Because we bought a team, we got, you know, the let's just let's just let's just put that to bed. I'm sorry. Go on. Yeah, right, right, Yeah, Yeah. You know that that $1,000,000 nil deal for Justice Ellison, you know, no, the, it's, it's, it's interesting because that it's something that I've I've I've, I've really been, I think this game has really and, and, and the discourse online has really forced us to engage with this team more than we already have at this point.
Like really think critically about this team. And I think earliest I have personally, and I, and, and, and I've, I've really been thinking about, you know, how every, every game that they have played, we've talked about how the schedule has kind of gradually increase in quality of opponent. But along the way, they kind of are collecting things and, and showing, giving us insights into
the legitimacy of this team. They, they, they showed us that they can go on the road and win in very strange environments. They showed us they can go on the road and win at Michigan State. You know, it's not, that's not the, that's not the shoe, you know, but it's not insignificant either. And, and they, they showed us on two different occasions how the staff can make in game adjustments to win games. They they beat Maryland because
of their in game adjustments. They beat Michigan because of their in game adjustments. I mean that they beat Michigan because the coaches kept this kept the team afloat and, and their philosophy and their, their strategy was in like previous, previous Indiana teams are not winning those games, not even the Maryland game. And so, you know, there have been Michigan State was another example of how they started off very slowly, but it took two drives on both sides of the ball
and they're like, OK, it's over. And so, you know, that's I don't, I don't know if anything like that will happen against Ohio State, but you know, that's, that's that's what has really stuck out to me when I've been thinking about Indiana and, and a bit more of a critical way is just how it really is the the coaching staff, the the strength conditioning before the season even started. That kind of stuff is is the off the field stuff is what's keeping Indiana at 10 and O and
and I I, yeah, I sorry. No, no, no, I mean, I just to, just to kind of, and this is not to, it's not to, to de emphasize the efforts or the accomplishments of the players. But but I, I think it's one of the things about football that makes it so different from other sports is, you know, it's such a huge game. It involves so many moving parts, so many specialists, so many like levers that you have to pull and buttons that you have to press at just the right
time. And, and even above and beyond all of that, you have to create an atmosphere of belief. You have to create an atmosphere of confidence and you have to do it without bullshit. You know, you, you know, sloganeering and, and you know, trying to rally everybody around something that isn't tangible or isn't real. You know, that, that that'll work occasionally or for a little bit, but then it generally wears off.
And so when I look at this team, you know, a lot of the the match up is for me, ultimately, you have this coaching staff that's done such a tremendous job and taking this group, this kind of, you know, ragtag misfit group and brought them together and gotten them to believe that team is coached by a group that's gonna have two weeks now to prepare for this Ohio State
game. Coming off of the Michigan game where they made it very clear in the immediate aftermath of a win that took them to 10 and O for the first time in program history. That wasn't good enough. We didn't like the way that we played. You know, that has got to resonate with this football team. It's like, wow, we just beat Michigan for like only the third time since the Reagan administration or the second time.
And we are 10 and O and this is a great accomplish coach meant and hey, the coaches just said that was not good enough. Absolutely. And you you face an Ohio State team that clearly is well coached. I think you know, it lost in all the rhetoric around Ryan Day and like we can't win the big one. It's like you wish you had that problem. You wish you had a coach like Ryan Day who's who wins all the time and you know has come up short in a couple of of cases. But this is a a winning machine.
It's a recruiting machine. But they go in against Ohio State team that kind of has everything to lose in this game. And and and this isn't even the game that they're focusing on because so much of their emotional focus is on finally getting the Michigan thing off of their backs next week. But it's also we got to make the College Football Playoff.
We've already got a loss. Like there's all these little things that make it difficult for Ohio State and to have to play a team that's as well coached as Indiana, that's going to have this extra time to repair and to have to do so, you know, without the extra bye week yourself. I, I mean, there's just a lot of little things just from a, a strategy perspective and a mentality perspective where you're just like, wow, I was, I, I wouldn't, I wouldn't expect it
to add up like this. But that's got to be the first match up you look at for Indiana and it feels like a pretty favorable 1. Yeah, yeah, no, absolutely. I actually just heard a quote or a clip from from the triple option podcast. I'm learning, I'm learning about shows and podcasts I didn't even know existed cuz Signetti's
going on them. I know, but he was on a, he was on the podcast with Mark Ingram and, and he was he, he said, you know, he was thinking about the message that he wanted to put up and in front of the team. I don't know if it was before this game in particular, if it was a previous one, but he basically wrote, we don't prepare to play close.
And I was like, you know, that coming from Signetti, that's different than coming from other coaches because it seems so simple, you know, like the message is so simple, but not a lot of people can live it, like actually live it. And it feels like Signetti really is. And, and I think that's kind of what separates them from some of the other coaches in power conferences and in, in the Big
10 especially. But something that I listened to part of your podcast with, with Dane, which I can't believe I, I had to follow him up then. I I apologize to all your listeners for for this. Life and chat happened in the middle. You're fine. OK all. Right. OK, Yeah, Yeah, that's true. But it's something that he said,
which is very true. And something that I noticed immediately when I started covering Ohio State after covering Indiana was fans and I mean everyone around the Ohio State program, they will tell you the imperfections in your football team. And and that is that is kind of what you were talking about the Ryan Day situation. Ryan Day gets his gets his team and his program into position to get to the big games all the time. But it's you know, it's still not good enough.
You know, it just shows the difference in expectation, but also when thinking about teams that are 10 and O and 9:00 and 1:00 and something that I mean, it's really easy to say, Hey, you know, the secondary is is very good. But also when I look at it, I'm like, I don't know, man. It hasn't really been tested by a team like Ohio State. So I'm a little concerned. So like, but you already know
the coaches are on top of that. And and that's kind of where I've been coming from is I've I've tried to be really, really critical more internally than externally of the team. And it's hard to be critical of them when they are.
But you already know the coaches are and you, you like you were saying like they beat Michigan and not a super sexy fashion and they weren't happy about it. And so that that's, yeah, I think that's that's that's good to take into a game against Ohio State that is thinking that way and that, you know, like you were saying, I don't think Ohio State is necessarily overlooking Indiana, but you know, they need to win big games like this.
I don't. And that's the thing, I I've been reading everything I can about Ohio State. I've been listening to their shows. I've been watching their people. I don't think they're overlooking Indiana. But as I talked about with Dane, it's like it's really hard for coaches to get players to get up for games that they're not used to getting up for where there's not something intrinsically built in.
And well, you know, what I said on that show was like you have, you don't have to get your players fired up to play Michigan if you're Ohio State, just like if you're Indiana, you don't have to get your players fired up to play Ohio State because like that's, and Ohio State isn't a rival for Indiana, but you need, no, there's no calling there. Like we have to fire, get fired up. We're going to play Ohio State. We got to play at our absolute
best. But if you're Ohio State, it's like you've got the Michigan game up here, you've got whatever playoff game you're playing in because you're in the playoff every year. You've got like 1/2 notch down, you've got Penn State 'cause you're always going to beat Penn State. And then you kind of got everybody else. Like who else are you going to
get really fired up for? And this is, it's an issue for the players, not that they don't respect Indiana, but it's just hard to get yourself mentally fired up to play Indiana even 'cause even when they're #5 even if you say we're taking them seriously, like they're, you know, they're practicing defending back shoulder throws supposedly at the end of practice. And we saw that picture today.
But the, again, there's been emotional and mental trigger there about how do you get yourself really fired up? And it's why, like, for instance, in basketball, we often see upsets in these sorts of things where you've got a really good underrated team. I don't know how you can call a #5 team in the country underrated, but I think in the minds of many, they are underrated. And I think in the minds of Ohio State players, they're probably
a bit underrated. And you're even with that, it's gonna be hard to say to yourself, that's a team that we have to get as fired up for Michigan, for I, the fans, the same thing. Like I think I've heard four or five different Times Now over the course of this last week, people imploring the fans to make this the loudest that Ohio Stadium's ever been. Well, that's not going to happen clearly. But it's like, how do you get your fans fired up against a team like Indiana, even if
they're ranked? Because they're more of a, they're like a freak show. It's like a, it's like an oddity as opposed to being like somebody that you really deep down respect. And so it's fascinating 'cause there's a lot of energy around that that seeps into the way that the players play the game and the way that the game goes. And, you know, granted, that could all be undone, but like a kickoff return for a touchdown at the beginning of the game that completely tilts it One Direction.
But it is interesting to think about the psychological and the emotional aspects of this because they often times are the thing that really makes a difference when it comes to how these games end up being played out. Yeah. No, that's really fair. That's a perspective I hadn't really thought about in And yeah, no, I think, I think I think that's fair because there's like when you when you're an Indiana basketball fan, fans can probably relate to this.
But when you're like a really good program and you like, you have the game circled on, on your calendar and, and, and it's not even, not just like outside of the psychological aspect of that, it's more like every game that you play leading up to that game is improving on yourself to be prepared for the games that are circled on your calendar. And so I could, I could, I could, I could see that being kind of, you know, like just use the cornerbacks at practice as an example.
They're working on their back shoulder, defending back shoulder passes to Curtis Roar 'cause he is good at them. But also, you know, maybe this would help us against Michigan, right? There's something, something along those lines, you know? Michigan is incapable of throwing the ball more than 5 yards downfield, so it's true. Yeah, but. Yeah, no, that's, that's a fair perspective. I I like that.
So when we, you know, so obviously coaching staff, you know, I think you got to give Signetti and his crew the benefit of the doubt that with 14 days to prepare for this game, that they will have poured over every inch of, I say, inch of tape. Nobody watches tape.
They'll poured over every bite of the video files available to them to watch what Indiana's been doing, to watch what Ohio State's been doing, what opponents have been doing against Ohio State, what opponents did against Indiana and Taylor to kind of set the table for this.
You know, I think the coaches have got to be looking at what happened offensively in the second-half of that game against Michigan and what happened offensively in the first quarter of the game at Michigan State. And maybe and to some degree, and even though it's a little bit of an outlier, the second-half against Washington, you know, while it was impressive in terms of the running attack, it feels like, you know, that is what, 12345 quarters out of the last 10 or
so where Indiana's passing attack has not looked particularly good. It hasn't been efficient. It's still the number one, you know, passing team in terms of success in all of CFB. But that is largely because of the huge reservoir of yards and accomplishments they put up in
prior weeks. So, you know, when you reflect on that and you think about what the coaching staff is focusing on, like what is it you think they're able to pull out of what they've seen that they will be trying to address over this two week period of time leading into this game? Yeah, I think, though I think they'll be working on being physical with Indiana's receivers.
I think that's the number one thing if you can really jam them and not even just jamming them at the line, but jamming them like, you know, 5 yards downfield and force them to fight to get deeper into the routes. I think that is that's something that Michigan did really well. But you know, there's a way to counter that and and teams actually have countered that they they go to their tight ends, they go to slot wide receivers, Penn State through to
their running back six times. You know, that's there are ways to counter that. An Indian has two effective slot receivers. They have a tight end who can work in the passing game. You know, I don't, I don't know if I personally really want them to see them throw to the running backs anymore, but that's there. There are ways to counter that.
But I mean, at the same time, Ohio State surrendered a lot of explosive pass plays to Oregon. So there's a lot of ways to attack this this Ohio State defense. But yeah, no, that's I think I think there's that. I think there is also I think there is some some some tape that shows how you can attack this offensive line in terms of
pass rush. Sorry. Man Indiana's offensive line. Yes, Indiana's offensive line in terms of pass rush where you know Michigan did a really effective job, but at the same time Michigan has the best defensive line of the Big 10. Ohio State's is not quite at that level. So I think you know, defensively for Ohio State, I think there is some things on tape like you were saying, I am concerned a bit there has been some wear and tear on the offensive line in terms of run blocking.
I am concerned about that and just the physicality of the Ohio State defense. I, I think, I think it's going to be something that isn't necessarily scheme, but is more just mentality of the Ohio State defense that it doesn't run there, It doesn't run through the the Big 10 in any other programs like it does at Ohio State and even like in Michigan. I think I think that physicality is going to be something that is going to be a challenge for Indiana.
Yeah, and it's always something you concern yourself with with Indiana and, and it's not even necessarily the idea that I. You can't match physicality, you know, over a certain period of time, but it's like, can you match physicality for the full 60 minutes? And. And that's always been the issue.
It's like you you don't have the depth and you're not going to have the depth that Ohio State has, Although I guess I'll maybe Ohio State doesn't have the depth on the offensive line at this point because of the injuries that they've suffered. But you know, especially when you're talking about the trenches and and the defensive lines relative to each other, it's just a big ask to go toe to toe with Ohio State, which is why you got to find clever ways to make things happen.
You know, as we look at the big statistical picture before we zoom in on some of the individual items, one of the things that's been fascinating is watching all of these national pundits, as I mentioned earlier, look at the stats and be like, wait a minute. These teams are actually almost identical to each other in a lot of ways. You know, you look at, for instance, Indiana is 15th in the country in yards per game at 453. Ohio State is 17th in the country at 451.
Indiana is third in the country in yards allowed per game. Ohio State's second in yards allowed per game. Indiana is second in points scored per game, Ohio State's 12th. But Ohio State's first in points allowed per game, only 10.3. But Indiana's only 7th in in that they're only allowed 13.8 points a game. I mean, these, if you look at the metrics, because of the caliber of opponent that Ohio State has beaten, they're a little bit better looking in terms of like S&P Plus.
Like they have the number six offense in the country. Indiana's got the 15th offense in the country according to that metric, the defense, Ohio State's first, Indiana's 12th, special teams, Indiana's 7th, Ohio State's 22nd. But like these are not the derivations that we're used to seeing like this is charts with a bunch of green. These are some of the best statistically operating teams in the country at almost every part.
Like the only thing where these and they, and it's weird, they even fall apart in the one spot that you, you know, you would see for both teams, which is penalty EPA. You know where, where both teams are pretty bad at giving up big penalties that that lead to expected points added. So I I'm just baffled when I look at this, first of all, how good these teams are, and 2nd how similar they look in terms of when you match them up line by line.
It's crazy. I, I, I remember looking at just the snap counts and like how, like who they give the balls to and stuff. And I, I remember texting you when I saw how close this, how, how close these two offenses are even in terms of how they divide the carries between their top 2 running backs. Like it's, it is very similar. Like I'm sure Mike Shanahan has studied Ryan Day and Chip Kelly a ton as, as he's developed his own playbook.
And not, not to say that he's shaping his offense after Ohio State's offense by any means. But you know, there's, there's some like DNA in there that that I think that probably, you know, they, I'm saying this in a long way that I could probably say shorter. They probably share some DNA there in the playbook and in the scheme offensively. But yeah, you're right. These two teams are so closely related. Taylor, it's a podcast. You can say as long as you want, it's fine.
All right, we shall. Be a little more responsible. Podcast. Yeah. I mean, have you listened to our podcast? Do we ever shut up? I'm tired. Of myself so. No, no, you're good, man. You're good. So when you look at this, and you eluded this a little bit earlier, but I want you to start diving into what you've seen and what you believe. So let's start with Indiana. If Indiana's going to win this game, what do you think the one or two most important things
that they can do on offense are? And and let's just start there and we'll see where things go, OK? Yeah, On offense, I think they have to establish something on the ground like they they have to. So they've ran the ball a lot more than I've anticipated than than coming into the season. And I think the reason is because they want to get into play action scenarios. They're the second best team in play action in the country, which I I did not realize until recently.
Who's the 1st Ole Miss? OK, yeah. It's like Indiana, Oregon and Ole Miss. Like it's that like that. And I guess Miami, like that's kind of like the offensive cabal of college football this year. Yeah, it's true. And yeah, so, so Ole Miss, Ole Miss is, and it's only a slight edge, really, but but yeah, they want to get into play action scenarios. I know we've heard a lot about RP OS and things like that. You know that Mike Shanahan's just his his his scheme is just
great. But I so they need to, they need to establish something on the ground so they can get into play action. But then I think to beat this Ohio State team, just they make it so hard to move the ball to make they they're the best red zone defense in the country. I think you need some explosion. I think I think we need to see we have we have not seen nearly as much explosion as I anticipated seeing from this offense.
I think we need to see it in this game because that's you're not going to be able to move the ball like they've been moving the ball against defenses against this Ohio State defense. And so getting over the top is and, and Ohio State's shown an ability to surrender that. So I, I think that has to be the case. They, they have to do that. I'll just say those two things. I have a lot of other things I
might be able to say. I mean, let let's the one thing I will say like offense versus defense, Indiana's offense versus Ohio State's defense. What would you say of the games Indiana's played this year so far as the closest comp to what they're going to see from Ohio State defensively? Probably Michigan. I was wondering if. It was Michigan. Or if it was Washington. Yeah, yeah, Washington's fair too.
I, I just think that I don't think there's going to, I don't think there's going to come a point where Indiana can just decide it wants to end the game and just run the ball at that Ohio State's defense. So I, I would say Michigan just because the physicality of the superiority physically and, and, and, and talent wise. I I think that's just and, and, and how then the athletes they have, you know, all the way
through that defense. You know, looking again at Indiana's offense, you know, it looks like one thing that they've done very well that they really need to do, and you kind of alluded to this earlier, is they need to get early down EPA. Like they, they, they can't afford to get into a lot of third down situations that they've got to continue to move
the ball down the field. And, and it's interesting because like Nebraska, a lot of their success offensively came from being very methodical, very deliberate in what they did on offense throughout the course of the game. It kind of feels like like Indiana's in a tough spot because on the one hand, you're a normal coach, I think would look at this game and you'd say we're Indiana. We're going to try to play this conservatively. We're going to try to chew up clock.
But then you think about the Cabal, the offensive cabal that I just mentioned and and Oregon did the exact opposite. They were like, we're going to go right at this team because we feel like we can do things on offense that they aren't necessarily going to be able to handle defensively. I'd like to think Indiana can do that because we've seen it
before this season. I just have a little bit of pauses being given because of how successful Michigan was at keeping Indiana from doing exactly that. And I'm curious if that was Michigan or if that was more Indiana's nerves and the fact that Curtis Work was not yet entirely healthy. I. Think it was Michigan and, and, but I will say I don't think this Ohio State defense is built to do what Michigan did. And I wrote about it in in a in a, in a, a a bye week, in some
in some bye week content. But it's probably why I didn't take enough of a break. Yeah, right. And, and so no, the, the, what Michigan did was they, they went man to man on the perimeter, which I thought was a statement, I mean, against the kind of slight indictment on this Indiana wide receiving corps. But they went man to man on the perimeter and they backed their their linebackers back into zone. They played zone safety wise
too. And then they just let their defensive line go at the offensive line, the Indiana's offensive line. And but Ohio State is not going to have the capability of doing that. They don't have the same talent on the defensive line. It's a really down year for the defensive line. I mean, I guess I shouldn't say really down year, but it's a down year for their for the defensive line compared to Michigan. And so I don't, I don't think Ohio State can do the same thing that Michigan did.
And it was a very particular look, a very particular strategy that, you know, I don't think they have the talent at cornerback to do that. And I don't think they have the depth at defensive line to do that. And they have great safeties. They have solid linebackers, but I I don't see that being the case this week. I actually forget your question now, GAIL. It was, it was more like it's more of a continuum than an
individual question. But, but I think you, you kind of answered it in a way, because a lot of it was the idea of whether Indiana could really air it out, so to speak, or establish the run in a way where Ohio State's having trouble stopping the run. You know, a, a lot of what Indiana has done that's led to so much success has been their effective use of RPO. It's been their ability to get
into the red zone. I mentioned this before, like what they're the number one team in the country and drives that end in the red or get to the red zone, which of course includes scoring. And when I look at the defensive numbers for Ohio State, what what sticks out is they're only 43rd in the country in, in defending rush success. They're 64th in the country in line yards per rush.
And you know, they're, they're OK, you know, they're, they're 17th in, in defensive explosion rate allowed, but they're not like stellar at that. And it's interesting 'cause you look at Ohio State's defense and it's hard to reconcile those numbers with the fact that so few teams have scored against them. Like what would you? How do? How do we interpret that? Yeah. So, so yeah, I've, I have also, and, and it's been a pattern throughout the year too.
Like there will be some teams who have decent rushing defenses that give up rushing success. And the idea with that is that if you need to go on the ground there, there's an opportunity there. And and so there's it's, it's a slight vulnerability in the defense. And, and I think a lot of it comes from their interior defensive line. They have not been super
impressive this year. And I and I think that you know, they're going to India is going to be able to find some success running, running near the middle of of the offensive line. So I think that is it's encouraging. It's it's an encouraging sign. But I will say, Galen, I think the you're like, like you're absolutely right to know the the defensive rushing success for Ohio State.
But I will say this, this Indiana team has really kind of gone at the strengths of the of the teams they've played. They haven't really cared about they, they see my charts. They say to hell with that. They they, they like.
It's been interesting. Well, it is, but it but what's interesting about it and, and actually what another freaky thing about this game statistically is that these are almost mirror images of each other in terms of how the offense for one team faces off against the defence of another team. But you know, the strength of Indiana's been their past success over the course of the
season. I mean, they've had great Russian games, but ultimately like where they've really earned their pay and and had their meal has been in the passing game. And yeah, I am really interested because Ohio State, you know, it's it's a it's just hard to to reconcile for me. Like they've only allowed ten points per game, and that's even kind of a that's not not even a fair stat when you think about of the, the however many points they've allowed this season.
I didn't count up the entire number, but you know, they they have of the what the 10 games they played, nine of the games teams didn't score more than 17 points and eight of the games teams didn't score more than 14 points, but they had one game where they allowed 32 points. And so they've actually been even better. But the flip side of it is like when you look at the teams that they've beaten as much as Indiana's gotten harangued for their weak their weak schedule.
I'm just going to read off the names of the teams that Ohio State has held to these low points. Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall, MI State, who? Of course, Indiana only allowed ten points against Iowa, who of is Iowa? Nebraska, who Indiana only allowed seven points against. Ohio State allowed 17. Penn State, who's notoriously bad at playing offense in games that matter. Purdue who's what?
Did Bill Connolly call them either the worst or second worst Purdue football team since World War 2. And then Northwestern, who To be fair, Northwestern moved the ball a little too easily against Indiana. And there's still people that think Indiana has a bad defense because of that one game. But the the one game they played a good offense was Oregon and they couldn't stop Oregon.
And that is, it is really interesting, as much as we kind of self flagellate Indiana as being an underdog and we're like, I don't know if they can go up against him. Everything we've seen out of Indiana's offense, except in the Michigan game says they'll be able to move the ball and score points. And everything about Ohio State says the one time they played a good offense this season, they
couldn't stop that offense. And that I, I don't know, I, I can't get that thought out of my head, I guess is my point. Yeah, Ohio State fans can't either. That, that, that's that I I asked somebody, you know, what do you think is going to be the way the Indiana Beasts team?
And they're like, well, the thing that a lot of folks are concerned about over here is there is a lot of there, there's a vulnerability exposed against Oregon and, and the passing defense, and this is the best passing defense. Well, it's the best pass defense in the country, but it's, it's the best one since since Oregon that they've played. And that's. An offense, yes. Yeah or yeah, sorry, passing offense. And Curtis Rourke is the best graded quarterback, throwing
further than 20 yards downfield. Better than doing Gabriel, Yes, yeah, yeah. You know, So obviously the big question then becomes, you know, Ohio State's got, I'm assuming in their minds, they've got to disrupt Indiana's passing game, which means a lot of pressure. But that should, if Indiana's playing it right and if O'Rourke is making the right decisions on his RPOS should open up the running game because you can't over commit to the pass rush without giving something up and
run defense. Yeah, no, absolutely. And and they they've Ohio has been trying some different things on defense to get more of a pass rush too, because their defensive ends are not getting the job done when it comes to pass rush, which is honestly a little surprising. They're both former five star recruits. And so they they bring their linebacker, Sonny Styles a lot on the edge now in the last couple weeks. And that's actually been really effective.
So that's. The moment I hear they're bringing the linebacker, I just think, well, there's an Elijah Serrat slant. Zach Horton's sitting down on a little 7 yarder. I mean that like that's these are the thing and this is where the prep time is going to be really fascinating for Shanahan and Sunseri, because they're going to see all of these tendencies and it's going to be really interesting to see what they can dig out. Like, you know, what were the successful plays that were run
by the non good offensive teams? But it's also like, again, people forget that that Oregon game was the 12th of October. So much has happened since then. You know, that was, that was 12345 games ago. And you've, you've got you've lost some muscle memory if you're Ohio State in terms of, I mean, you don't prepare to play Purdue in Northwestern offensively and then be able to turn around effectively and be like, OK, now we got to take on Indiana. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, yeah, exactly.
And and the yeah, like that's why some some people on on that side of things are concerned about, OK, is the past defense fixed or is is or have they just not played a very good past offense since then? And is Indiana the team that is going to expose that again and kind of break open that scab? You know, I think there's a possibility that that's the
truth. I would like to see Omar Cooper have a big game personally, and he's I Galen, I have an interesting stab that's going to be in the preview. But Jeremiah Smith is is AI mean He's he's a freak man. He's so good. DeAngelo Paul is going to have a hard day against him, I think. But in terms of like big plays, there are two receivers who are at the top of the Big 10 in terms of average depth of target and plus the yards after catch
per reception. Like they're nobody matches Jeremiah Smith and nobody matches Omar Cooper. And I'm like, Oh my God, like this is that's a big deal. And Omar Cooper has no drops this season. I just think that he's he's he's poised for a big game. And I could see, I could see some, I could see a game like
this being one of those for him. Yeah, I mean, as and as much as people rightly pay attention to Jeremiah Smith as a freshman, Omar Cooper's the sophomore and and, you know, I'm and I mean, and he's caught fewer ball, but about half the ball is 24 balls. But he's averaging more yards per reception. He's got almost the same number of touchdowns. Yeah, I I agree. I think that's gonna be really fascinating to watch. The one thing. And you were concerned about this when I brought it to your
attention. Right now, the weather forecast, it's changed a little bit. It's gonna be a little bit warmer now than was originally thought. 47°, but W northwest, northwest wind at 13 miles an hour gusting to 24. Maybe not as big of a deal, given the shape of the horseshoe and the fact that, you know, you, you generally don't always get swirling winds coming in from that particular angle.
But in a game where you'd like Indiana to be able to throw the ball all over the field, that does become a bit of a concern. On the flip side, you've got a Canadian quarterback who played at Ohio University. Like he's at least familiar with how these conditions probably are in that part of the state. Considering Will Howard came from Kansas State, I don't know where Will Howard's from, but but yeah, no, yeah, exactly.
But yeah, yeah, the when when I think, when I think about the weather and how it might impact the game, I think if it makes the game shorter, I think that benefits Indiana in some ways and maybe it hurts them in other ways. I just I think if you get if you get Ohio State's defence playing in a smaller space, I think that's not good for you. Like, like the linebackers are are very effective.
The safeties, I mean their safeties, Mccrary, he's like, he's on another level with these safeties because like they're the two best safeties in the country for sure. And, and they're both on the same team. And so I, I just think that if you, if you get this team and the defensive ends are actually really effective and, and run the defense, if you get this team playing in a smaller space, that's, I don't think that's, that's good for you. But defensively, I think that's great.
You know, like that, that's, that's, that's what you want. They Ohio State gets more explosion out of their passing attack than they do the running attack. So, you know, if it if it, if the weather is as rough as as as it could be and it gets more into like a running, rushing struggle, I think, you know, I think that probably, I don't know, I, I think it favors Ohio State in some ways.
But again, this team, like they, they ran all over Nebraska and Nebraska has one of the best defensive fronts in the country. And Matt rule thought he they were that thought they were prepared. So I, I, yeah, I sometimes I struggle with what to expect from this Indiana team. And, and, you know, I, if, if maybe if I knew what to expect, I, I, I would be paid big bucks and, you know, a team would hire me to, to prepare them. I know.
I think it's not your fault. It's trying to figure out anything about this Indiana team is almost impossible. I mean, the the the level they've gotten themselves to in so many games is just not something that we're it's not as an Indiana thing. It's not that we're not used to using with Indiana, you're not used to seeing a period. So I wouldn't don't beat yourself up. Let's let's switch sides of the ball, though. So Ohio State's offense versus Indiana's defense.
Now, this is a weird one because again, I don't know how much to take out of the Michigan game. And and yet it wasn't just how good Indiana was at stopping Michigan in the running attack. You had a great stat right afterwards that pointed out that was essentially the worst running game that Michigan had had all season. And and that was entirely because of Indiana's defensive line.
And there was a great breakdown that Urban Meyer and Jerry Denardo did last week where they showed like the stunting, like the extreme stunting Indiana, like jumping multiple gaps, you know, guys taking out two offensive lineman at once, like stuff that shouldn't probably be happening against Michigan of all teams. But Indiana was able to do it. It was almost like I was like, this can't be Indiana, Phil.
Like, I've never seen an Indiana defensive line play like this against Michigan in their offensive line. And then you take into account in, you know, Ohio State's offensive line, which was already not playing great, had gotten better obviously over the past few weeks. They are now in disarray having lost their their center. They're all American caliber center. They'd already lost their left tackle. They now have to move their left guard to center.
So now they're going to have a weakened left side of the line and not just weakened, but an out of sync line. And this is something that, you know, people you can talk about like for like replacements and who's Got Talent and what
they're 4, you know, four stars. But there's no replacing the repetitions that you get as a unit in the offensive line, knowing when to cover for each other, how to call out things that are coming on. It's not something that you fix, especially not with two days before the game or three days
before the game. So if you're the Indiana defense, you know, obviously stopping the run is important, but then you've also got to deal with Ohio State's passing attack And Will Howard, while he hasn't been as good statistically as Curtis Work has been a very good quarterback so far this year for them and has put the ball where it needs to be.
Yeah, yeah, the it's interesting with Will Howard, I, I, I, I want to talk about the offensive line here in a second, but Will Howard, he has a low passing grade from PFF under pressure, but his numbers aren't bad. So I'm not really, I haven't I haven't seen enough of that specific scenario to know, but I. Mean he's completing just for for the audience. He's completing 73% of his passes this year for 24184 yards, 24 touchdowns, 5 interceptions. So statistically he's fine.
But as you meant in APFF, obviously grades things other than just statistics and he has that a little bit of trouble when he has been pressured. Absolutely. And I will say there there is one particular scenario. So when, when Will Howard is under pressure without a blitz, He has the second highest pressure to SAC ratio in the in
the conference. So if Indiana can get pressure without blitzing, which I think they can, that is huge like that, that's that's a huge difference and that that'll be a huge disruptor when it comes to the passing attack. But yeah, no, the Ohio State's offensive line, their most talented offensive lineman is their left tackle. But he should be at left guard. But they had their injuries like Donovan Jackson. He, I really like Donovan Jackson. I think he's a really solid
offensive lineman. I think he'd be playing in the NFL. But moving, moving to left tackle from left guard. I mean this, this offensive line is essentially 5 interior offensive lineman because it's Josh Fryer. The right tackle began his career as a guard. He was recruited as a guard. You're in Indiana, he was recruited as a guard and and then he went to Ohio State. They moved him to right tackle. He kind of struggled at times last year. He's been inconsistent, honestly.
And I think if he were to play in the NFL, it would be interior. And so he profiles as more of an interior offensive lineman. And so now they have, you know, they have last year's center playing back at center again. They have essentially their third guard, 4th guard playing at at left guard now, kind of like Indiana and their right guard has not been very effective. I think he's still kind of young and and their left tackle is, is
is supposed to be a guard. So there's and and he got he got torn up against Penn State. He played Purdue in Northwestern after that and it was a little bit better, but that's pretty Northwestern, not Indiana when it comes to defensive line. So there, I mean, like you were saying, if there are throwing a lot of stunts at them, if they're throwing a lot of different looks at them, I mean, it could be a long day for this
Ohio State offensive line. Assuming they're able to keep Indiana's offense at or defensive line at Bay, you know, then it really comes down to how how does Indiana's secondary deal with what Ohio State has from a talent perspective at receiver? And, and this is, I think a concern for Indiana as well as in as well as the defensive backs have rallied over the last few weeks and you know, they've, they've generated havoc plays, they've they've, they've gotten
interceptions, things like that. This is by far, I think the best off receiving core that they will have faced in terms of talent, in terms of coaching, in terms of just, you know, all of the pieces being there. And that's probably where I'm the most concerned for Indiana is that, you know, if this gets into a shootout, you do worry about Indiana being able ultimately to make the plays just because they're going to be dwarfed athletically by what Ohio State's able to put out
there. And that's not a new story, but it's one that could be a deciding factor in a game like this. Ever since Ryan Day became the head coach, they're all their passing. Offense has been so layered, like complex. It's been it's been really, really impressive and, and, and it's been steady and having Ryan Day and Chip Kelly at the head of it, Brian Haynes is going to have quite a task on his hand. And I, yeah, that's a big concern of mine with the
secondary. Just the actually a funny story, one of the Ohio State podcasters got offended when I said the Indiana's wide receivers room is actually deeper than Ohio State's wide receivers room. But which I was surprised to say there are like more stars in that wide receivers core than there probably is, are in Indiana's defense. But you know the that that that that room is full of talent and it like Carnell Tate is their third wide receiver. I think he could be dangerous in this game.
I. Mean the one thing I'll say though, is like, you're not wrong. Like I mean, Ohio State's receiving Corey is more talented, you know, Jeremiah Smith and and and Mecca Igboka and Carnell Tate like that trio has combined for Let me do some quick math 129 catches so far on the season. I think it is for, you know, 21 touchdowns, they're all averaging at least 12 yards per catch. I mean, they're they're really good, but they're not that deep.
You know, Brandon Innes has the next number of catches with 12 of the receivers. And then the the next three receivers are, you know, G Scott, which is a tight end, Trevion Henderson and Quinton Judkins. And from there, hardly anybody's caught a ball. They've had like little spot throws. It's it's very different. It's very traditional.
It's very NFL like. You've got your clear, you got your clear X, your clear Y, your clear slot guy, and then you got to tie it in to kind of clean things up. Whereas Indiana kind of uses this almost like anthill approach to receiving where they you know, you never know, like is it gonna be Serrat? Is it gonna be Cooper? Is it gonna be price? Is it gonna be, you know, Keyshawn Williams? I mean, there's just so many different places that they can go.
It's a it's a fascinating contrast in styles. You can get away with what Ohio State does if you have the talent, which they do. Indiana's kind of been forced to use this multi faceted thing and and both work really well. Like there isn't necessarily an advantage of one or the other. It's just going to be interesting because it gives Indiana slightly less to key on in their secondary. But the question then becomes you still have to make the plays
at that point. I wouldn't, yeah, Quick though, I would like to see Indiana use like distribute the ball more in this game. Then like sometimes it seems like there's like the one guy that's working for them and they just go to him. I would like to see a lot more distribution, but but yeah, no, that like like like you were saying, I think Ameka Ibuka could be the the big problem for for this Indiana team. He he's all over the field.
He's in a lot of mesh concepts. He kind of makes this passing offense work and and I honestly, I thought that he might be more productive in his career at Ohio State. He's had some injuries and things, but his he has a ton of talent and I think it's really interesting. I somebody I was just talking to said that he might be somebody that goes to the NFL and has a more productive rookie season than he had a senior season at Ohio State.
And I could see that happening. And so Mecca Buca is is very concerning for me. And and Indiana has not not really seen, like I was just saying the complexity of the passing offense, but they haven't seen somebody execute it like a Mecca Buka. And and I think that's that is
that's concerned. That's why I want to see them get pressure with their defensive line so they can pull their linebackers back and have, you know, Terry Jones working in the passing defense instead of maybe and then rush defense or pass rushing. So yeah, it I, I have my concerns about the secondary. The, you know, talent wise, there's definitely a difference, but there's been a difference all season. So it's, it's, it's tough, it's
tough to know. And because you know, like everybody's saying there, there is a, there is a jump in, in quality of this team and quality of opponent in Ohio State. You know, I think we're still learning new things about this Indiana team, and I don't think that's any different this week.
As we look at the rest of the match up and everything like that, I mean, anything else that sticks out to you that you think is important for IU fans to know going into this game and, and just trying to understand and decipher the match up that we're going to be seeing? I no we we. But like I said, I'm sick of myself, Caitlin. No, I, I think the quarterback battle would be really
interesting. It's something that I don't think a lot of people are talking that much about, at least from from my perspective, because I mean, well, somebody literally suggested that Indiana sit. Curtis Rourke But yeah, yeah, yeah. But I I I don't think. It happened on American television. Can you believe that? I on Twitter? That was the most disingenuous and obvious reverse concern trolling I think I've ever seen In like what? Like well then?
And then of course, you know, the barstool guy decides to double down, you know, and try to make a worse take. It's like he has just forfeit the game. I like I come on. Anyway, go on please. Yeah, yeah. So I think, I think the the quarterback, the quarterback battle is going to be really interesting. Their their statistics are
actually very close. Curtis works a little more efficient, like slightly more efficient, pushes the ball down field a little bit more than Ohio State and, and Will Howard do. But but another thing that I, I want to know is that Indiana's or Ohio State's defensive line is not what we've come to know it to be. They're they don't get a ton of havoc from their defensive line, which is encouraging. And also it was interesting because they're running backs are really talented and really
effective and, and run hard. Ohio State's are and like Trayvon Henderson, which Trayvon Henderson is the the brother of Ronnie Walker, the former IE running back. I can't believe Trevi on Henderson is still playing college. But yeah, but they, but it's interesting because they get more of their rushing yards from their line and line yards than they do from the running backs and second level yards. So that's, that's been that's that's that was interesting to see because the running backs
are so talented. But, but yeah, no, I, I think, you know, I, I think this, this week is just so it's so interesting to be an Indiana football fan. Like, like you were saying, because there's it's like it's the biggest matchup of the week. It has some comfortable playoff implications. It you know, there's this whole big 10 versus SEC thing kind of centered on Indiana.
And, and I've seen like, I mean, I've watched get out for a second this morning and like they were talking about Indiana and I was like, what is happening? This is not this is not usual. And so, I don't know, I just hope everybody's enjoying it. I think people are longer.
I'll, I'll say this, one of the fascinating things about the discourse, I guess I'll call it, that's happening on Twitter about SEC, you know, versus Indiana and, and the record stuff and the College Football Playoff is it's actually weirdly kept the game itself and the match up a little bit under wraps, at least for Indiana fans. Like most Indiana fans have been consumed talking about or getting into arguments with, with Tennessee fans or Ole Miss
fans online. And it's kind of allowed the actual match up to fly under the radar other than, you know, S&P Plus's projection was out and you know, it's like a 12 point margin of victory for Ohio State and FP. I I think was a similar thing. But you know, I mean, there have been other power projections that we've seen that have come out that have been more favorable in Indiana. I mean, you know, there was one earlier today that had Indiana
as a A4 point underdog. That's Parker Fleming with the advanced stats preview. And it was interesting looking at that and comparing it to what I knew your stat sheet look like. And it's, it's more favorable than what we've seen, I think largely because of Indiana's relative success rates on offense and defense.
And you know, the idea that perhaps it translates a little more cleanly to a, a direct matchup than some of the computer projected matchup thing that you see in S&P Plus, where it's, it's really more kind of separate items just being thrown together. That's not meant to be a criticism. It's just kind of how this the formula works. And so it's allowed the game itself and the matchups to fly under the radar. Not in Ohio. I mean, and that's the that's
the interesting thing. Like you, they've been talking very, very specifically about what Ohio State needs to do. That noise has got to be out there. Indiana's players have just been like, we're focusing on the game and nobody else is here. And that's actually great because people aren't freaking out about it. Everybody's just like, my God, I can't believe Indiana's playing in the top five matchup versus Ohio State. Wow, what an incredible situation.
So I, I don't know if that helps Indiana, I don't know if it helps Ohio State, but it has been really fun and interesting to watch that unfold this week. Yeah, yeah, it has been, it's been, I've been trying not to engage too much on social media. I just get too worked up and I just think the whole thing is kind of silly. Anyway. I, I, I'm going to write about it in the preview.
So there'll be some, some I'll put my some of my thoughts on in buy size buys in. But but yeah, no, that's been really interesting to to see and and just kind of, I don't know the you kind of noted this on on Twitter, Galen, about how every time Indiana is good, college football landscape just kind of melts and and and I just think there's a lot of truth to that. It is. It's wild, is it not?
I mean, it's just, and the one last thing I want to say, and I think this is an interesting subplot to the subplot. Not only is football, the college football scene melted because of Indiana being good and in contention for the playoff in the playoffs, not in contention right now. You mentioned this when we were talking beforehand.
Like there's a weird kind of respect towards Indiana coming from Ohio State. Like most of the slings and arrows that are being shot are being shot by SEC fans or by Notre Dame fans. But like, they've noticed the Ohio State fans have been weirdly quiet on this front. And and I can't tell if that's like, hey, maybe we need to have some Esprit de corps among the Big 10 teams.
Or maybe it's like, you know, it doesn't do a lot of good for Ohio State to be talking about how terrible Indiana is. If Indiana then comes in and and beats them or plays them close, it's like, well, then what do we look like? So you almost have to hedge your bets on that. It's it's been a fascinating almost detente between these two fan bases over the course of the week.
And I wasn't expecting that. Yeah, no, me too, me too, 'cause every time going into the game there's always some kind of chatter usually coming from Ohio State fans, but, but yeah, no, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's been strangely cordial and, and I think, yeah, I think there's like there's a little, there might be a little solidarity and, and the Big 10, you know, against SEC but, but also, yeah, I think, I think you're right.
I think it would be embarrassing to to talk about this Indiana team like that, like the like the SEC has been talking about them and then lose to them at home. I don't. I don't. I don't think a lot of Ohio State fans think that'll happen, but. You. Know the chance of it is is a lot higher than it has been in the past. Yeah, I mean, it's interesting 'cause like the projections, like we said, you know, the, the line was, has been somewhere between 12 and 13 1/2.
S&P Plus is at 12. And look, I, I've always felt when you try to evaluate these things, it's hard to say like what's the, what's the point spread gonna be? Whatever I was, I will say this going into the week and you and I talked about it a little bit on text, I was like, this could be a really low scoring game. I don't believe that anymore. I actually have swung the entire opposite direction.
I feel like this this could be a track meet as I look at these two teams, 'cause I think it's clear both of their offenses are better than the defenses that they're playing against in terms of their ability to execute. And to me, ultimately, I think the game comes down to can Indiana's offense execute the way that it did in that string of games like the, the Maryland, Northwestern, Nebraska games before Curtis Work went down
with the injury. And, and I would even throw in the, the, the last three quarters of the Michigan State game. Like if they can get that level of, of, and I'm not saying they can score at that level, they're probably not gonna score 40 points against Ohio State. But if they can score, if they can score 31 points against Ohio State, I think they got a real good chance of winning the game.
Because I don't know if Ohio State's gonna be capable of scoring 40 or, you know, 32 points against Indiana. That's gonna be a really interesting thing to watch. Yeah, yeah, I've I've come down with where I think, I think I, I think 27 points is the is the line for me. I think if you hit 27, I think you win this game. That might be lower than some others. But but yeah, like you said, I started out, I started out thinking this is going to be a low scoring game.
Like I knew both the offenses really effective, but they're just like some, some matchups that I think could favor either team. I think the safeties at Ohio State are very good and I think the defensive line for Indiana is very good. And the way that those match up with the offenses, I think they're going to be some slowing
down of the offenses. So I started out really low, but like I, I, I, I thought that I, I said, you know, the score would be 2417 Ohio State on, on the 11 warriors podcast yesterday. And I've already been like, OK, that was way too low. I need to pull, I need to pull back a little that I, I, I just said that to thousands of people. So I, you know, when you make a bad take and it's like, oh, that's, that's. Not good man. I know, trust me, I've had
plenty of those in my lifetime. So I I well, a lot left to go and and obviously whenever you're listening to this, whether it's a a day and a half before or leading up to kickoff, hopefully it's a great game. That's I think the big thing right now. And I feel like, you know, I, someone asked me earlier today, like, what were my feelings about the game? And I said, I feel at peace because I, you know, I think that this team will play well,
that Indiana will play well. I trust their ability to prepare. You are dealing with an environment you haven't dealt with before going into Ohio Stadium. You're dealing with a more talented team in terms of, of, you know, athleticism and just recruiting numbers and whatnot. And it's hard to say how all of that plays out, especially when weather might be a factor.
But as I've been saying all season, or at least for the last five or six games, this team deserves the benefit of the doubt in terms of will they be able to get the job done. I see no reason to change that mentality now, even though this is clearly by far by magnitude, It's just the toughest challenge that they've had all season. And that's not, there's nothing to be said that's wrong about that.
But I do think Indiana brings something to the party here because they are more like the team that beat Ohio State than they are the teams that Ohio State has beaten thus far this season. I've been calling this the analytics. They're the BSB analytics national championship because because they're the top two teams and EPA and EPA per play in the country. And I was like, OK, this is 1 and 2. Here we go National championship. But yeah, this might be the toughest in Indiana.
Plays all season, like go away. Like even into the couch wall playoff it. This might be the toughest one, Yeah. Well, we'll see what happens. Should be a lot of fun. Taylor, sorry to make you do double duty on the podcast, but it was great. We loved having you as always, and we look forward to reading your analysis leading up to the game as well as your analysis
after the game. So be sure to subscribe to Bite Sized Bison on Substack folks and follow Taylor on Twitter at Buy Taylor L. You'll find all of his insights there. My thanks to all of you folks for listening in. My thanks to our presenting sponsor, Home Field Apparel, and my thanks to the whole collective here at the Back Home Network. I'm GAIL and Clavio. This is Crimson cast.
We'll have a couple more or we may have already had those shows already, so this might be the last one you hear before the game. If so, stay. Never daunted. Bring back the Bison. So long, everybody. And yes, YouTube. I know I got the order of that reversed. It's fine. Goodnight.