Some people are still not buying the Indiana Hoosiers, but if the team manages to take down the Indiana Hoosiers this weekend in Columbus, that’s likely going to convert them into believers. However, the Buckeyes are the yardstick in the Big Ten, and it’ll require a ton of work for the Hoosiers to beat Ohio State. What do you think will happen in this game? Check out our preview of Indiana vs. Ohio State below.
For the first time since 1987, the Hoosiers have opened Big Ten play with a 4-0 record, and they are looking like a force to reckon with not just in the conference but on a national level as well. Granted that the Michigan State Spartans are not a ranked team this season, that the Hoosiers beat them in East Lansing to the tune of a 24-0 score last Saturday speaks volumes of how legit Indiana is. Indiana defeated No. 23 Michigan at home before that, 38-21, and opened its season with a 36-35 overtime win in Bloomington over then-No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions. Quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and Indiana’s defense are making things happen for the Hoosiers. Penix threw for 320 yards and a couple of touchdowns, albeit with two interceptions, on 25-of-38 completions against Michigan State, while Indiana’s stop unit forced the Spartans to commit four turnovers. Indiana’s defense should be able to have success and slow down the Buckeyes, who may come into this game a bit rusty after not playing last week. Keep in mind that Indiana is No. 1 in the nation in turnover margin per game with a +2.0 average and second with 3.0 takeaways per game. The Hoosiers’ defense can bite.
Indiana is 4-1 against the spread in its last five games away from Bloomington.
As mentioned earlier, the Buckeyes were not able to play last week after their scheduled game against the Maryland Terrapins got canceled after the Terps’ football team reported a number of COVID-19 cases, leaving Ohio State stagnant — and still undefeated. The Buckeyes have gone 3-0 to start the season and likely would have made that 4-0 had they played the Terps. In their most recent game, the Buckeyes clobbered the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at home, 49-27 on Nov. 7. Although they missed beating the spread in that one as 37.5-point favorites, the Buckeyes are still above .500 ATS this season, having covered in their first two games. This Saturday, Penix is likely to find out that he’s way far back to the level of arguably the best quarterback in the nation in Ohio State’s Justin Fields, who’s going to be selected in the first round of the next NFL Draft. Fields had 314 passing yards and five touchdowns and zero interceptions on 24-of-28 completions in the Rutgers game. Fields has yet to be intercepted this season, while racking up 11 touchdown passes and 908 passing yards. He will be the acid test to the defense of Indiana more than the Hoosiers’ stop unit will be to him. With a talented backfield and a receiving corps stacked with field-stretchers, the Hoosiers will have trouble containing them all at the same time.
Ohio State, which is averaging 46.3 points per game, is 5-2 against the spread in its last seven games at home.
