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
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All right, Taylor, let's dive into this one.
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.