Ohio State graduate defensive end Jonathan Cooper (0) lines up with his teammates before the Ohio State-Rutgers game on Nov. 7 Ohio State won 49-27. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Entering the 2020 football season, there were two games circled on Ohio State’s schedule: the Halloween trip to Happy Valley against Penn State and the traditional season-ending rivalry game versus Michigan.
Ohio State and Michigan have played 23 times while both were ranked in the Associated Press top 10. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions have had their fair share of top-ranked games as well.
So Ohio State playing a late-season game against a top-10 team is not unusual — but that team being Indiana is a change of pace.
Reaching the No. 10 spot in the AP Top 25 last week, Indiana broke the longest active streak in college football for years between appearances in the top 10; its last appearance was in 1969.
A winless Penn State and a 1-3 Michigan left the door to compete with Ohio State in the Big Ten East wide open. The Hoosiers defeated Penn State in overtime in the season opener and later picked up their first win over Michigan since 1987.
Now, they come to Columbus to face the Big Ten’s king of the last 20 years. The Buckeyes have won 24 games straight against Indiana, the longest-active winning streak for Ohio State versus Big Ten opponents.
“We’re not playing the last 50 years of Ohio State players, we’re playing the 11 that are on the field at one time, and that’s what we have to do,” Indiana head coach Tom Allen said Monday. “That’s our mindset, that’s our approach, and we’re going to walk off that field knowing we prepared the best we could prepare; we could play as hard as we could play.”
Ohio State has achieved a top-10 ranking in every year but one since 2002. Indiana, on the other hand, has just four top-10 appearances since 1945. In each of the previous three seasons the Hoosiers reached that benchmark, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers did not play — meaning this will be the first game between the two programs in which both are top-10 teams.
Ohio State and Indiana have played twice as ranked opponents; the Buckeyes won 21-7 in 1944 and 23-17 in 1993.
“Indiana, you’re right, has been a good, solid football program for a while now,” Ohio State redshirt junior center Josh Myers said Tuesday. “You could kind of see this coming, where they had a breakout year like this. So, I’m not really surprised, to be honest with you guys. Even last year, they had a lot of the tools that they needed to be really successful.”
The rise of Indiana football is a product of Allen’s defensive coaching and an influx of talent at the quarterback position. Prior to Allen arriving in Bloomington in 2016 as the defensive coordinator, opponents averaged 37.6 points per game against the Hoosier defense — compared to 19.3 in this season.
A graph of Indiana football’s average points allowed over the past 10 seasons. Credit: Collin Ginnan | Lantern Reporter
The two best quarterbacks in Indiana’s history in terms of completion percentage have been during the Allen era: Peyton Ramsey, who transferred to Northwestern this season, and Michael Penix Jr., the current starter for the Hoosiers.
Penix has thrown for more than 1,000 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions in four games.
Penix will be going up against an Ohio State secondary which struggled in the first half of the season but has had an extra week of practice due to last week’s canceled game versus Maryland. The Buckeye secondary is still working to replace three starters lost to the 2020 NFL draft.
“[Penix] can put the ball where he wants to put it,” Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison said Wednesday. “They have very, very good wide receivers. They’ll catch the football; anytime you have a tight end like they have that goes right with their wide receivers. This is going to be a big challenge. This is an outstanding offensive football team.”
The winner of Saturday’s game will likely go on to represent the Big Ten East in the conference championship game. Ohio State has won three straight Big Ten championships and Indiana is looking for its first since 1967.
“We respect them no matter what was the score last year,” Ohio State offensive tackle Thayer Munford said Tuesday. “Last year is last year — that doesn’t mean anything. We focus on today. We’re not focused on the past, we’re not focused on how their history was against us. We’re focusing on right now.”
