Just like we did last year, we’ll be providing a preview of Ohio State’s opponent for the upcoming week. It’s a twelve game slate, so it’ll be done as a series with each piece running prior to the game that week.
So, if you want to impress your friends while watching the game, we’ve got your cheat code right here. We do the research, you drop nuggets. You win on Saturdays. It’s as simple as that.
Ohio State’s third game of the year is also its first Big Ten game of the year, and first road contest on the young season. And while Indiana hasn’t historically dropped losses on the heads of Buckeyes, it’s a hostile environment, so we’ll have to see how it all goes with Justin Fields and the team in transition.
Indiana Record
(2-0); And no you are not reading a basketball article, though is Indiana really still a basketball school?
All-Time Vitals
Record: 485-679-44, No. 120 All-Time
National Championships: 0
Conference Championships: 2, No. 103 All-Time
Bowl Games: 11, No. 89 All-Time
Bowl Record: 3-8
Consensus All-Americans: 7, No. 60 All-Time
Heisman Winners: None
NFL Draft Picks: 169, No. 522 All-Time
Best All-Time season
1945 – It’s slim pickings for Hoosier football, but the time around World War II was the best in Hoosier history. Indiana won the Big Ten, got all the way up to a No. 4 national ranking and finished with just one-tie on the season for a 9-0-1 record. The lone blemish came on a 7-7 tie with Northwestern.
The team was a collection of former WWII vets that were granted 60-day leaves as the war ended in early September. The Hoosiers were led by Indiana legend Pete Pihos and head coach Bo McMillin.
Only national champion Army, Alabama (No. 2) and Navy (No. 3) finished in the polls ahead of the Hoosiers. It was definitely a different era.
Best Indiana Hoosier of All-Time
Anthony Thompson, RB (1986-1989) – Conversations about the best Indiana football player of all time begin and end with Thompson. He came to Bloomington out of Terre Haute, Indiana as a legendary high school football player and didn’t disappoint.
He rushed for just 806 yards his freshman season, but that had to do more with not giving the kid the ball enough. He went over one-thousand yards each of his last three seasons and finished his career as a Hoosier with 5,299 yards. He rushed for over 1,700 yards his senior season and could have easily won the Heisman, but finished second in the voting behind Houston quarterback Andre Ware.
Still, Thompson was a two-time First-Team All-American and All-Big Ten Performer. He still lives in Bloomington today and probably gets free dinners and upgraded value meals wherever he goes.
Next … Head coach, offensive and defensive style
Current Head Coach
Tom Allen – 12-15 in his third full season season at Indiana
Hoosier Offensive Style
New offensive coordinator Kalen DeBoer likes to mix things up and utilize matchup advantages. It’s a fairly balanced offensive design with almost equal amounts of rushing and passing attempts, but with more yardage through the air.
The Hoosiers will spread out the defense, and give the quarterback the option to get out in space and create as he desires. Sometimes he’ll make throws out of the pocket, other times he’ll make the read in the spread-attack and either let the running back take it, or pull it himself. It’s a dangerous offensive scheme that defenders will have to remain assignment and gap sound on.
Hoosier Defensive Style
Indiana runs a 4-2-5 scheme that maximizes the talent that it has. Since it’s Allen’s arrival as the defensive coordinator in 2016, the Hoosier defense has steadily improved. With very little fanfare, the UI defense has quietly emerged as a positive for the team. That couldn’t be said for the Hoosiers’ before the arrival of Allen. Even though he’s the head coach now, the same philosphies and way of doing things has remained.
Next … Player to watch
Indiana Hoosier to watch
Michael Penix, jr. – QB — Just a freshman, Pinex won the starting job over a pretty good quarterback in his own right, Patrick Ramsey. The Tampa native is a little raw still in the passing game, but he’s extremely dangerous on the ground. Because of his allusiveness, he’s able to keep plays alive and give receivers time to break free.
It’ll be by far the most mobile quarterback the Ohio State defense has faced in the young season, and he’ll make some plays. It’ll just be up to the coaching staff an players to limit those breakouts, and stay locked on receivers until he gets past the line of scrimmage.
Indiana can win the game if …
It can solve the riddle of moving the ball consistently against the Ohio State offense and take advantage of playing at home. It probably won’t be an overwhelmingly pro-Hoosier crowd — and in fact — there might be more Buckeye fans there. Still, it’s away from the ‘Shoe so that is better than playing in the hornets nest.
But this really boils down to Indiana being able to use Penix to move the ball through the air and on the ground. The OSU defense has been lights out so far this year, and Indiana will have to put the team on the back of the talented freshman QB to have a chance at winning. He’ll have to ball out … and then some.
