Ohio State Football: In depth analysis of Indiana Hoosiers

Which Hoosiers will show up when Ohio State comes to town? With a redshirt freshman starting over an incumbent junior, here’s a look at Indiana.

It’s been a gloomy couple of seasons in Bloomington, as the Hoosiers have failed to make a bowl game in 2017 and 2018 (5-7 in both). They may be 2-0 to start this season, but it is important to note that their first two opponents are certainly not in the upper echelon of college football like Ohio State.

A 3-0 start last season was not enough, as the Hoosiers failed to become bowl eligible by season’s end. With the Buckeyes coming into Bloomington, achieving three wins to start the season will be much tougher this time around.

For this season, Indiana head coach Tom Allen turned to redshirt freshman Michael Penix Jr. over Peyton Ramsey, a two-time incumbent starter who has played in 21 career games and ranks among the top ten in several passing categories at Indiana.

In his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day told reporters that Penix was a former recruit and that he is “very talented.” Indiana coach Allen must have seen the same talent, turning to Penix sparingly last season (3 games) before an ACL injury, making use of the new NCAA rule allowing players to play in as much as four games and still hold onto their redshirt status.

The patience, hard work in practice and “people in my ear just pushing me” paid off for Penix, who as the new Hoosier starter leads an offense with several talented receivers and a 1000-yard running back (Stevie Scott III). The lefty Penix also adds mobility to his arsenal, as pointed out by Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Greg Mattison during his portion of the press conference.

At receiver, Whop Philyor is quick with good hands and could open up space for the running game if he can continue his success (10 receptions for 141 yards). Nick Westbrook and Donavan Hale have also put up more than 100 receiving yards in the first two games and are joined by TE Peyton Hendershot over the 100-yard mark.

The offensive line has plenty of experience, and has blocked to perfection in the first two games, keeping Penix mostly upright and allowing zero sacks. Chase Young, Malik Harrison and Baron Browning have their hands full if they hope to get to the backfield on Saturday.

On defense, Indiana is led by eight returning starters from last season that make up a unit that only gave up 24 total points in the first two games. Senior Linebacker Reakwon Jones has led the way in tackles, and is the leader for a defense that ranked among the worst in the Big Ten last year but looks to improve throughout the rest of this season.

The opponents offensively to begin this season against Indiana have not been up to par with offensive showstoppers like Justin Fields or J.K. Dobbins, but with a unit that is filled with juniors and seniors, Indiana will certainly put up a fight.

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A bigger issue for Indiana is whether they will be up to the task against the Buckeyes. Does their 2-0 record speak for how talented they are? Or simply for the fact that they beat up on an FCS school and barely defeated a Ball State team that went 4-8 in 2018?

The Hoosiers have the weapons on offense to cause last year’s defensive problems to resurface for the Silver Bullets, as well as a stingy defense that could limit the Buckeyes offense. In previous seasons, Indiana has fought tough against Ohio State in the first half but often fizzles out by the fourth quarter, giving the Buckeyes a larger margin of victory than the play on the field indicates.

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Indiana may be 2-0, but how much will that mean against a tougher Buckeyes team that is looking to prove week-in and week-out that they are here to stay in the College Football Playoff race? We will find out on Saturday, and you can guarantee that southpaw Michael Penix Jr. will have a major say in the final score.

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