Ohio State Football will look to exploit a depleted Hoosiers secondary

The Ohio State football team travels to Bloomington to face division foe Indiana on Saturday night. Ohio State has won 26 straight games in this series and are 21.5-point favorites as of earlier this week ahead of the primetime kickoff. C.J. Stroud has played at an exceptional level since returning from a shoulder injury, leading the Big Ten with 339.8 passing yards per game, 18 touchdowns, and a 191.2 passer rating. I think he’ll be able to keep up that pace against a depleted Hoosiers secondary.

Indiana has dealt with multiple injuries on defense including a season-ending torn ACL to cornerback Christopher Keys and games missed from safeties Devon Matthews and Raheem Layne. According to Dustin Dopirak, Tom Allen is still unsure if upperclassmen Taiwan Mullen and Reese Taylor will be able to play this weekend at home. Mullen, who is the Hoosiers top defensive back, missed recent losses to Penn State and Michigan State.

Ryan Day’s defense has had its fair share of struggles as well this season but it seems to be improving lately against inferior competition. The Buckeyes, who are 5-1 and 3-0 in the Big Ten, are still vulnerable to giving up big plays despite recording nine interceptions. Indiana hasn’t been able to generate a lot of chunk plays this year so I doubt the Hoosiers will be able to truly take advantage of Ohio State’s weakness as they did in 2020.

“They always have a really good scheme and play us hard. The game a few years ago was close early on and we pulled away. Last year, we were up early and they were able to come back. You’ve got to play four quarters against Indiana. We have to plan on doing that,” Day said during a press conference on Tuesday. “They’ve played some good teams. I think this team is much better than their record indicates. They’ve had some injuries and they’re trying to fill some gaps.”

Ty Fryfogle was a major factor in Indiana’s comeback against Ohio State last season. Although the Hoosiers came up just short in a 42-35 loss, Fryfogle had a game-high 218 receiving yards and three touchdowns for an insane 31.1 yards per catch.

Although he hasn’t had as much success as a year ago, Ohio State must limit the shifty receiver. With a win, the Buckeyes would extend the nation’s longest active win streak against a single opponent as Indiana hasn’t won in this series since 1988.