Ohio State Football: Confidence level against Indiana
By Eric Boggs
The coaching staff – Confidence Level 9.5
Ryan Day enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Buckeyes. He has an impressive record of 45-6, making him one of the winningest coaches in college football history in his first 50 games. Four of those 45 wins have come via victories over the Indiana Hoosiers.
Day is also 5-0 in season openers. Remember, he also led the Buckeyes to the season-opening victory in 2018 against Oregon State when he filled in for a suspended Urban Meyer. Day will have his team ready to play come Saturday afternoon.
This is also the second season for defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who has a reputation of turning around a program’s defense in year two. Ohio State improved last season after a disappointing campaign in 2021 under then-defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs.
However, in the final two games of the season, the defense still allowed the big plays to hurt them. The buzz coming out of the Columbus is that not only has Knowles tightened up the loose ends of the defense on the back end, but that the front end is looking dangerously good.
As for Indiana, Tom Allen comes into the season with an overall record of 30-40. Allen is 0-6 all-time against the Buckeyes and is 4-2 in season openers, including a season-opening loss in 2017 against Ohio State. Chad Wilt will enter his second season as defensive coordinator for Allen.
Last season the Hoosiers were ranked 118th in total defense in the nation, giving up an average of 449.2 yards per game. Indiana added Matt Guerrieri as a co-defensive coordinator, who is a disciple of Jim Knowles, having learned under him at Duke University before joining him at Ohio State last season. Allen was able to steal him away and will no doubt add a wrinkle to this game behind the scenes.
On the flip side, the Indiana offense is led by second year offensive coordinator Walt Bell. Last season the Hoosiers were ranked 98th in scoring offense in the nation, scoring an average of only 23.2 points per game.
There is no doubt who has the better coaching staff in this matchup, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Day and his staff are going to coach circles around Allen and the Hoosiers. Allen and his staff had a terrific gameplan in 2020 and were able to make some serious halftime adjustments before storming back and almost clipping the Buckeyes.
Day has proven that when coaching staff’s make adjustments, he has been unable to make a readjustment himself. The past two games, both losses at the end of the 2022 season, prove that point, which is why I can’t give him a perfect score in this category.