Curt Cignetti gives eye-opening take on what makes Ohio State football so special

Ohio State may only be a one-score favorite over the Indiana Hoosiers coming in, but you would think David is taking on Goliath in this one over in Indianapolis. FanDuel Sportsbook has Ohio State laying 5.5 points to Indiana at Lucas Oil Stadium in this year's Big Ten Championship. It will be a clash of undefeated teams in 12-0 Ohio State vs. 12-0 Indiana. The winner will be the No. 1 seed in the playoff.

Even though Indiana will have a real shot in this, you need to check out what Curt Cignetti had to say.

"They're a great football team. Obviously, won a national championship last season, have won multiple national championships. Ryan Day is a great coach. He'll be one of the legends of the game someday. They're dominant, really everywhere. Lot of great players, very explosive on offense."

Cignetti seriously went on for about 80 seconds, singing nothing but praises regarding Ohio State.

While he should have his Hoosiers ready to play, you could tell by his tone and mannerisms during this conference call that he knows IU will really be up against it. Without question, Indiana will be the toughest and most physical team Ohio State has played this season. There are just levels to this... Regardless, Cignetti has a ton of respect for Ohio State, and he had even more glowing things to say.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for Indiana going forward is being able to move the ball on Ohio State.

Curt Cignetti recognizes Ohio State could be hard to move the ball on

Cignetti continued by saying how great the Matt Patricia hire was for the Ohio State defense this fall.

"Got the No. 1 rated defense in America. Special teams are really good. New coordinator, obviously, Matt Patricia. So they're a little different than they were last year, but they're giving up the fewest amount of points in the country. People are rushing for about 70 yards on them. They're only giving up 200 yards a game. They're giving 130 yards passing. No. 1 red area defense in the country."

He followed that up by saying that Ohio State will usually save its best defense for crucial situations.

"Really good on third down, fourth down. Multiple looks. Lot of really good players. Put them in positions to make plays."

For a team that has a Heisman Trophy contender of their own at quarterback in Fernando Mendoza, he is going to have to do more than throw for 130 yards on the evening. While Mendoza can run a little bit, he is very much a pocket passer. Again, the winner of this game will likely see its star quarterback as this year's Heisman Trophy winner. Others will be finalists, but it will come down to these two guys.

To tie a bow on this, Cignetti offered one more nugget that should make Ohio State fans so excited.

Curt Cignetti finished with the thing that makes Ohio State so dominant

The biggest takeaway from Cignetti's comments by far were Ohio State has not been challenged.

"The thing about Ohio State, they play fast, they play physical, nasty with an edge. They really haven't been challenged this year. The Texas game was 14-0, and Texas scored with three minutes to go in the game. Michigan did have some success early, and then Ohio State took control of the game. I think other than the Texas game, 18 points is the closest point differential in all of their games."

He attributed this to Ohio State being not just fast and physical, but also playing with a nasty edge.

While one could argue that Indiana has been among the steadiest teams in the country this season, Ohio State may have another gear that the Hoosiers just cannot get to. It is why when we look at teams who could realistically win the College Football Playoff, we end up wondering if Indiana only has a national championship game appearance ceiling. Ohio State can absolutely repeat this year.

Overall, we are talking about the No. 1 team in the country taking on the No. 2 team in the nation for all the marbles in the Big Ten on Saturday night. The winner will be the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff, awaiting the winner of the No. 8 vs. No. 9 game in the Rose Bowl. As for the loser, that team will either be the No. 2 or the No. 3 seed playing in the Orange Bowl depending on what Georgia does.

Ultimately, there may not be all that much that separates Ohio State from Indiana in this game. Then again, Ohio State is the greatest and most successful program in college football history. The Buckeyes are the reigning national champions. More importantly, Indiana is brand-new to this college football juggernaut thing. Ohio State's depth will probably be what prevails in the end in Indianapolis.

Ryan Day may have nice things to say about Indiana, but Cignetti seemed to take a bow to Ohio State.