The Ohio State football team has the opportunity to win its first Big Ten Championship in five years. Despite winning the national championship last season, they did not win the conference title. In order to achieve that goal, they must beat second-ranked Indiana.
Ahead of this game, Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza has been nothing but complimentary to the Ohio State Buckeyes. He has given them the proper praise and knows that they are a tough team. Nothing he said was any sort of bulletin board material.
Despite that, the Buckeyes have gotten more motivation from Mendoza to take down the Hoosiers, and it isn't even his fault. The Big Ten decided to name Mendoza First Team All-Big Ten and Big Ten Player of the Year instead of Julian Sayin, who got Second Team honors. That will fire up the Buckeyes.
The Ohio State football team gets more motivation to shut down Fernando Mendoza
Sayin and Mendoza are fighting for the Heisman Trophy in this game. They are the two favorites to win the award, and it could come down to which plays better on Saturday night. Sayin has led the number-one team all year long, so that might give him a slight advantage.
The fact that the Big Ten media thought that Mendoza is better than Sayin will provide Ohio State's defense with even stronger motivation to keep Mendoza out of the end zone. The Buckeyes allow just under eight points per game, so Indiana has their work cut out for it already.
This will be by far the toughest game that Ohio State has played up to this point. It will essentially be a home game for the Hoosiers on Saturday night in Lucas Oil Stadium. They also have the best defense that Ohio State has faced all season long.
Ohio State hasn't lost in almost a year. They are a lock for the College Football Playoff. Winning a conference title is the only thing they haven't accomplished in the last 12 months. They hope that changes on Saturday night.