The Indiana Hoosiers won a 50-point beatdown three weeks ago against the UCLA Bruins in Bloomington. On Saturday, Ohio State Buckeye fans may want to drop the idea of dishing out an even more brutal beatdown when the Bruins visit the "Shoe."
The Columbus Dispatch's Joey Kaufman doesn't foresee fireworks from OSU in Week 12, with a grind-it-out victory that, if the current season's trends hold, will see an early UCLA score before Ohio State wins a game where they give up less than 20 and covers the spread.
"The Bruins have crashed back to reality following a midseason revival led by interim coach Tim Skipper, who guided them to three consecutive wins in October, including an upset of Penn State. Don’t expect the Buckeyes to put up 56 points as Indiana did when it hosted UCLA three weeks ago. They continue to use a slow pace on offense and seem less interested in amassing style points. But the gap between the teams is every bit as wide," Kaufman wrote.
As the arms race between the Buckeyes and Hoosiers rages on, Ohio State operates from the position of power and leverage. They're the defending champions that escaped an all-time gauntlet during last year's College Football Playoff. Indiana is the team that lost 27-17 to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in a game they scored late to make it look more respectable.
IU is the one that has to beat UCLA by 50. OSU can struggle, but close the door if it gets to that. Luckily, it probably won't.
Ultimately, when it comes to the Big Ten's two top teams, it's all about Indianapolis. If neither team loses before then, that's the game that matters. Unfortunately, a scenario exists where TTUN or the USC Trojans make it instead with a Week 14 loss for the Buckeyes in "The Game."
First things first, before any of that: the Bruins in Columbus. It's a game that may answer practically nothing about OSU's chances to win the Big Ten, and nothing about the gap between the Buckeyes and Hoosiers, and which way it leans.
Nico Iamaleava was supposed to have UCLA more relevant at this point in the season, or at least not seen as a 30-plus-point underdog to any team, but DeShaun Foster was also supposed to be the head coach, not Tim Skipper.
We'll see if Ohio State can clean up against a team that Vegas oddsmakers believe has no chance to win.