Preview: #3 Ohio State at Indiana

Credit: MGoBlue via Flickr

The third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Bloomington, Indiana to take on Big Ten foe, the Indiana Hoosiers.

Broadcast Information

• Kickoff 3:30 pm Eastern Time On CBS

• Brad Nessler and Gary Danielson will be on the call

• Radio: Indiana Hoosiers Sports Network. Ohio State - The Fan 97.1 FM

What's At Stake?

It's the first game of the 2023 season for both schools. The Buckeyes and Hoosiers will both be looking to start, not only the season, but Big Ten play on the right foot. Ohio State has not lost to Indiana since 1988 and there is little to suggest the streak is going to end this season. The Buckeyes are looking to end a two-year Big Ten championship drought and return to the playoff after last year's heartbreaking loss to Georgia in the semifinals. The Hoosiers are simply hoping to get back to bowl eligibility. After finishing 8-5 in 2021, and 6-2 in the shortened 2020 season, Indiana has gone 6-18. Tom Allen is hoping to right the ship and get out of the Big Ten East basement.

Key Players

For Ohio State, all eyes will be on the quarterback situation. Ryan Day announced Kyle McCord would start the game, but stated that Devin Brown would also see playing time. The quarterback battle went on longer than expected, especially in light of Brown's injury in the spring. Most presumed Kyle McCord would run away with the job with the extra practice time. That did not happen. Either Devin Brown is just that good, or the Buckeyes may not be quite up to their recent standard at quarterback. We'll get our first indication on Saturday.

For Indiana, they are in the same boat as Ohio State at the quarterback position. Transfer Tayven Jackson (Tennessee) and Brendan Sorsby are battling for the starting position. Supposedly one of them has earned the start, but Indiana is not announcing ahead of the game. Whatever advantage they can. find, I suppose. Regardless of who starts, the Hoosiers will be looking to improve on an offense that averaged only 23.3 points per game and 4.5 yards per play in 2022.

Key Match-ups

• Ohio State's wide receivers against Indiana's secondary. Honestly, you could copy paste this as a key matchup for all of Ohio State's opponents this season.

• Ohio State's rebuilt offensive line against Indiana's new look defensive line. Ohio State lost two tackles and the center to the NFL this past spring. Indiana brought in a host of transfers and feels good about their group up front.

Prediction

Indiana does not have the horsepower to hang with Ohio State. I like the Buckeyes to win big. These two teams opened the 2017 season with this exact same matchup. The final score in 2017 was 49-21. I think this will be equally lopsided, although slightly lower scoring. Under Ryan Day, the Buckeyes have looked a little sluggish in their opening-week matchups. I expect they will look much sharper in weeks 2 and 3 as compared to a road opener in conference play. 42-13 is my prediction.