No 9 Ohio State Buckeyes at Indiana

#9 Ohio State at Indiana

Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana

Kickoff: 7pm

TV: BTN

The question of the day will be: How will Indiana react to getting jobbed by the Michigan friendly referees in the “Big House” last week. That was one of the biggest BS calls I have seen in my many years of watching college football. Indiana should file a formal protest with the Big Ten and remove those referees from ever calling a Big Ten game again. That said, will the Hoosiers come out with a chip on their shoulders or will they pack it in for the rest of the season? The Buckeyes have one of the best defenses in the country having held USC to only 19 points and posted back to back shut-outs. On paper, Indiana just doesn’t have the horses to keep up with the Buckeyes but with their outstanding performance against Michigan one might wonder.

OSU “O”

The game plan was simple for the Buckeyes, it’s raining…a lot…keep it on the ground. They did and the Buckeyes controlled the game from start to finish. With Indiana, it shouldn’t be too different as the Buckeyes will try to minimize injuries while giving the offensive line a lot of practice run blocking. Quarterback Terrell Pryor is starting to get comfortable in the pocket which should send a collective chill down the backs of the other schools in the Big Ten. He’s got work to do yet but it’s starting to show. Hoosier linebacker Matt Mayberry leads the team in tackles with 26 and fellow linebackers Tyler Replogle (24) and Will Patterson (22) aren’t far behind. Lineman Greg Middleton is a sack machine with three so far on the season. However, the Indiana defense has not been able to keep opposing offenses out of the endzone and is giving up and average of 22 points and 327 yards per game. This game will be another boost for Pryor’s confidence. Eclipsing the 372 total yards of offense Pryor had last week is not something that is expected but it could be a huge day for the young man.

OSU “D”

It might not be the biggest surprise but this Buckeye defense is shaping up to be something special. Linebacker Brian Rolle is taking full advantage of the outstanding play by Thaddeus Gibson, Cameron Heyward, Dexter Larimore and a carousel of defensive linemen. Through four games, Rolle has a 39 yard interception, an interception for a safety on a two point conversion and leads the team in tackles. He’s the newest OSU star linebacker and he’s only going to get better. Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell is having a very good year with 944 yards passing and three touchdowns on the season. Chappell’s favorite target is wide receiver Tandon Doss who is averaging just shy of 120 yards per game while running back Darius Willis had a breakout game against Michigan last week with 152 yards rushing. The game plan should be pretty straight forward for the defense; stop the run and put pressure on the quarterback. Two things this defense is very good at so far this season. Expect to see Chappell running for his life on a frequent basis this Saturday.

Summary

This should be just another day at the office for the Buckeyes. It’s a night game and I can’t remember the last time Bloomington hosted a game under the lights. The players and student body will be frothing at the mouth (could be the liquor, could be the excitement, could be both) but after a quarter or two the Buckeyes will have let the entire stadium know who’s the biggest dog in the Big Ten. Don’t be surprised to see Indiana score first but after that they won’t be able to muster much offense against the Buckeye Silver Bullet defense.

Prediction: OSU 28 – Indiana 10

Why OSU will win:

Offensive ball control.

No turnovers.

Swarming, disruptive defense.

Hoosier turnovers leading to points (hopefully touchdowns).

Why OSU will lose:

The team misses their exit and end up in West Lafayette.

The Indianapolis Colts show up in Hoosier uniforms.

Bold prediction for the game:

After having a fantastic 152 yard game against the Wolverines, Darius Willis will get held to under 100 yards by the Buckeye defense.

Crazy stat of the game:

The Buckeyes have won 14 straight contests against Indiana dating back to a 41-7 Hoosier smack down in 1988.

Last time they met…

2006, OSU 44-3

Indiana players to watch:

Junior QB #4 Ben Chappell

Freshman RB #28 Darius Willis

Sophomore WR #2 Tandon Doss

Sophomore WR #88 Damarlo Belcher

Senior LB #34 Will Patterson

Junior LB #46 Tyler Replogle

Senior LB #43 Matt Mayberry

Senior S #20 Austin Thomas

Reposted with permission – Read the original story at Brutus Report

Andrew Sweat fills in for Ross Homan after Concussion

Andrew Sweat fills in for Ross Homan after Concussion

Ross Homan didn’t play the full game against Illinois this past weekend due to a concussion allowing Andrew Sweat to get some quality minutes at the weak linebacker position for Ohio State. Homan finished the game with one assisted tackle and Sweat made two solo tackles with three assisted.

By Steve Patterson

Ross Homan To Play

Junior Ross Homan is expected to play on Saturday against Indiana and did play a good number of plays after the concussion according to Head Coach Jim Tressel. “Ross got dinged a little bit there early in the game and played about 16 plays after the fact, which was a little frightening, but he seemed to be feeling fine,” Tressel reported earlier this week. Homan was held out of practice one day but resumed practicing with the team after the day without contact.

Andrew Sweat Gets Experience

Sophomore Andrew Sweat secured a sack in addition to the 5 tackles he made. “Andrew Sweat stepped in and obviously had prepared and is a talented kid,” Coach Tressel said about Sweats play on Saturday. Coach Tressel also felt it was a good experience for Sweat and for the team which needs to developed more depth at certain positions.

Sweat is a 6’2” 220 lbs sophomore from Washington Trinity Pennsylvania. He played entirely on special teams as a true freshman but has seen time in his second year at the weak side linebacker position in addition to punt and kickoff coverage.

Reposted with permission – Read the original story at Brutus Report

Where are they now?

My annual attempt at catching up with former Buckeyes not in the NBA and where they’re playing overseas this season: Brian Brown – returned to TBB Trier in Germany’s top league, the “Bundesliga.” He averaged 10.4 points there last season…
Continue reading at Hoops & Scoops: an OSU basketball blog

Weekend Viewing Schedule — Week 5

It’s a busy week for me, and it doesn’t look like I’ll be able to watch much college football at all this weekend.  That doesn’t mean you can’t, though.  Here are some games of interest for you throughout the week.
Wednesday

Hawaii @ Louisiana Tech (ESPN2, 8:00PM ET).  Hey, that’s today.  Wednesday (and even Thursday) strikes me [...]
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A 30-0 blanking in the middle of a rainstorm was the second straight shutout for the Buckeyes, invoking memories of the famed Silver Bullets of the 2002 season.

One thing is for sure, as QB Terrelle Pryor put it: the Buckeyes have gotten their…
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Anderson could be the next Glenville great
In our “Catching Up With” segments we usually try to interview players who have committed or signed with the Buckeyes, but in this case, with the help of Josh Barnes, we were able to catch up with Cleveland Glenville defensive back Latwan Anderson.

Anderson, ranked …
Continue reading at Eleven Warriors

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Some schools from the “Coach” conferences have legitimate rumblings about not earning an automatic berth from their conference into the Bowl Championship Series. When…
Continue reading at Bleacher Report – Big Ten Football

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The Golden Gophers lead the all-time series, 59-51-8, while the Badgers lead the Axe’s series, 34-24-3.

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Big Ten September superlatives

Posted by ESPN.com’s Adam Rittenberg

September is in the books, and we’re already one-fourth of the way through the Big Ten regular season.

It’s time to pass out awards for the month.

Team of the Month — Iowa

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Continue reading at ESPN.com – Big Ten – Blog

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