Head Coach: Kevin Wilson 2011 Record: 1-11 - Big Ten Location: Bloomington (Ind.)

Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. EDT Television: BTN Location: "The Rock" (52,929)

When Indiana has the ball...

Rushing Defense: 121.17 Ypg. (35th) Passing Defense: 265.33 Ypg. (96th) Scoring Defense: 20.50 Ppg. (34th)

Rushing Offense: 167.60 Ypg. (61st) Passing Offense: 304.80 Ypg. (19th) Scoring Offense: 32.80 Ppg. (45th)

Ohio State Defensive Backs	1	Indiana Skill Positions (QB/WR/TE)
The Ohio State secondary took a major step in the right direction in many ways against Nebraska last weekend but there are still some issues. Travis Howard and the secondary will be spread out by the Indiana passing attack and will be forced to tackle in space, a weak point of this unit to date. Of course Bradley Roby had his two picks last weekend and Orhian Johnson had one as well but don't look for Indiana to be as deliberate in its passing attack, instead opting to spread the ball around more. C.J. Barnett should/could return this weekend and that will give the Buckeyes another big hitter in the secondary. It really is all going to come down to how this unit tackles, at least when it comes to how many points that IU will score because passing is all that the Hoosiers have. Period.		Indiana passes a lot, there is no denying that. It has to because it has no running game (we will touch upon that later). Last week in a loss to Michigan State, Cameron Coffman attempted 48 passes (completed 33 w/ 3 TDs and 0 INTs). Shane Wynn (familiar name out of Cleveland Glenville) leads the team in receptions with 27 and had 12 in the loss to MSU. Wynn also leads the team with four TD receptions but the ball gets spread around pretty well to Cody Latimer and Kofi Hughes as well, both having a pair of TD grabs as well. The Hoosiers will have tight end Ted Bolser for the game after it was feared he might be suspended from an ejection in the MSU game. He creates some match-up issues with the LBs and will be a player to watch.
Ohio State Linebackers	2	Indiana Running Backs
The linebackers should be set pretty well against the run, even with only one opening day starter (Ryan Shazier) in the line-up after an injury knocked Etienne Sabino out of the rotation for at least three weeks. Josh Perry will step into Sabino's role and will have to learn quickly when the Hoosiers look to employ the formula from early in the season that had success against Ohio State with spreading the ball out. The Buckeyes should pretty much eliminate any chance that IU has of running the ball up the middle, especially with a QB that is no threat to run. The Hoosiers will likely try and get guys out to the edge and force the linebackers to cover a lot of ground before getting to the point of contact.		Running back Stephen Houston is averaging 55 yards per game on the ground but last week the Hoosier running attack was held to 35 total yards of offense on the ground with Houston picking up 22 of those. Indiana had more success against Northwestern (in a loss) but the moral of the story is that IU is not a great running team. That can't all be put on the legs of Houston however and if the holes are not there to run through, the sledding is going to be tough. If Houston needs a break or gets knocked out D'Angelo Roberts and Tevin Coleman are the backups but neither have figured prominently into the stat book.
Ohio State Defensive Line	3	Indiana Offensive Line
The defensive line is starting to perform the way that most pundits expected it to play in the 2012 season. That has come from a combination of better play and better schemes being employed. Johnathan Hankins is still having an All-American caliber season in the middle but the difference maker is the return to health for John Simon as evidenced by his 5 TFL and 2 sack night against Nebraska. Michael Bennett is starting to see more playing time and that gives the Buckeyes a great rotation on the line with Nathan Williams starting to look more comfortable with his legs under him. If Ohio State is able to get up big will Mike Vrabel open the rotation up more to let players like Adolphus Washington, Noah Spence and Tommy Schutt get some meaningful minutes? Ohio State fans hope so.		Indiana's offensive line is young, very young outside of center Will Matte. The unit starts two freshmen and two sophomores and is building for the future while trying not to get anyone seriously hurt in the present. With an immobile quarterback in the backfield, the line has done a decent job of keeping their QB upright in the game (1.6 sacks per game allowed) but the run blocking has not been a thing of beauty, at least on a week-to-week basis. Surprisingly enough, MSU only recorded one sack on Saturday but as Ohio State fans have seen, this is a different MSU line, one that doesn't bring a ton of pressure. Indiana will not be as fortunate this week as Ohio State makes several attempts to rattle a young QB and blow through a young line.

When Ohio State has the ball...

Rushing Offense: 248.67 Ypg. (10th) Passing Offense: 182.83 Ypg. (105th) Scoring Offense: 38.5 Ppg. (22nd)

Rushing Defense: 196.80 Ypg. (99th) Passing Defense: 247.20 Ypg. (83rd) Scoring Defense: 27.80 Ppg. (75th)

Ohio State Skill Positions (QB/WR/TE)	2	Indiana Defensive Backs
Ohio State's passing game is not going to fall under the 'prolific' category, at least not yet but let's just say that Braxton Miller is efficient and that has been good enough. Devin Smith was shutout last weekend and no receiver had a big day when it comes to amount of catches. But, if you are an Ohio State fan, you have to be excited by the inclusion of Jeff Heuerman and Nick Vannett into the offensive plans and both tight ends create terrible match-up problems for opponents. If teams have to scheme more for that then other things will be open for Miller, via the air or ground. Corey Brown still is the go-to guy when it comes to needing a big reception but Miller is starting to feel more comfort with other targets, all signs of a maturing QB. Could this finally be the game where Miller and Jake Stoneburner get on the same page? It is going to have to happen now or never, don't you think?		Safety Mark Murphy is one of Indiana's leading tacklers and is the biggest of all the IU DBs (6-2, 206). The unit, like much of the team, is very young with 2 Sophomores and 2 juniors. The bad news is that when Indiana goes against a team that can pass (i.e. Ball St.) the passing team usually has great success (4 touchdowns in a 41-39 loss). Now, nobody is going to confuse Ohio State's passing game with a 'great' passing attack at this point, but it does show that there is a soft underbelly to an even softer defense for the Hoosiers and the pass will be there if the Buckeyes want it. IU has three INTs this season with two being credited to the secondary but neither of the players with INT are listed as starters this week with Greg Heban and Alexander Webb both listed as backups.
Ohio State Running Backs	3	Indiana Linebackers
The Buckeye ground game is alive and well, who needs the I formation? Carlos Hyde went off for four touchdowns against Nebraska and has six on the season as Ohio State has scored 20 touchdowns via the run. Rod Smith gets to go home to the state of Indiana with plenty of confidence after his 32 yard TD run last week (his second TD of the season). And of course there is a guy who can run the ball who is listed as a QB with Miller rushing for 763 yards and eight TDs. All of Ohio State's success on the ground leads to the No. 2 rush attack in the B1G and while everyone is waiting for a breakout passing game, the running game is getting it done and the Buckeyes have been riding that train for all it is worth.		Indiana is last in the B1G in run defense but last week it looked a lot better than that as it held Le'Veon Bell in check for most of the game before finally running out of gas. That was one week however and you can go back a week prior and see that Northwestern absolutely blasted IU for 394 yards on the ground, 161 of those yards coming from a mobile quarterback. Do you starting to see the pattern here? Jacarri Alexander and Griffen Dahlstrom will bring senior leadership to the back seven of the Hoosiers but it still will be tough going against a team in Ohio State that puts so much into the run offense. The other place where this unit will struggle is when they are forced to cover Ohio State's tight ends in space. This could be a long game for the IU LBs before the season lightens up with a couple less stressful games on tap.
Ohio State Offensive Line	2	Indiana Defensive Line
Ohio State's offensive line continues to play at a very high level, maybe as high of a level as anyone can remember in the last couple of years. The starting five continues to get singled out by Urban Meyer for their play, be it in run blocking, protecting Miller when he extends plays or just providing leadership on the field. Andrew Norwell has really stepped up and is performing on bar with the best tackles in the conference. One player who likely doesn't get enough notice is Jack Mewhort however, he has played center, guard and now tackle since being at Ohio State and has stepped up and been above average at each stop. The Buckeyes biggest weak point is a lack of depth at the position. If you believe in jinxes the way that I do, we will just stop talking about that topic now.		Indiana has a defense that doesn't record a lot of sacks but will bring enough pressure to hit and drop opponents in the backfield. This year will mark the 38th year in a row that a Replogle has played at Indiana (okay, that is an exaggeration but Adam Replogle is a senior lineman and is not the first Replogle to don the Crimson and Cream). Larry Black joins Adam on the interior line and gives IU a very solid tandem inside. Both of the ends are on the smaller side with Ryan Phillis coming in at 6-3, 261 and Zach Shaw at 6-3, 245. The strength of this line however is with the defensive tackles and both Black and Replogle are tied for the team lead in sacks and TFLs and teams have to be aware of where they are. For as good as they are however, don't expect Ohio State to really get away from who it is, they will still run at them but could try and use a few wrinkles to spring the ball carriers.

Special teams matchups...

Net Punting: 36.31 Avg. (77th) Punt Returns: 12.00 Yds/Ret (31st) Kickoff Returns: 19.92 Avg. (81st) Field Goals: 100% 2-2

Net Punting: 36.76 Avg. (72nd) Punt Returns: 2.43 Yds/Ret (110th) Kickoff Returns: 28.25 Avg. (10th) Field Goals: 63% 5-8

Ohio State Special Teams	1	Indiana Special Teams
The Buckeyes finally got that big special team play that they had been hoping for when Corey Brown took a Nebraska punt back to the house last week. While that is the play that will get on the national shows, how about the play of the Piranhas on the kick coverage team? The Buckeyes will be going against another talented return man and will need to bring an equally impressive level of effort to this game or risk facing some short fields.		We talked about Shane Wynn with what he can do as a receiver but he is also a dangerous return man, and is on both units. He is small at 5-7, 157 pounds and can be hard to bring down as such a small target. The punt returns have not been great for IU but the KOR are ranked in the top-10 nationally. IU hasn't been turning the world upside with its punting so that could be a draw between the two teams and in the 'year of the kicker' (sarcasm noted) the Hoosiers place kicking has been less than perfect.

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