There have been several teams this season in the Big Ten that have performed much worse than predicted this season and then there are the Indiana Hoosiers, a team that might be over-performing in terms of what people were expecting before the season started.
Indiana had to endure some turnover at key positions and even going into the season had to make a sudden change at the running back position but nothing has really knocked the Hoosiers off their stride. The Hoosiers are sitting at 4-1 and the only loss came to Michigan State, a team that people thought going into the season could actually be the favorite in the Big Ten East but nobody is quite sure how good the Spartans are.
The Buckeyes won't have to worry about Michigan State until the month of November and all focus is on Indiana, a team that has wins over FIU, UVA, Ball State and Rutgers.
Nobody is really talking about Indiana in the Big Ten East with Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State and Michigan all in the same division. So, it is time for us to go Behind Enemy Lines and talk to someone who covers this team on a daily basis to learn a little bit more about Ohio State's upcoming opponent. We are catching up with Stu Jackson of TheHoosier.com to learn more and get his thoughts on what we might see on Saturday.
BuckeyeGrove: How different is the Indiana offense this year with Peyton Ramsey than it was last year under Richard Lagow? How has Stevie Scott stepped into the role vacated by Morgan Ellison at running back?
Stu Jackson: Ramsey doesn’t have the same arm strength as Lagow, so in that sense Indiana’s offense hasn’t taken as many shots deep downfield compared to last year. Ramsey has greater mobility than Lagow, which allows him to extend plays. In other words, you’re trading arm strength for mobility going from Lagow to Ramsey.
Additionally, while Lagow had the stronger arm, he also struggled mightily with accuracy issues. Ramsey the more accurate quarterback between the two, but that precision is partly because of amount of short and medium pass attempts he makes.
Scott established trust pretty quickly in the season-opener at Florida International. He was the “next man up” after IU’s second-leading rusher from a year ago, Cole Gest, went down with a season-ending ACL injury and finished with 20 carries for 70 yards, then followed it up with 31 carries for 204 yards and one touchdown against Virginia. His total rushing yards fell three yards shy of tying former IU running back Anthony Thompson’s freshman single-game rushing record. He’s big enough (6-2, 233) and durable enough to be an every down back, something that has also helped him stay on the field.
