‘Fast Start’ – Hoosiers Seek to Find a Way Against Buckeyes
By Pete DiPrimio | IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Ohio State is coming to Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium on Saturday with an all-world receiver (Jeremiah Smith) and the Big Ten’s most potent offense (a conference-leading 42.7 points per game) and the Indiana Hoosiers must be ready, veteran linebacker Isaiah Jones says.
That means returning to the disruptive, crisp tackling form that has made this unit a juggernaut over the past three seasons under defensive coordinator Bryant Haines.
“We have to start faster,” Jones says. “We have to understand what (the offense is) trying to get done.”
That could include a heavy dose of Ohio State running back Bo Jackson, who has rushed for 460 yards and four touchdowns.
“We always are looking for a challenge and looking for how we can be critiqued,” Jones says. “Every guy on that defense wants to be coached at the highest level. We take it. We take the coaching and move on.”
This top-five matchup -- Indiana is ranked No. 5/4 with a 6-0 overall record, 3-0 in the Big Ten; Ohio State is No. 4/5, 5-1 and 3-0 -- rates as perhaps the biggest home sporting event in Hoosier history.
Intriguing story lines are everywhere -- including IU’s 22-game winning streak, head coach Curt Cignetti’s 19-0 Merchants Bank Field at Memorial Stadium record, and his 7-0 record in one-score games as the Hoosiers’ coach.
Then there’s the fact Indiana beat Ohio State 13-10 in last season’s Big Ten title game to snap a losing streak against the Buckeyes that began in 1988.
The visitors want payback.
It’s a game that will demand mental toughness, resolve and execution. IU offensive lineman Carter Smith says Indiana’s comeback victory at Nebraska last Saturday -- it trailed 17-6 with 12 minutes left before rallying for a 20-17 win -- is good preparation for what is coming.
“I think everything that you do with your team that game is something that you can carry over into the next. We've had situations like that before. We were at Iowa (last year) and were able to seal the game. There are a lot of moments like that from the past that really affect what we know we're able to do this year.”
During his Thursday night radio show with Voice of the Hoosiers Don Fischer, Cignetti says he always talks to the team before the game and then right before players go back out for the second half.
“In this particular case (trailing Nebraska 10-3 at halftime), I wanted to look them in the eye,” he tells Fischer. “I told them to take a knee and, ‘Look, what's done is done, that's behind us, let it go, accept the corrections that need to be made. Take a deep breath. Let's play one play at a time.’
“And then I said, ‘Really good teams find a way to win games like this,’ and we did.”
Ohio State allows 13.2 points, second in the Big Ten to IU’s 11.8. It gives up 96.2 yards on the ground and 150.7 through the air.
Despite losing eight defensive starters from last season, the Buckeyes give up 246.9 total yards a game. Only Michigan, at 241.4, is better in the Big Ten. IU allows 263.3.
IU ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring (40.2 points), second in rushing (221.3 yards), and 11th in passing (241.3 yards).
The Buckeyes’ defensive line rates among the nation’s best with Kenyatta Jackson Jr. (three sacks, 15 tackles), Eddrick Houston (11 tackles, two quarterback hurries), James Smith (six tackles), and John Walker (11 tackles, three quarterback hurries).
“Ohio State always has great athletes,” Smith says. “They're strong and they're really heavy set on their defensive line front four. It's going to be important for us as the O-line just to create displacement and create run lanes for (running backs Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr.) and for guys to fit through and work.
“As far as down the field, again they have great athletes. We’ve got guys like (receivers Charlie Becker and Nick Marsh) who are going to be able to get downfield and make those opportunities happen."
Then there’s the Jeremiah Smith factor. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound receiver has caught 48 passes for 916 yards and 11 touchdowns. He averages 19.1 yards a catch, with a long of 72 yards.
Smith burned Illinois for 12 catches, 217 yards and four touchdowns last month. He followed that with 11 catches for 206 yards and two TDs at Iowa, and then four catches for 93 yards and two touchdowns against Maryland.
Over the last two seasons, Smith has more receiving yards (3,381) and touchdowns (36) than anyone in the country, and he has the second-most receptions (207).
What makes him special?
“It’s his explosive playmaking ability,” Jones says. “Whether it is a quadruple move down the middle of the field, or they're going to turn and throw him a key screen, he can he can turn it on and start getting vertical.
“He’s a very explosive player. He has a great catch radius. Their quarterback loves to target him. The biggest thing that's impressed us is he's not just this vertical threat that's going to run triple moves and is a track star. He'll catch the ball in space and start getting vertical.”
Cignetti tells Fischer that Ohio State has targeted Smith 63 times in six games. In the biggest games, against Texas, Iowa and Illinois, he was targeted 43 times.
“This is a guy that has size, speed, ball skills, competitiveness, body flexibility, strength, explosion,” Cignetti says.
“He’s the best player I can remember playing against in a long, long time.”