Wide receiver Ke’Shawn Williams and undefeated Indiana face by far their toughest test of the season on Saturday with a trip to Ohio State.
AJ Mast | AP photo
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Looking at Ohio State’s schedule at the start of the season, the game against Indiana in late November didn’t stand out.
The Hoosiers haven’t been a contender in the Big Ten for decades and were terrible last year, so it was logical to think about this game as a throwaway, one that wouldn’t require a lot of heavy lifting for the Buckeyes as they schemed for revenge against Michigan the following week.
Instead, the college football world will get a treat instead of a dud on Saturday when undefeated No. 5 Indiana plays No. 2 Ohio State at the Horseshoe, a place where the Hoosiers haven’t won a game since Ronald Reagan was president.
Indiana (10-0, 7-0 Big Ten, No. 5 CFP) is one the most uplifting stories of the season. Behind Ohio University transfer quarterback Kurtis Rourke, the Hoosiers are enjoying their best season since 1967 when they finished 9-2 and shared the Big Ten title with Purdue and Minnesota.
They haven’t even sniffed a conference crown since.
The Buckeyes (9-1, 6-1, No. 2 CFP) are doing what they were expected to do. Their only stumble this season was a nail-biter of a 32-31 loss to now-No. 1 Oregon. Ohio State hasn’t dropped below No. 4 in the AP Top 25 all season.
“We saw Indiana becoming a big game, now a Top 5 matchup,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said this week. “Our guys are fired up for this one and know this is a must-win for us. We’ve got to go win this game to play in Indianapolis (in the Big Ten championship). I know the team, the coaches, everybody in this building, the fans know what kind of game this is, and we’ve got to bring it on Saturday.”
Oregon has already clinched one of the spots in the conference title game.
If Indiana beats Ohio State — the only nationally ranked team on its schedule this year — and closes out the season with a win over Purdue, the Hoosiers will be in the Big Ten championship for the first time since the inception of the game in 2011.
If Ohio State wins out, it will return to the conference title game for the first time since the pandemic-shortened 2020 season — and get a rematch with the Ducks.
Ohio State has a 28-game winning streak against Indiana, dating back to 1991. That’s the longest active winning streak of one team over another in Division I football.
THE UNDERCARD
• No. 4 Penn State (9-1, 6-1, No. 4 CFP) at Minnesota (6-4, 4-3)
This is likely Penn State’s biggest obstacle on its way to a potential playoff berth. The Nittany Lions’ lone remaining regular-season game is a Nov. 30 home matchup with Maryland (4-6, 1-6).
Minnesota has had an extra week to prepare this game since its 26-19 loss at Rutgers on Nov. 9, which snapped a four-game winning streak.
Penn State and Minnesota have split their last four meetings, with the home team winning each time.
IMPACT PLAYERS
• Penn State DE Abdul Carter has multiple tackles for loss in each of his last three games. He ranks second among all Bowl Subdivision players in tackles for loss (17½).
• USC RB Woody Marks rushed for a career-high 146 yards in a 28-20 win over Nebraska. Marks has six 100-yard rushing performances this season.
• Rutgers RB Kyle Monangai is the first Scarlet Knight to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back seasons since Ray Rice did it three straight years from 2005-07. Monangai has run for 1,028 yards this season and rushed for 1,262 yards last year.
• Oregon OLB Matayo Uiagalelei recorded a sack and had a game-clinching interception as the top-ranked Ducks won 16-13 at Wisconsin last week. He has 8 ½ sacks this season to rank second in the Big Ten.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Four of the top seven Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks in passer rating are from the Big Ten. Indiana’s Kurtis Rourke is second, Ohio State’s Will Howard is third, Penn State’s Drew Allar is fifth and Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel is seventh.
• Illinois QB Luke Altmyer has thrown 18 touchdown passes with only three interceptions. The only Power Four quarterback with a better touchdown/interception ratio while throwing at least 10 touchdown passes is Clemson’s Cade Klubnik, who has 26 touchdowns and four interceptions.
• Rutgers’ three Big Ten wins matches its largest total since joining the league in 2014. Rutgers also had three conference wins in 2014, 2017, 2020 and 2023. A victory Saturday over No. 24 Illinois would give Rutgers three straight Big Ten wins for the first time.
• Washington’s 31-19 win over UCLA was its 20th straight home victory, representing its second-longest such streak in school history. The Huskies won 45 straight home games from 1908-17.
• Wisconsin heads to Nebraska this week having won its last 10 matchups with the Cornhuskers.
NOW DON’T GET UPSET
Penn State justifiably is favored on the road against Minnesota, but Bet MGM’s 11½-point spread seems way too big. Expect this game to have a single-digit margin.