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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

sports football

IU to play one of nation's best offenses

The IU defense chases Mean Green quarterback Dajon Williams out of the pocket during IU's game against North Texas on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

When IU plays Ohio State on Saturday, there will be no post-season implications.

Not for IU, at least.

The Buckeyes (9-1, 6-0), on the other hand, are the No. 7 team in the country and are playing to be one of the four teams in the College Football Playoff at the end of the season, with a chance at the National Championship game.

Ohio State needs just one more win to become the winner of the East Division and reserve its spot in the Big Ten Championship game Dec. 6.

The Hoosiers coming to Columbus, Ohio, on Saturday is an ideal situation for the Buckeyes.

IU (3-7, 0-6) was knocked out of bowl contention Saturday, Nov. 15 when it lost to Rutgers 45-23. The Hoosiers are on a five-game skid. They’re 3-7 and are still winless in the Big Ten.

They also haven’t won at Ohio Stadium since 1987.

“It’s going to be a very good challenge,” IU Coach Kevin Wilson said. “Tremendous team, very talented in all phases, very well-coached. We’re going to have to play really good team D.”

IU has faced two other top-20 opponents this season. In week three, it beat No. 18 Missouri on the road, 31-27. Four weeks later it was a 56-17 loss to Michigan State at home, a game in which IU gave up 42 unanswered points.

This week will be the toughest of the three, safeties Coach Noah Joseph said, because Ohio State has a balanced team with multiple talented skill players at each position.

The Buckeyes are led by freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett, who became the starter in August when Braxton Miller re-injured his throwing shoulder and decided to sit out the 2014 ?season.

In his first season, Barrett is currently sixth on ESPN’s Heisman Watch List. He has thrown for 2,356 yards this year and has 29 touchdowns to eight interceptions.

That’s an average of nearly three touchdown passes per game to go along with nine rushing touchdowns through 10 games.

“I don’t think you can stop him. I think you can contain him,” Joseph said. “I think something that’s so impressive to me is he does a great job of understanding the game and taking what the defense gives him.”

The dual-threat quarterback reminds Joseph a bit of Missouri’s Maty Mauk, but Barrett also has an arm Joseph says is as good as or better than Michigan State’s Connor Cook.

The Hoosiers will have to depend on limiting big plays, which has been a consistent problem this season. In last week’s loss to Rutgers, the Hoosiers gave up three touchdowns of more than 30 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown pass in the second half.

The IU defense allowed just one big play against Penn State two weeks ago, but a 92-yard touchdown run was the difference in a 13-10 game.

Trying to limit what they refer to as “explosive” plays has been a focus all season.

Joseph said it’s still a matter of young guys developing trust with ?one another.

He said too often his players try to make each other’s plays rather than focusing on their own assignments.

“If somebody is out of their gap and a play might hit for six or seven yards, that same situation comes up in your mind (later), and you say, well, that guy really didn’t do his job, so I’m going to go do that,” Joseph said.

The Hoosiers are ranked 106th in the nation in points allowed with 34 per game. The Ohio State offense is averaging 45 points per game, fifth-best ?nationally.

Joseph said although a bowl game is out of the picture, his team is still hungry for a win.

Playing against one of the best teams in the country is a chance to see where it stands, even if that’s a gauge for next year.

“It’ll be a great challenge, but any time you can face guys like that, it’s fun to go do that and kind of gauge where you’re at,” he said.

“How good do you want to be? Well you better go play against the best and see how you stack up.”

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