Preview: Indiana at No. 3 Ohio State

#3 Ohio State 10-0, 6-0 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

November 23, 2013 3:30 PM ET - ABC/ESPN2 —— Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH —— [TICKETS]

Indiana 4-6, 2-4 Big Ten Roster | Schedule

Indiana’s football history is a long and tortured existence. The Hoosiers have won two Big Ten championships, the last coming in 1967. The program’s bright spots are few and far between. There’s the 1968 Rose Bowl, defeating previously undefeated BYU in the 1979 Holiday Bowl under Lee Corso, and the Bill Mallory era, a period Indiana went to six bowl games in 13 seasons.

But since Mallory was fired following the 1996 season, Indiana football has been among the worst major college football programs in the country. Kevin Wilson is on a mission to change that.

“The urgency is ‘we’ve got to keep getting better’ more than ‘we’ve got to get this win to be a bowl team,’” Wilson said. “We’ve got to beat Ohio State. Great team, undefeated team. We’ve got to get better. That has been the message.”

Wilson’s record indicates nine wins in two-plus seasons. After a four-win season a few ago that featured a high-powered Hoosier offense, many thought 2013 could be the breakthrough Indiana coveted. But a woeful defense stalled any grand plans. The Hoosiers must beat the Buckeyes and Purdue to qualify for a bowl game.

“He wants to win,” senior safety Greg Heban said. “That’s the bottom line. Right now, we have a great bunch of guys who are willing to buy into the program. He’s continuing to build the team camaraderie and leadership, and that’s something that’s going to improve every year.”

Opponent Breakdown

The story of the 2013 Indiana Hoosiers starts (and ends) with the defense. Coordinator Doug Mallory, son of longtime IU head coach Bill, has been the target of harsh criticism after his unit’s steady regression over three seasons. This year has been historically bad.

The Hoosiers are allowing 535 yards per game – 284 passing, 251 rushing – rank 122nd in total defense, 120 in rush defense and 116 in pass defense. There are 123 teams in the FBS. Ten players have rushed for 100 yards, six wide receivers have surpassed the century mark through the air.

In the Big Ten, Indiana ranks last in nearly every defensive category. The Hoosiers are well on their way to surrendering the most yards per game in Big Ten history, breaking the streak of arguably the worst conference team ever, 1981 Northwestern.

So far, Wilson has deflected the blame to himself.

Glenville Tarblooder Shane Wynn

“I’ve got to look at myself and what we’ve done,” he said. “You’d like to think in Year 3 you’d statistically and performance-wise be better. We do need to make some strides.”

If they thought improvements were on the way, it’s hard to believe that still after a week of misery. Wisconsin rolled up 676 total yards last week, including 554 rushing yards, en route to a 51-3 victory. The Badgers gained 420 yards on nine plays.

Incredibly, the 676 yards weren’t the most yards Indiana has given up this season. Michigan gained an eye-popping 751 yards, 369 of which were Jeremy Gallon’s Big Ten record receiving yards. Three teams have gone over the 600-yard mark.

Mallory says he doesn’t hear all the chatter, the columnists writing he should lose his job. Instead, he focuses on the small steps, working hard and taking Indiana football to the place of his youth.

“There are only certain things you can control,” Mallory said. “You stay day by day. It’s a process. It’s not something that happens overnight.”

The biggest issue on that side of the ball has been youth. There’s only one senior on defense compared to five true freshmen. One of those first-year players, linebacker Clyde Newton (30 tackles), could shore up the defense in future years. Freshmen defensive linemen Darius Latham and David Kenney are also names Big Ten fans could become accustomed to.

Offensively, Indiana is an entirely different story. Wisconsin did hold the Hoosiers to three points, but they’re still averaging 39 points per game and have scored a school-record 52 touchdowns. Indiana owns the conference’s third-best yardage per game average at 497.

Ohio State is well-versed on the Hoosier offense after they put up 49 points a year ago, the most ever in a Buckeye win. This season, quarterback Nate Sudfeld is completing 60 percent of his passes for 228 yards per game. He’s thrown for 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Tailback Tevin Coleman is averaging more than 100 yards per game, but might not be available because of an injury. Receivers Cody Latimer and Shane Wynn are the biggest playmakers. Latimer leads the team with 926 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. His longest scoring strike was 77 yards. Wynn, a Cleveland Glenville grad, torched Ohio State last season. He remains that same threat, touching the ball 33 times this season and scoring eight touchdowns.

Buckeye Breakdown

Ohio State is one win from clinching its first appearance in the Big Ten Championship Game and possibly three wins away from another national title game berth. But all that talk has been put on the backburner at the discretion of head coach Urban Meyer.

He wants a buttoned-down approach after weeks of BCS talk and other distractions creeping into the football facility. The Buckeyes are in the midst of a school-record 22 consecutive wins. Still, Meyer has spent the week lamenting injuries, talking about the senior class and focusing on Indiana.

“This team can score points in bunches,” Meyer said about the Hoosiers. “We’ve got to control the clock, control the time. They scored a good amount of points on Michigan State, the No. 1 defense…in the country. On a national scale, which we’re not worried about that, [the perception is] we’re going to beat this team. Wait a minute now. This is a very good team, very good players, well coached. We have to really focus this week on facing a very potent offense.”

Meyer coached under Lou Holtz for several years at Notre Dame, and that talk on Monday surely made Holtz smile. Attention was ricocheted back to the week at hand each time Meyer was asked about the big picture.

At this point, all Ohio State can control is what it does each Saturday. Even with a victory over Indiana, the Buckeyes will fall to fourth in the BCS standings if Baylor beats Oklahoma State. That’s why Braxton Miller said the team needs to dominate and make it look easy.

But to many, that’s exactly what Ohio State’s accomplished in its past three games. Each win has included point outputs of at least 56 points with opponents scoring 14, zero and 35. Perception and style points are what rule the college football beauty pageant, though. And a 60-35 road win didn’t impress voters.

"We have got to get better in certain areas, but we also appreciate where we are,” Meyer said. “I think it's an appreciation of where we’re at and move forward.”

How it Plays Out

Free Bucknotes: Print. Consume. Get smart.

If the Indiana defense is allowing well over 500 yards and 39 points per game, what do you expect Ohio State to do? This game has bloodbath written all over it. The Buckeye offense is clicking, the defense is angry and the Hoosiers are playing poorly.

On Senior Day, Carlos Hyde will go over 1,000 yards for the season unless something major happens. The bruising running back is just 53 yards shy of the coveted mark, making his final home game a dream scenario. Facing a porous Indiana defense only adds to the potential for a record-setting day.

But there’s another prominent player who could be playing his final game at the Horseshoe – Braxton Miller. If that is indeed the case, the Hoosiers set up quite an opportunity for Miller to say goodbye in style.

Indiana’s only hope is to outscore Ohio State, because it certainly won’t stop the Buckeyes. The teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense in last year’s meeting. Chances are it will happen again this season, but don’t expect an even 500-500 split. Ohio State could near the 700-yard mark.

ELEVEN WARRIORS STAFF PREDICTION: Ohio State 63, Indiana 21