2017 Look Ahead: Ohio State at Indiana

Taken not even two years ago, the photo is partly a representation of the last time Ohio State visited Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana. It also shows how quickly things can change in the arms race that is college football.

That is Kevin Wilson barking at something — an official? Maybe. One of his players? Certainly a possibility. What about both? Yeah, probably both — during Indiana's 34-27 loss to Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes on Oct. 3, 2015. Ohio State needed a monster day from Ezekiel Elliott and an Eli Apple pass breakup in the end zone on the final play of the game to leave with a narrow victory, at the time its 20th consecutive against the Hoosiers (we're counting the four-touchdown win by the Buckeyes in 2010 even though the NCAA doesn't).

That number ballooned to 21 last season with a 38-17 victory by the Buckeyes in Columbus in which J.T. Barrett threw for just 93 yards and Wilson still called him the best quarterback in the country. After an investigation into Wilson's alleged mistreatment of players by the Indiana administration, the head coach resigned on Dec. 1. A little more than a month later, Meyer hired him as his next offensive coordinator, giving Wilson a golden opportunity to work with the player he thinks is the best in the nation at his respective position.

And in some perfect shift college football planets aligning in the name of entertainment, Wilson's first game as a Buckeye comes against his old employer. The same one who gave him a 6-year, $15 million contract nearly 11 months before he had to leave.

Wilson finished 26-47 overall and went 12-37 in Big Ten play as the head coach of the Hoosiers. He led them to two bowl games, though he didn't coach the second one — a 26-24 loss to Utah in the Foster Farms Bowl three days after Christmas. Former defensive coordinator Tom Allen did, as Indiana promoted from within.

Allen lost numerous key pieces of his outfit after last season. Wilson dove headfirst into the bevy of talent available in Columbus this spring as part of his fresh start at Ohio State.

The two teams meet on Thursday, Aug. 31 to kick off the 2017 football season. Here is an early look at the Hoosiers in LAW (Life After Wilson).

Offense

While Kevin Wilson earned Urban Meyer's respect at Indiana for being a thorn in the side of every opponent because of his creativity on offense, Tom Allen makes his mark with defense. There is a reason Wilson hired him away from South Florida ahead of the 2016 season to fix a unit that allowed more than 30 points per game annually.

More on that in a bit. Wilson rode Richard Lagow as his starting quarterback for the 2016 regular season, with mixed results. Lagow threw for 3,362 yards last year, good for second in the Big Ten. He also tossed 19 touchdown passes and even caught one in a close win over Michigan State. But inaccuracy (just a 57.8 percent completion rate) and carelessness (17 interceptions) plagued him.

A junior college transfer, Lagow has one year of eligibility left. Backup Zander Diamont, a guy who nearly upset Ohio State two years ago after Nate Sudfeld left with an ankle injury, retired from football in December. That leaves redshirt freshman Peyton Ramsey as the lead competitor for the job with Lagow. Ramsey threw for a touchdown and ran for another as he led the Crimson team to a 42-36 overtime win in the program's spring game.

Allen said he welcomes a battle at the game's most important position but the smart money has to be on Lagow keeping the job. He is more experienced, a senior and has a few capable receivers on the outside provided Simmie Cobbs Jr. returns fully healthy from the ankle injury that required him to have surgery in September and knocked him out the remainder of the season. Leading receiver Nick Westbrook (995 yards, six touchdowns, on 54 catches) is also back, though the Hoosiers said goodbye to Ricky Jones and Mitchell Paige. The two combined for 111 receptions, nearly 1,500 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 2016.

While Allen has to decide if Lagow is best suited to run his offense — he seemed to struggle with Wilson's tempo last season and held the unit back — he also has a massive hole at running back. Cleveland native Devine Redding left after his junior season for the NFL and ultimately signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs.

In doing so, Redding left a void in Indiana's rushing attack. His 1,122 yards on the ground was fifth-most in the Big Ten last season and he also scored seven touchdowns. Indiana's second-leading rusher was Diamont, a change-of-pace quarterback more lethal with his legs than his arm.

In an effort to replace Redding, Allen has multiple backs to choose from. The names: Redshirt senior Camion Patrick, redshirt junior Ricky Brookins Jr., redshirt junior Alex Rodriguez — no, not that one — junior Mike Majette, redshirt sophomore Devonte Williams, sophomore Tyler "Big Bacon" Natee and redshirt freshman Cole Gest. Indiana also signed two running backs, former Ohio University commit and Pickerington native Morgan Ellison as well as Craig Nelson. The Crimson Quarry has a nice breakdown on each player's chances to step in for Redding but it looks like the Hoosiers could explore a running back by committee approach for 2017.

Natee had some nice moments in 2016, mostly running the option with Diamont on his way to 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns as a true freshman. Majette, Williams, Brookins Jr., Gest, Rodriguez and Patrick all had carries last season too, though the latter has dealt with injuries his entire career.

This also happened in the spring game:

Another Spring Game in the books! A lot of fun out there but also a lot to learn from. S/O to isaac for throwing me a dime pic.twitter.com/bmB4qjOJx4

— Ricky Brookins Jr. (@RBJunior3) April 15, 2017

That is Brookins Jr. reeling in a reverse pass and finishing a play nicely after a large gain through the air. Rodriguez is a former walk-on, Majette and Gest are coming off injuries, Williams used to play cornerback and Thomas is a walk-on.

Whoever gets the nod at running back will do so without an All-American blocking for them. Dan Feeney graduated, leaving a considerable question mark front for a group that averaged 25.8 points per game in 2016. Moving forward without the mastermind that is Wilson at the controls, new offensive coordinator Mike DeBord will likely lean on Lagow if he can cut down on his turnovers. How the unit adjusts in LAW will provide a barometer to where the program goes from here.

Defense

Allen implemented his 4-2-5 defense in 2016 and the Hoosiers experienced considerable improvement. After allowing more than 37 points per game in 2015, that number dropped by 10 last season, by far the lowest in Wilson's tenure. Allen's defense kept Indiana in games on more than on occasion as the Hoosier offense tried to win it late.

The Hoosiers also allowed 380.1 total yards per game to finish ninth in the Big Ten in 2016. Those are not exactly remarkable numbers but are pretty spectacular when you consider teams easily racked up more than 500 yards per game on average a year earlier.

Scales intercepted Cardale Jones in 2015.

How Allen's influence remains on defense with his added head coaching duties will play a huge factor into how much success Indiana has this fall. Tegray Scales is back for his senior season, a welcome sight for Allen considering the star linebacker led everyone in the Big Ten with 126 tackles last season. Scales also tallied 23.5 tackles for loss last season, which again led the league. He good.

Scales loses fellow linebacker Marcus Oliver, who chose to enter the NFL Draft only not to hear his name called. Scales led the team with seven sacks in 2016, so it is clear that Allen needs more production from his defensive line. Fortunately, he has virtually everyone back.

The same goes for a secondary that intercepted 13 passes last year. Cornerback Rashard Fant leads the way as the NCAA's active career leader with 48 passes defended, a number that grew by 17 in his first year under Allen. He and Jonathan Crawford each picked off three passes in 2016.

Allen's defense received a major boost when Scales decided to return for his senior season. With plenty of starters back in the fray, the unit should take another step forward in 2017.

While Kevin Wilson-Indiana storylines will rightfully dominate headlines in the weeks leading up to the 2017 season opener, it is important to remember how rare it is for Ohio State to start its season against a Big Ten opponent.

The last time it happened was during the 1976 season when the Buckeyes beat Michigan State 49-21. Ohio State has never lost a season opener against a Big Ten foe and is in line to start the year on a day other than Saturday for just the eighth time in school history.

Kickoff is unknown at the time of this story's publication but you can bet on it being at 8 p.m. How Wilson enhances Ohio State's passing attack and offense as a whole will go a long way in determining its outcome. But Tom Allen has a star in Tegray Scales at linebacker and a much-improved defense to work with. If he wants to make some noise in his second game ever as a college head coach, he has a golden opportunity right at the beginning of the 2017 slate.