An old friend of Eleven Warriors joins this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays to help us break down Ohio State’s third top-five opponent of the season.
Former Eleven Warriors recruiting reporter Taylor Lehman, who now produces the Indiana football newsletter Bite-Sized Bison, joins us on this week’s show to discuss the rise of Indiana football in Curt Cignetti’s first season as head coach and what’s enabled the Hoosiers to go 10-0 entering their biggest game of the season at Ohio State.
Lehman tells us this year’s Indiana football team is different even from the good Indiana teams that have challenged Ohio State in the past and says the program under Cignetti reminds him more of the program he covered at Ohio State than past Indiana teams. On the field, Lehman is confident in Indiana’s defensive front and passing offense entering the matchup with Ohio State, though establishing a run game and covering the Buckeyes’ elite trio of wide receivers will also be crucial to the Hoosiers’ success.
From start to finish, this week’s episode is all about Ohio State vs. Indiana as we focus entirely on the Buckeyes’ top-five matchup with the Hoosiers, even after Seth McLaughlin’s season-ending injury. (For a more in-depth conversation about McLaughlin’s injury and how Ohio State could replace him, watch our most recent episode of Press Coverage).
The rundown for this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays:
- 0:00 Welcome Back, Taylor
- 1:14 What It’s Been Like to Cover Indiana’s Rise to 10-0
- 3:32 We Know Indiana is Good, But Is It Good Enough to Beat An Elite Opponent?
- 7:33 How Indiana’s Offense Has Become One of the Nation’s Best
- 13:25 Mikail Kamara, D’Angelo Ponds Among Stars of Indiana’s Top-10 Defense
- 16:54 Defensive Line, Passing Offense Among Strengths That Should Translate vs. Ohio State
- 19:35 Rushing Defense, Establishing Run Among Keys to the Game for Indiana
- 21:11 This Might Not Be Indiana’s Biggest Game Ever, But It‘s the Biggest Game in a Long Time
- 23:08 Indiana Should Still Be A College Football Playoff Team Even If It Loses to Ohio State
- 26:52 Taylor’s Game Prediction
- 29:11 Seth McLaughlin’s Injury Makes Offensive Line the Biggest Concern for Ohio State Again
- 31:34 Passing Defense, Specifically Cornerback Play, the Other Big Question for Ohio State
- 34:41 Josh Fryar, Donovan Jackson, Jack Sawyer Among X-Factors for OSU vs. Indiana
- 38:14 Andy and Dan’s Score Predictions for Ohio State vs. Indiana
Watch this week’s Real Pod Wednesdays in the video at the top of the page or listen to it in the audio player below. All episodes of RPW are also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Eleven Warriors’ YouTube channel.
