Football
Friday Walkthrough: Plugging Holes
By Brandon CastelOhio State and Indiana have not met on the football field since 2006.
While that might not seem like an eternity ago, consider the fact that an Ohio State tight end actually caught two touchdown passes that day in the Buckeyes’ 44-3 win over the Hoosiers.
While the two teams didn’t play each other from 2007-08, Ohio State has won all six meetings under Head Coach Jim Tressel by a combined score of 222-57.
The Hoosiers bring one of their most talented and most experienced groups into Saturday night’s game, but they are hosting a Buckeye team that currently holds a 15-game win streak in Big Ten road games (two shy of tying the all-time mark for the Big Ten).
Ohio State will stay the night in Indianapolis this year, a good hour-and-a-half outside of Bloomington, and therefore won’t be having a walkthrough at Memorial Stadium Friday. That won’t stop us, however, from doing our own Friday Walkthrough.
Quarterback
What to expect: Quarterback Terrelle Pryor is coming off a week in which he threw the ball a total of 13 times, only two of which came in the first half. Most of that had to do with the bad weather in Columbus, so barring an unexpected storm, look for Pryor to throw the ball with more frequency against Indiana. The Hoosiers currently rank 84 th in the country in pass defense and the last time these two teams met, Troy Smith torched them for four touchdowns through the air.
Injury report: All quarterbacks are healthy and accounted for.
Running Back
What to expect: After scoring his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the season against Illinois, tailback Boom Herron came out of the game with an ankle injury. The Buckeyes were hoping the ankle would heal up before it became a factor, but Herron did not practice early in the week and Thursday coach Tressel announced that junior Brandon Saine would make the first start of his career. Saine had already been sharing time with Herron this season, but far from equally. Through four games, Herron had carried the ball twice as many times as Saine, but the Piqua product should see the bulk of the carries Saturday, although he will share time with freshman Jordan Hall. With Saine and Hall in the backfield, look for the Buckeyes to continue running out of the shotgun with Pryor acting as both a ball-carrier and a decoy.
Injury report: Herron will be active for the game but how much action he will see could depend on the flow – and more importantly the score – of the game. He was listed at only 85 percent Thursday, so it’s doubtful he can get back to 100 percent in time for kickoff. Redshirt freshman Jermil Martin is healthy and could see some carries behind Saine and Hall, but the Buckeyes will likely be without both Jaamal Berry (hamstring) and Marcus Williams (knee).
Wide Receiver & Tight End
What to expect: The last time OSU played Indiana, Rory Nicol caught two touchdown passes. I wouldn’t expect to see that happen again Saturday with any of the current tight ends, but Jake Ballard is coming off maybe his most impactful game as a Buckeye. Regardless of whether or not he is called upon to play the role of lead blocker again this week, Ballard will be needed to help offensive tackles Mike Adams, Andrew Miller and J.B. Shugarts as they attempt to protect Pryor from two of the most sack-happy defensive ends in college football.
As far as who will catch the ball Saturday, keep an eye on DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher. Ohio State’s two starters have accounted for 27 of the team’s 54 team catches this season, only 34 of which have been made by the receivers. In fact, outside of Posey and Sanzenbacher, the only two wideouts to catch passes in 2009 are freshman Duron Carter (5) and senior Ray Small (2). Watch to see if the Buckeyes attempt to target Small more down the field, something they were hoping to do that last week before the bad weather rolled into Columbus.
Injury report: After playing without Small and Posey for most of the opener, the Buckeyes look to be healthy at receiver and tight end heading into the game against Indiana.
Offensive Line
What to expect: After starting 29 straight games for the Buckeyes on the offensive line, Jim Cordle will miss his third straight game with a foot injury. The senior right tackle had surgery last week and Tressel said this week that they expect to have him back for the Oct. 24 th game against Minnesota.
With Cordle out, sophomore J.B. Shugarts will start his third-consecutive game at right tackle. The Texas native went from three false starts against Toledo down to one against Illinois, so watch to see if he can cut that down to zero as the Buckeyes look to eliminate the mental mistakes that come with starting three sophomore and two juniors on the offensive line.
“The biggest challenge is make sure they don’t jump offsides all the time,” tight ends and tackles coach John Peterson said. “If they can line up and not jump off-sides, then we’ve got a chance.”
Shugarts seemed to settle into his own last week against Illinois, but a big part of that was getting to spend the majority of the game run blocking. Watch to see how he handles pass protection this week against Indiana’s stud defensive ends Jammie Kirlew and Greg Middleton.
The same goes for classmate Mike Adams on the other side, as he will likely make his second straight start after missing the first two games due to suspension. Adams started in place of junior Andrew Miller last week, but both played their fair share against the Illini. They are likely to share time again this week, although the Buckeyes could be warming up to the idea of having Adams and Shugarts as the two bookends for the next three years.
“Either one can be a starter,” Peterson said of Adams and Miller.
“It’s like I told both of them, we're going to need more than five linemen to compete in the Big Ten for the whole season. They both understand that and when they get a chance to get in the game we expect both of them to play at a high level.”
Injury report: Cordle will miss this game Saturday and possibly two more.
Defensive Line
What to expect: The Buckeyes have gotten all they could have asked for out of the defensive line this season, and they will ask them to do it again Saturday against a very experienced Indiana offensive line. The Hoosiers have four starters back, two of which started the game against Ohio State back in 2006 as freshmen. Thad Gibson is coming off his most productive game and senior Lawrence Wilson showed some of his old self against Illinois after somewhat sleepwalking through the first three games of the year. The Hoosiers have allowed only two sacks so far, tied for best in the nation, so don’t be surprised to see them keep backs and tight ends in to protect instead of sending them on patterns.
“Protection-wise they like to leave a lot of guys in and let their quarterbacks and wide receivers kind of work, so it will be a tough job for the defensive line,” said nose tackle Dexter Larimore.
The Buckeyes will still attempt to put pressure on Indiana quarterback Ben Chappell with three and four man rushes, but they will need big games from Gibson and Wilson along with Cam Heyward and Doug Worthington.
Injury report: Freshman Melvin Fellows remains out following off-season knee surgery.
Linebacker
What to expect: Although the Buckeyes got their second straight shutout Saturday against Illinois, it came at a bit of a price as they lost starting linebacker Ross Homan midway through the game. The good news is sophomore Andrew Sweat came on and played well in Homan’s absence. The better news is that Homan should be available to play this week after practicing full-go Wednesday and Thursday. Barring any setbacks, expect to see Homan start the game, but don’t be surprised to see Sweat get some meaningful playing time as the staff attempts to see just how much he can help them this season.
Look for Brian Rolle to be on the field for nearly every snap defensively and expect captain Austin Spitler to be in the game whenever the Buckeyes are in the base defense.
Injury report: The Buckeyes will continue to play without Tyler Moeller, who is out for the year with a head injury. They should, however, have Homan available after he left last week’s game with concussion-like symptoms.
Secondary
What to expect: The real casualty of the Illinois game was captain Kurt Coleman. Coleman was suspended by the Big Ten for this week’s game after his helmet-to-helmet hit on backup quarterback Eddie McGee in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. Look for senior Anderson Russell to replace Coleman in the base, where he will play alongside Jermale Hines, the player who took his starting job back in week three.
Russell was already playing safety in the nickel defense, but look for a new number at strong safety as redshirt freshman Orhian Johnson will assume that role when Hines slides down to play the star position.
“When we’re in nickel, he’ll be in the game and we’re expecting that he will do a great job,” Tressel said Thursday.
A U.S. Army All-American in high school, Johnson is a big, athletic kid with speed and power. He is a likely candidate to snag the open free safety spot next season when Coleman and Russell are gone, so this will be a great opportunity for both the fans and the staff to get a look at what this kid can do in live competition.
“He's a big kid that's been around a little bit. He can run. He's always been a guy that's been getting a bunch of reps for us. Anytime a guy is getting a bunch of reps, not game reps but practice reps, you hopefully feel that he's a little bit ahead of everyone else,” safeties coach Paul Haynes said.
The Buckeyes have also been working on some three-corner looks in practice with Andre Amos or Travis Howard working inside, so having Coleman out could present them with the perfect opportunity to test it in a game. Expect to see Devon Torrence start across from Chimdi Chekwa, but Amos should play plenty even if the Bucks don’t feel comfortable going with their three-corner set.
Injury report: The Buckeyes get Zach Domicone back this week after he missed the first four games with a leg injury, but they continue to be without senior Aaron Gant. Domicone is unlikely to see time at safety, even with Coleman out, but he should see some action on special teams.
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