Indiana Needed a Miracle to Keep the Game of the Year Against the Buckeyes Alive
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We are going to learn a lot about this Indiana Hoosiers team on Saturday afternoon in Bloomington.
Throughout the first six weeks of the season, Indiana has been good, but they are certainly not as good as they were at the end of the season last year. The Hoosiers were one of the most complete teams of all time on their run to a perfect 16-0 National Championship.
They lost several players, including their star quarterback, Fernando Mendoza, who was replaced by Josh Hoover.
There will be some familiar faces like Steven Daily and Charlie Becker, as well as some new ones like Nick Marsh.
The Hoosiers are far from complete, unlike last year, and that showed itself last Saturday against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers gave the Hoosiers everything they wanted, and more; really, they gave the Hoosiers the win in the fourth quarter.
The Ohio State Buckeyes were thankful for that because their avoiding the loss kept the Game of the Year up for this upcoming weekend.
Now, this is a self-proclaimed game of the year for me because I do believe that this one holds a ton of importance for the Buckeyes. This is the first time they are going to actually be tested since the meltdown in Austin.
That game is still lingering in the back of the minds of all of the Buckeyes because they truly cost themselves a chance for an undefeated campaign against one of the toughest schedules college football has ever seen.
For the Hoosiers, this game gives them the opportunity to prove to themselves that they are just as good this year as they were last year. They haven't had a signature win over anyone yet, but they could change that on Saturday.
The anatomy of last year's loss to the Hoosiers was actually pretty simple. Indiana didn't do anything special other than out-physical the Buckeyes. They won the line of scrimmage on both sides of the football and took the spirit of the Buckeyes from them.
With that said, the Buckeyes had a chance stil lto win the football game late in the second half, but self-inflicted wounds cost them in a big way.
This one on Saturday isn't going to cancel anyone out of the College Football Playoff. If the Buckeyes get the win, Indiana will still be alive, but Ohio State is going to feel great about themselves. If the Buckeyes were to lose, their backs would be pushed back against the wall, but they would still be alive, if only until the next loss.
Saturday has all of the storylines, let's hope that it lives up to the billing.
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