You’re Nuts: One player not named Sayin or Smith who holds the key to beating Indiana

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Everybody knows that one of the best parts of being a sports fan is debating and dissecting the most (and least) important questions in the sporting world with your friends. So, we’re bringing that to the pages of LGHL with our favorite head-to-head column: You’re Nuts.

In You’re Nuts, two LGHL staff members will take differing sides on one question and argue their opinions passionately. Then, in the end, it’s up to you to determine who’s right and who’s nuts.

Today’s Question: One player not named Sayin or Smith who holds the key to beating Indiana

Jami’s Take:Eddrick Houston

When Ohio State heads to Bloomington to face the 2025 national champion Indiana Hoosiers in a rematch of last season’s Big Ten Championship, both teams will look a bit different than they did last December. 

With Heisman-winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza now playing in the NFL, Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers have found their new leader in Josh Hoover, making strong use of a run-pass option offense. With two duos to choose from—receivers Nick Marsh and Charlie Becker, who could both potentially go in the first round of the 2027 NFL Draft, and running backs Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr.—Hoover has options, and the Buckeyes will need to be prepared for all of them if they’re going to shut down Indiana’s offense. 

Perhaps the most critical aspect of doing so will be containing the rush attack from Richard and Beebe, which has been the main factor in the Hoosiers’ offensive efficiency this season. And if one Ohio State player holds the keys to success on this front, it’s defensive tackle Eddrick Houston. 

The Buckeyes’ rush defense has been inconsistent through the first half of the season, surrendering 141 yards to Texas and 199 to Illinois before turning things around against Iowa and Maryland. I’m willing to chalk up the numbers against the Longhorns and Illini to the defense’s need to rediscover its identity after losing key players to the NFL, especially as they’ve seemingly course-corrected. 

Houston, in particular, seems to have turned up the heat in the last two weeks after lackluster performances early in the year. Though he logged just one tackle in each of the first three games of the season, Houston recorded four tackles against Iowa and another four against Maryland last Saturday. 

Saturday against Indiana, it’s important that the Buckeyes get the Eddrick Houston of the past two weeks, as the Hoosiers are one of Ohio State’s largest remaining hurdles. There is little room for growing pains, sloppy mistakes, or mediocre execution after the loss to Texas, and while this Indiana team might not be as buttoned up as last year’s title winners, they’re still a tremendously efficient group. 

This means the pressure is on for Houston and the defensive line to contain the Hoosiers’ run game. 

He’ll have his work cut out for him. The Hoosiers are currently ranked 2nd in the Big Ten in both rushing yardage, averaging 221.33 yards per game, and total yards, where they trail only the Buckeyes. With Richard and Beebe at the helm, the team is averaging 6.1 yards per carry. So far this season, Richard has 597 yards and five touchdowns on 71 carries, averaging 8.4 yards per carry. If the Buckeye defensive front can’t contain him, it could be the Buckeyes’ undoing.

The good news? Throughout the last two weeks—Houston’s best two-week stretch at Ohio State—the junior has stepped up to make big plays in key moments. He’s also spoken about his mentality heading to Bloomington. He’s ready to avenge last year’s Big Ten Championship loss, and it involves a certain level of anger that can change the course of a game. 

As a three-technique, Houston will need to channel that anger into something productive. Against this Indiana offense, that will involve strict gap discipline. Indiana’s run-blocking scheme punishes opponents who overshoot the runway, so Houston has to execute on the basics flawlessly. If he gets caught up in chasing his own stats, it could be his—and the entire offense’s—undoing. Instead, he needs to remain focused and avoid over-chasing plays, keeping running lanes closed. 

Additionally, Houston’s size is going to be critical. At 304 pounds, he’s going to need to use that to his advantage against one of the best offensive lines in the country. If he can win first contact and plug gaps on the interior, he can help keep runners contained. 

As we saw this past weekend in their matchup with Nebraska, Indiana becomes one-dimensional without its rush attack. The Huskers completely contained the run, limiting the Hoosiers to just 65 yards on the ground, coming very close to upsetting a top-ten team.

Houston needs to help the Buckeyes replicate this blueprint. If he can maintain the caliber of play we’ve seen the last two weeks and channel his anger into revenge for last season, the Buckeyes should have no trouble clearing one of the biggest hurdles in their schedule. 

Matt’s Take: Bo Jackson

When you have arguably the best wide receiver in college football and a quarterback who is a returning Heisman Trophy finalist, it might seem a bit strange to suggest that a running back who has struggled to himself as the team’s starter could be the key to beating the defending national champions. But for Ohio State to leave Bloomington with a victory on Saturday, I think Bo Jackson might be the most important player on the field.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m certainly not suggesting that Jackson needs to suddenly turn into TreVeyon Henderson, Ezekiel Elliott, or even his considerably more famous namesake (who I still believe is the greatest team-sport athlete of my lifetime). In fact, I don’t even think he necessarily needs to have an overwhelmingly impressive statistical game against the Hoosiers.

What I do think he needs to do, however, is consistently give Ohio State the type of dependable, four-to-six-yard gains that will allow Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith to do what they do best, and maybe sprinkle in a handful of explosive (or at least explosive-adjacent) runs to boot.

As I wrote earlier this week, the Buckeyes’ rushing attack has actually been more effective than much of the discussion around it would suggest. No, the Buckeye backfield isn’t lighting up stat sheets or scoreboards, but Bo and his fellow Jackson, Ja’Kobi (no relation), have combined for 814 rushing yards at 5.5 yards per carry this season. And, even without the traditional number of explosive runs for Ohio State running backs, more than 57% of the team’s rushing attempts have gained between three and nine yards.

That obviously is not going to be the type of production that changes your game plan (or that of opposing defensive coordinators), but it is precisely what I think Ohio State needs on offense against Indiana.

The Hoosiers enter the weekend allowing just 75 rushing yards per game and 2.3 yards per carry. Their defensive front has also been exceptionally disruptive, averaging 8.2 tackles for loss and 3.3 sacks per contest. If Curt Cignetti’s defense can consistently stuff the Jacksons at or behind the line of scrimmage, it will make life considerably more difficult for the Buckeye offense to do what it does best, throw the ball to the figurative (or, perhaps, literal) alien on the outside.

And that’s where Jackson’s importance goes well beyond his own statistics. For as solid as Sayin has been this season, he hasn’t been nearly as effective when opposing defenses have been able to pressure him, which is, obviously, what you expect from all quarterbacks. His completion percentage drops from 75.6% in a clean pocket to 55.6% under pressure. The last thing Ohio State needs is to spend Saturday facing second-and-11 and third-and-9 situations against a defensive front that has excels at pressuring opposing quarterbacks.

A productive Jackson, on the other hand, could keep the Buckeyes ahead of the chains, make Indiana respect the run, and create more manageable opportunities for Sayin to get the ball to Smith. And while a successful running game won’t completely prevent Indiana from getting to the quarterback, it should at least make the Hoosiers think twice about pinning their ears back on every passing down, and could bring an extra man into the box, pulling one defensive back out of covering J.J.

I went with Bo Jackson here, rather than Ja’Kobi, who has been the Buckeyes’ starter for the past two weekends, because, while I think I trust the latter Jackson more when it comes to getting the tough, gritty yards, Bo has vastly improved in that department recently, and still has the advantage when it comes to potentially breaking one for a 20- to 30-yard gain; and Ohio State would obviously benefit from that big-play potential in what very well could be a slugfest.

I also almost cheated and went with “the offensive line,” because given what Indiana does well, and what the Buckeyes do not, that matchup might actually be the fulcrum on which this game pivots. But the question Jami and I agreed to was about a single player, so I went with the back.

There’s also something to be said for keeping Indiana’s offense on the sideline. The Hoosiers proved against Nebraska last weekend that they can overcome an otherwise miserable offensive performance with just a couple of explosive plays. Sustained Ohio State drives would limit those opportunities while keeping the Buckeyes’ defense rested.

So, while Ohio State’s offensive highlight reels will almost certainly focus on Sayin and Smith, I think Jackson could be the player who makes those highlights possible. Ohio State doesn’t need Bo to be spectacular against Indiana (although, that would be great); it just needs him to be dependable. If the Buckeyes can consistently move the chains while keeping the ball on the ground, their superstar players will have a much better chance to take over the game through the air.

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