No. 4 Ohio State, No. 5 Indiana prepared for a real grind in the Big Ten championship game rematch

No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana have plenty of pizzaz on their rosters.

Each school has efficient quarterbacks, elite receivers and big-play threats all over the field. But they win the old-fashioned way — running the ball and stopping the run.

So in the only top five contest Saturday, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers will be ready to grind things out to grab the inside track to a Big Ten title game berth in this rematch of last season’s league championship game.

“When you stop the run and kind of try to take the legs out from underneath them, they’ve got to start playing left-handed, they’ve got to start doing things that are uncharacteristic for them,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said. “I think that’s kind of where we try to focus.”

It’s certainly a good starting point.

While Bo Jackson and Ja’Kobi Jackson have played well enough to help the Buckeyes average 165.7 yards rushing per game, the running game has been the telltale sign of success. Ohio State has been outrushed in each of its last three losses, including last year’s 13-10 loss to the Hoosiers.

Last week, Ohio State (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) took another big step despite an injury-depleted offensive line by rushing for 207 yards and two scores in a 45-16 rout of Maryland. And while they may not need such high numbers against the defending national champs, they certainly need to be more efficient than December when Indiana had a 118-58 advantage on the ground.

Buckeyes coach Ryan Day knows it will be just as tough against a foe yielding only 75.0 yards rushing this season.

“It is going to be a huge challenge,” Day said. “They do an excellent job up front on defense. Their defensive line is one of the biggest challenges we’ll have all season, so we’ve got to have a great week of preparation.”

It won’t be easy for Indiana (6-0, 3-0), either.

Though the combination of Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr. has been extremely productive with each ranking among the top 20 rushers nationally and on pace for 1,000-yard seasons, Indiana rushed for just 65 yards in last week’s come-from-behind 20-17 win at Nebraska. It was the Hoosiers’ lowest rushing total since their first-round playoff loss at Notre Dame in 2024.

Indiana had only 22 carries, kept the ball for less than 20 1/2 minutes and had to throw more frequently in the fourth quarter as they erased an 11-point deficit. Coach Curt Cignetti knows that can’t happen against the Buckeyes if the Hoosiers are going to remain unbeaten.

And the Hoosiers are committed to making sure they execute the game plan.

“We like to call it changing the math,” said Indiana left tackle and former Ohio prep star Carter Smith, the 2025 Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year. “We like to pull guys outside and run to the perimeter and it works well because Turbo and Lee are guys that know how to press down on the gas and just go for it. They’re able to find the holes pretty well and if there’s not something available to them, they’re going to make something happen on the outside.”

The streaks

Indiana enters the game with the Bowl Subdivision’s longest active winning streak, 22 games, and the nation’s longest active home winning streak at 19 games.

But after snapping a 30-game losing streak against the Buckeyes in December and winning their first conference crown since 1967, Cignetti’s Hoosiers have another chance to set a new standard by beating Ohio State in Bloomington for the first time since 1987.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, have lost three straight against top 10 teams. After falling to Indiana last season, they lost in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals to Miami and earlier this season at Texas. They’ve won four straight since their Week 2 loss.

Blue blood vs. newcomer

While the Buckeyes are one of college football’s true blue-blood programs, Indiana is a relative newcomer to these high-stakes, high-profile, high-pressure games. It’s the second straight meeting with both teams ranked in the top five. And just like December, when the Buckeyes and Hoosiers were ranked 1-2, Ohio State sits one spot ahead of Indiana in the AP Top 25.

The big game

Indiana hasn’t hosted many big games over the decades, but this will be one of the biggest — maybe the biggest in school history. In fact, some believe it will be the biggest sporting ever held on Indiana’s campus.

What does Cignetti think?

“I’m glad we’re playing at home. We really need our crowd to be loud and very involved,” he said. “We’ve got to give them reasons to be. They need to be loud, real loud.”

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