Buckeyes - 27  Indiana - 14

This was an awfully big win for the Buckeyes; it was especially important that the offense bounce back from its dismal showing against UCLA, and it did.  Few people will confuse the Indiana D with that of Nebraska or Oklahoma (or UCLA), but the offense still needed to execute its game plan and it did so fairly effectively.  This game also marked the beginning of the Big Ten campaign, and it was important to get off to a good start.  This is a relatively young Buckeye team and its confidence was likely a little shaky coming off the UCLA disappointment.  This game certainly boosted the team's confidence, which will be necessary for the coming difficult, decisive games (two contenders, Northwestern and Wisconsin come calling the next two weeks).  As with Akron, the game plan was fairly basic and straight-forward, and reasonably well-executed.  The offense's failure to score TD's on two occasions from inside the 5-yard line was disappointing, particularly the second one, where the Bucks were unable to bang it in on three tries from inside the Indiana 2.  Touchdowns instead of field goals in these two instances would have certainly been better for my heart (things got a little dicey in the third quarter), but it was good to see some success with field goals.  I would not be a bit surprised if one or more games the rest of the way are decided by a field goal, and it is important that these guys have real-game success and confidence.

The Defense

The Buckeye defense faced perhaps the best athlete in college football, Hoosier QB Antwan Randal-El, and, while it did not shut him down (probably impossible), it did contain him for the most part.  If there is one athlete in the country that can determine the outcome of a game, it is Randal-El, and that is why I was worried coming into this one.  I don't think there is any question that the Bucks have better overall talent than Indiana, but Randal-El can flat get it done.  I am not unhappy that the Bucks did not play this guy the last two years and am quite happy that we will not have to face him again.  There are few pure option offenses at the Division 1A level (the Hoosiers are the only one in the Big Ten) and there is no better person to run it than Randal-El.  Because of this, the Bucks had to play basic, assignment defense, as opposed to the aggressive, reactive style we prefer.  Overall, I thought the D contained the Hoosier attack pretty well, particularly in the second half.  It took the Bucks until about halftime to adjust to the speed and elusiveness of Randal-El and his ability to run the option offense, but we controlled the pace most of the second half.  Still, you have to give up something, and the Bucks were a little soft in the middle throughout the game.  I thought the defensive line had another strong game, even though they weren't able to run around with their normal abandon.  The key to defending an option attack is playing assignment defense (particularly when a skilled QB is running it) and I thought the young Buck linemen did a good job of that.  They also put fairly good heat on Randal-El in passing situations without much help from blitzing linebackers or secondary.  The Buckeye linebacking corps showed why it is highly touted; all three starters had strong games.  Matt Wilhelm was particularly effective in the middle and Joe Cooper was a force across the whole width of the field.  It was another good game for the Buckeye secondary; an option attack can really put a lot of pressure on both corners and safeties, particularly when the opposing QB is a good passer, which Randal-El definitely is.  Randal-El has passed for over 6,000 yards is his career, so there is no doubt he can press a defensive secondary.  The corners had good, solid games (particularly Derek Ross) and both Donnie Nickey and Michael Doss really helped to contain the Hoosier option attack.  Doss had another punt block and has to be a strong candidate for All-American honors. 

The Offense

While you can't go head-over-heels with joy with the offense in this one, it was certainly a vast improvement from last week.  As I stated above, the Indiana D does not exactly strike fear in the hearts of offensive coordinators, but you still need to execute your offense.  Confidence is a fragile thing and this unit could not have been brimming with it coming off the disaster of last week.  In fact, the O did not look at all confident early in this one, but picked up some 'swagger' as the game progressed.  The best thing about the offense's performance, other than the obvious improved play of the quarterback, was its ability to sustain drives and move the ball with consistency.  Even in its heyday of a few years ago, the Buckeye offense lacked the ability to sustain long drives; this group has been able to do that and that is a good sign for the future.  The Buckeye offense really hogged the ball in the first half, possessing the ball nearly 10 minutes longer than Indiana, and that is very important when playing a team with an athlete like Randal-El on offense.  No athlete, no matter how good, can hurt you when he is on the bench.  I thought the offensive line had a good game; they provided some good holes for the running backs and generally gave Steve enough time to find his receivers and get them the ball.  The spotty performance of the line on the Indiana goal line certainly detracted from its overall effectiveness, but I like what I see from this group.  If the big guys up front continue to improve as the season progresses, this could be a real good line by the end of the season.  Steve Bellisari needed a good outing to get his game back on track, and he had a very solid one.  Steve ran the offense effectively; if he gets some time to set up and throw, he can be an efficient passer.  He was able to find secondary receivers on a number of occasions in this one; his 15 completions were to 9 different receivers, including both his fullback and tailback.  Steve was 15 of 21 for nearly 200 yards - not shabby by any standards.  The Hoosier offense has clearly been built around the talents of Randal-El; the Buckeye offense is predicated on every position fulfilling its role, including the QB.  Joe Germaine understood this, and he had the talent, and the talent around him, to exploit this model.  Steve still has to develop this keen understanding, but he can be a very effective quarterback if he can stay within the scope of his role.  Not surprisingly, when the QB has a good game, the receiving corps seems to have a good game.  The wide receivers, who were almost invisible in the UCLA game, made their presence felt in this one.  Michael Jenkins was particularly effective; he is a tall, gifted athlete with fine hands and it looks like he will have a real fine career for the Bucks.  Chris Gamble, Bryant Carter and Angelo Chathams also had effective performances and all appeared to run crisp routes and got good separation from the Hoosier defensive backs for most of the game.  Unlike UCLA, the Hoosiers didn't 'jam' the Buckeye wideouts at the line and our guys were able to run their routes and get themselves into position to catch the ball.  I think we can expect to see a lot of 'jamming' at the line as we play some of the more aggressive defenses in the league.  To be successful, this group must learn to fight through aggressive corners and safeties; if they can do that, this will be a very fine set of wideouts, indeed.  One of the most effective ways to keep heat off the QB is a good running game, and this team appears to be building just that.  There is nothing fancy about the Buckeye rushing attack but it is beginning to build steam and dictate to the defense.  Our running game has not done that since the days of Eddie George.  The running game starts with the running backs, and, while the Bucks have had some good ones the past few years (Pepe Pearson, Derek Combs and now Jonathan Wells and Sam Maldonato), we have lacked an 'impact' back.  We may finally have found one in freshman Lydell Ross.  Lydell looked awfully good in this game - excellent speed and quickness, hitting the hole quickly, good power.  He rushed for a total of 125 yards and scored twice on tough, inside runs.  The thing that sits Lydell apart from other recent Buckeye backs is his ability to hit the hole quickly and, most important, his 'feel' and vision for the game.  I don't know that is a gift that a coach can 'teach', but it is the one that separates the great from the good.  Lydell appears to have that gift and that could be very good news for the Buckeye running game.  Jonathan also had a very effective game running the ball (70 yards and a rushing TD) and also had a couple of timely catches.  Jamar Martin was his usual force as lead blocker and he made a couple of key catches, as well.  Finally, just as in the Akron game, the offense struck a real good balance between the run (196 yards) and pass (194) - a balanced attack serves to keep the defense less aggressive and a bit indecisive. 

This was a real good victory, that is for sure; it got us off to a good start in the league and served as a confidence booster, especially for the offense.  It still only counts one, though, and another seven league games remain.  Every game is important, and the next two for the young Bucks are huge; league favorite Northwestern and contender Wisconsin visit the Horseshoe the next two Saturdays.  Northwestern brings perhaps the best spread offense in the conference (and one of the best in the country) and the Buckeyes defense struggled some against the spread last season.  Defensively, the Bucks will need to contain the spread and offensively will have to control the flow of the game, as it did against Indiana, and keep the potent Wildcat 'O' on the bench.  It should be a real good one.