No. 5 Indiana strives to treat every game the same, regardless of its record or the quality of its opponent.
Indiana hosts No. 4 Ohio State at noon on Saturday this week in the first top-five matchup in Memorial Stadium history. It’s the toughest test of the season by far for the Hoosiers, and a rematch of last year’s Big Ten championship game.
"It doesn't matter who we're playing,” Indiana linebacker Isaiah Jones said on Tuesday. “It's going to be the same production. It's going to be the same level of intensity at practice. If you're playing Western Kentucky or you're playing for the Big Ten Championship, we see it the same way, regardless of who we're playing."
Indiana doesn’t decrease its emphasis on preparation for inferior opponents, even if FCS teams aren’t quite as threatening as the teams the Hoosiers might encounter deep into the postseason.
Generally, each week entails the same preparation processes and standards of execution, but Ohio State is different.
Indiana seems pretty anticipatory for a team so even-keeled.
“I think there is a little bit of special detail going into everybody’s preparation this week,” Indiana offensive lineman Carter Smith said. “Top-five matchups are never going to be easy, it’s going to be a four-quarter game and that’s something that we need to really lock into this week, that we’re going to be ready for the fight. We know our opponent.”
Indiana is aware that Ohio State is different from the opponents the Hoosiers dismissed earlier in the year. Stakes are higher, margins for error are smaller.
Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith and defensive coordinator, Matt Patricia both have ample NFL experience. Ohio State’s flashiest player, wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, catches passes from a returning quarterback in Julian Sayin and leads the country in receiving yards with 916. The second-best receiver in the Big Ten, Duff, already trails Smith in that category by as many as 288 yards.
“There is no one like him right now playing at this level,” Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti said about Smith on Monday. “We’ve got two really good (receivers). He’s a freak. We’re going to have to do a great job on him.”
Indiana never turns its attention away from the task at hand, even if the upcoming opponent is vastly inferior to the Hoosiers. Ohio State seems to warrant an increased sense of urgency and punctiliousness beyond what the typical opponent demands, in part because Ohio State rivals Indiana in terms of program discipline and sustained excellence.
It just takes more to defeat Ohio State than it does to defeat the average adversary.
“Two good teams,” Cignetti said. “Great team we’re playing. I’m not sure how good we are yet.”
Indiana knows what Ohio State is capable of, but Cignetti isn’t yet sure where his team stacks up in comparison. Indiana is the reigning national champion, but the Buckeyes are ranked higher and are favored to win on Saturday.
At home, in one of the grandest on-campus events in school history, Indiana can prove to itself and the nation that it is indeed still the best in the Big Ten.
