Scarlet Sunrise: Ohio State opens as heavy early favorite over Indiana

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Ohio State opens as heavy early favorite over Indiana

Ohio State is expected to once again handle Indiana when the teams meet in their season opener on Sept. 2 in Bloomington. The Buckeyes have opened as 28-point favorites, according to DraftKings.

Ohio State pummeled the Hoosiers, 56-14, in the Horseshoe last season. The blowout victory extended the Buckeyes’ win streak against Indiana to 27 games. They have defeated the Hoosiers by 20 or more points in six of the last seven meetings. The exception? A 42-35 Ohio State win during the 2020 season, a year in which Indiana finished No. 7 in the AP Poll — for reference, that was the highest the Hoosiers clocked out in a season since they were No. 4 in 1967.

In the two years since, however, head coach Tom Allen’s squad has posted a meager 6-18 record, including a 2-16 mark in Big Ten play.

In Ryan Day’s first four years as Ohio State’s full-time head coach, the Buckeyes have averaged 50.8 points per game against Indiana. The last time they played at Indiana — Oct. 23, 2021 — the Buckeyes coasted to a 54-7 win.

Ohio State is starting the season with a Big Ten road game for the second time in the last three years. In 2021, the Buckeyes opened at Minnesota, where C.J. Stroud led Ohio State to a 45-31 triumph in his first career start. Day’s Buckeyes find themselves in a similar situation two years later, needing to roll out a new starter on the road in the season opener against a league foe.

Buckeyes highly-anticipated matchup at Notre Dame set for primetime kickoff

Another Ohio State-Notre Dame night game is on tap. The Buckeyes will play under the lights against the Fighting Irish for the second year in a row, this time rounding out the home-and-home series in South Bend.

The Sept. 23 game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff. NBC and Peacock, the new Big Ten partner, will have the broadcast. This the third Buckeyes game time to be announced so far, and the second involving an NBC primetime slot. Ohio State is also slated to host Michigan State on Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m on NBC.

Ohio State defeated Notre Dame, 21-10, in last year’s season opener, and the Irish haven’t beaten the Buckeyes since 1936.

For the full details on this season’s meeting, go here.

Taking closer look at state of Buckeyes quarterback room

As “Quarterback Week” continues at Lettermen Row, the crew of Spencer Holbrook, Tim May and Andy Backstrom are discussing the four scholarship quarterbacks on Ohio State’s 2023 roster: Kyle McCord, Devin Brown, Tristan Gebbia and Lincoln Kienholz.

The Buckeyes have had three Heisman Trophy finalist quarterbacks since head coach Ryan Day joined the staff as co-offensive coordinator/QBs coach in 2017. Ohio State could very well have another ready to take center stage.

As the offseason quarterback battle between McCord and Brown wears on, Spencer, Tim and Andy are giving their predictions for who will win the starting job, in addition to providing insight on the rest of the position group.

You can tune in below:

Full coverage of Quarterback Week at Lettermen Row

READ: Five Questions as Buckeyes gear up for new era at quarterback

READ: Mapping out career path of each Buckeyes QB so far

READ: Knowing the basics of Buckeyes starting quarterback candidates

READ: Tristan Gebbia proving to be important addition to Buckeyes quarterback room

FILM ROOM: Breaking down Ohio State QB Kyle McCord’s 2021 snaps

READ: Making case for Kyle McCord to be Buckeyes starting quarterback

READ: Examining 2023 Ohio State quarterback NIL valuations

Counting down

Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 100 days

Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 184 days

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