When senior quarterback Richard Lagow wakes up Thursday morning, his mind will be racing.
Lagow, his teammates and the IU coaching staff have spent months waiting for a game that is more than just the first one of the 2017 season. No. 2 Ohio State is in town for an 8 p.m. kickoff Thursday, and those around the IU program have unabashedly called it the most significant season opener in team history.
It has been 35 years since the Hoosiers began the season with a conference matchup, and it is the first time in team history the Buckeyes are coming to Bloomington to open the season. With the buildup and story lines surrounding Thursday night’s matchup, Lagow said it will be tough to stay calm all day while he awaits the prime-time start.
“You can’t wake up at 7 a.m. and start jamming out and be ready to go because you’ve got 12 hours 'til you play a game,” Lagow said. “You’ve gotta roll with the day.”
Once 8 p.m. comes around, the Hoosiers will have to roll with the punches on the field as they take on a Buckeye team with plenty of talent and big names.
Senior quarterback J.T. Barrett, in his fourth season with Ohio State, will play against IU for the third time and look to maintain his undefeated career record against the Hoosiers. Barrett struggled through the air against IU last season in a 38-17 win. He threw for just 93 yards, but did his damage on the ground with 137 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Defending the run has been a significant challenge for IU when facing Ohio State in recent years. In each of their last three games against the Buckeyes, the Hoosiers have allowed at least 225 yards on the ground. Sophomore running back Mike Weber anchors Ohio State’s rushing attack this season after posting 1,096 rushing yards as a freshman in 2016.
Former IU Coach Kevin Wilson will lead the vaunted Ohio State offense in his first season as offensive coordinator with the team after exiting IU at the end of the 2016 regular season.
It seems fitting that Wilson’s first game as a coach after leaving the Hoosiers will be in Bloomington, but his successor at IU, Tom Allen, said the team has not focused much on Wilson, other than on what role he will play in guiding the offense. The Buckeyes averaged nearly 40 points per game last season, so Allen said he does not expect a massive overhaul in style or strategy from his opponent.
"You have to believe that it's going to be the core of what they've done with the influence of Kevin Wilson,” Allen said. “That's kind of what I perceive it to be and how that influence looks.”
Allen went on to say that he has emphasized the importance of in-game adjustments to his team and coaches. Given that Thursday will be the first game of the season for both teams, there are plenty of unknowns that will play out as the night wears on.
Question marks exist for IU at several positions, most notably at running back. Junior Mike Majette is currently atop the depth chart, but has just 361 career rushing yards in two seasons. The running back rotation may take multiple games to settle itself, but Allen said four or five different backs could see carries against the Buckeyes.
Meanwhile, Ohio State will need to replace its three leading receivers from last season, while taking on a strong, experienced IU secondary. Senior cornerback Rashard Fant leads a defensive back unit that returns nearly all of its key contributors from last season. The Hoosiers allowed 219.7 passing yards per game last season, good for 48th out of 128 FBS teams in the country.
Fant, who has played 38 career games and is entering his fifth season with the IU program, said he is not preparing for the opener differently than he normally would, even though Ohio State is a much stronger opponent than any team IU has begun its season with during Fant’s time as a Hoosier.
“At the end of the day, they’re on scholarship, we’re on scholarship, they’re in the Big Ten, we’re in the Big Ten,” Fant said. “You want to go against the best of the best, and we get the opportunity to do that.”
