Column: Saturday will be a shootout

With the game officially on ice, Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer began his slow jog to midfield in the dark October night at Ohio Stadium.

The sly smirk that has become a small indicator of the depraved image he has earned never left his face.

He and his Buckeyes squad had just put the finishing touches on a 63-38 annihilation of the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers, marking the second Big Ten Conference victory for the first-year head coach.

For Meyer, Nebraska was just another helpless victim in a series of tortures fueled by a motivation shared by Ohio State coaches, players and fans.

Due to “Tattoo-Gate,” the Buckeyes have been ruled ineligible to play in this season’s Big Ten Championship Game, as well as any postseason bowl game. Because
Urban won’t get what Urban wants, he has made the goal for the current season increasingly clear — claim an AP National Championship by finishing the season ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll.

The former Florida head coach will do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal, even if that means becoming the most hated, despised man in the Big Ten Conference, a league that is known for the gentleman-like nature of its head coaches.

When Meyer waltzes into Memorial Stadium on Saturday evening, he’ll have every intention of making Indiana his personal whipping boy. He’s earned the right to have that snarky attitude, particularly when his program has beaten the Hoosiers in 17 straight meetings, dating back to a 27-all tie on Oct. 13, 1990.

But what Meyer might not realize is these Hoosiers are not the Hoosiers of old. This season’s Indiana squad isn’t the same old afterthought on the schedules of its opponents. No longer do opponents have the luxury of pegging Indiana as an
automatic victory.

Not after last week’s narrow 31-27 loss to Michigan State, the same team Ohio State barely escaped two weeks ago in a 17-16 victory in East Lansing, Mich.

Meyer likely has visions of another utter domination dancing in his ever-present imagination, but what he may not realize is his team has a weak link likely to be exposed in an embarrassing fashion Saturday evening.

Through five games, the Buckeyes’ defense has allowed an average of 265.3 passing yards per game, which ranks 100th nationally behind fellow state schools Ohio, Cincinnati and Miami (Ohio).

And if there’s one team that is capable of taking full advantage of that weakness, it’s Indiana. The Hoosier offense averages 307.2 passing yards per game, placing the Hoosiers in the 18th slot nationally in statistics.

Make no mistake about it, IU Coach Kevin Wilson will push the offensive tempo to breakneck speeds in an effort to catch the Ohio State defense off-guard and winded.

Wilson desperately needs his offense to score points in bunches, because he knows his defense won’t do him any favors, but also because he remembers the last time he matched wits with Meyer.

The two met on Jan. 8, 2009 at Miami’s Sun Life Stadium, the scene of the 2008-09 BCS National Championship Game. At the time, Meyer was in his fourth season as head coach at Florida, while Wilson was in his third season as Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator.

The Gator defense stifled Wilson’s record-breaking Sooner offense en route to a 24-14 victory, giving Meyer his second national title in three seasons.

Wilson will say that game won’t have any effect on the way he coaches against Meyer Saturday. He’ll say the past has no bearing on what he’s building at Indiana.
But it’s enough motivation for Wilson to push his offense like it hasn’t been pushed before.

That effort may be just enough to wipe that smirk off Meyer’s face.

My Prediction

In a matchup of two of the Big Ten’s premier offensive teams, a shootout is inevitable. The Hoosiers will attack by air, while the Buckeyes will do so by ground. The scoreboard operator at Memorial Stadium will be busy all night.

Ohio State 56, IU 42

­— ckillore@indiana.edu