Trending
COLUMBUS - Ohio State’s 13-10 loss to Indiana in last season’s Big Ten football championship game was 10 months ago but for Ryan Day it is ancient history.
The word rematch has gotten quite a workout this week with No. 4 Ohio State (5-1, 3-0 Big Ten) going to No. 5 Indiana (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten) at noon Saturday for what almost certainly is the biggest game ever played in IU’s Memorial Stadium.
"I think everybody has their own thoughts and emotions. But I think, as we talked on Sunday and we’ll talk again today in our team meeting, nothing that happened in the past has anything to do with what’s going on this weekend," Day said Tuesday at his weekly press conference.
"We can learn from the past. So some of the guys who played in that game can learn about why we came up short in that game and that’s good, that’s fine. But the focus has to be on right now and that’s it.
"I don’t think anything that happened last year has anything to do with anything that’s going on this year. The coaches will look at everything - what they did last year, what they’re doing this year, all the different games to try to figure out what is best for us to try to put our guys in situations to be successful. The only thing that matters is how we play on Saturday," he said.
Indiana had to replace seven offensive starters, including Heisman Trophy winning quarterback Fernando Mendoza, and five defensive starters from last season’s 16-0 national championship team this season.
"They have a very veteran team. These guys have played a lot of football," Day said
The strength of IU’s non-league schedule, in which it beat North Texas, Howard and Western Kentucky by an average of 49.7 points a game, has been questioned. But its talent level overall can’t be.
One of the key matchups on Saturday could be Ohio State’s offensive line against Indiana’s defensive line.
The Hoosiers won that matchup last season when they sacked Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin five times, limited the Buckeyes to 58 yards rushing and frustrated them in the red zone inside the 10-yard line in two crucial situations in the second half.
"Their defensive line is one of the biggest challenges we will face this season," Day said.
Indiana has 20 sacks and 49 tackles for losses and has held opposing offenses to 2.3 yards per running play.
Defensive end Stephen Daley and defensive tackles Mario Landino and Tyrique Tucker were starters last year. Daley and defensive end Tobi Osunanmi, a transfer from Kansas State, share the Big Ten lead in sacks with five along with Oregon’s Matayo Uiagalelei.
OSU played without two starters on its offensive line against Maryland last Saturday when right tackle Phillip Daniels missed a fourth straight game and multi-position lineman Austin Siereveld, who was scheduled to play right tackle, was held out because of a non-football illness.
Day said Tuesday that Daniels was scheduled to return to practice this week. He did not offer an update on Siereveld but after the Maryland game he said his situation was day to day.